ROBUST: The ROle of BUffering capacities in STabilising coastal lagoon ecosystems

“Buffer capacities” has been defined in ecology as a holistic concept (e.g., Integration of Ecosystem Theories: A Pattern, second ed. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1997, 388pp), but we show that it can also be worked out in mechanistic studies. Our mechanistic approach highlights that “buffering capacities” can be depleted progressively, and, therefore, we make a distinction between current and potential “buffering capacities”. We have applied this concept to understand the limited “local stability” in seagrass ecosystems and their vulnerability towards structural changes into macro-algal dominated communities. We explored the following processes and studied how they confer buffering capacities to the seagrass ecosystem: (i) net autotrophy is persistent in Zostera noltii meadows where plant assimilation acts as a sink for nutrients, this contrasted with the Ulva system that shifted back and forth between net autotrophy and net heterotrophy; (ii) the Z. noltii ecosystem possesses a certain albeit rather limited capacity to modify the balance between nitrogen fixation and denitrification, i.e., it was found that in situ nitrogen fixation always exceeded denitrification; (iii) the nitrogen demand of organoheterotrophic bacteria in the sediment results in nitrogen retention of N in the sediment and hence a buffer against release of nitrogen compounds from sediments, (iv) habitat diversification in seagrass meadows provides shelter for meiofauna and hence buffering against adverse conditions, (v) sedimentary iron provides a buffer against noxious sulfide (note: bacterial sulfide production is enhanced in anoxic sediment niches by increased organic matter loading). On the other hand, in the coastal system we studied, sedimentary iron appears less important as a redox-coupled buffer system against phosphate loading. This is because most inorganic phosphate is bound to calcium rather than to iron. In addition, our studies have highlighted the importance of plant–microbe interactions in the seagrass meadows.     

Shaking table tests on reinforced concrete frames without and with passive control systems

An extensive experimental program of shaking table tests on reduced‐scale structural models was carried out within the activities of the MANSIDE project, for the development of new seismic isolation and energy dissipation devices based on shape memory alloys (SMAs). The aim of the experimental program was to compare the behaviour of structures endowed with innovative SMA‐based devices to the behaviour of conventional structures and of structures endowed with currently used passive control systems. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the main results of the shaking table tests carried out on the models with and without special braces. Two different types of energy dissipating and re‐centring braces have been considered to enhance the seismic performances of the tested model. They are based on the hysteretic properties of steel elements and on the superelastic properties of SMAs, respectively. The addition of passive control braces in the reinforced concrete frame resulted in significant benefits on the overall seismic behaviour. The seismic intensity producing structural collapse was considerably raised, interstorey drifts and shear forces in columns were drastically reduced. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geophysical Survey and Archaeological Data at Masseria Grasso (Benevento,Italy)

The use of geophysical methods in metrology is a significant tool within the wide research topic of landscape archaeology context. Since 2011, the Ancient Appia Landscapes Project aims to recognize dynamics, shapes and layout of the ancient settlement located along the Appia road east of Benevento, and cyclical elements and human activities that influenced the choice of landscapes. The integration of geophysical data with an archaeological infra-site analysis allowed us to investigate the area of Masseria Grasso, about 6 km from Benevento (Campania region, Italy). In this framework, an archaeogeophysical approach (Geomagnetic and Ground Penetrating Radar) was adopted for detecting anomalies potentially correlated with buried archaeological evidences. The geomagnetic results have given a wide knowledge of buried features in a large survey highlighting significant anomalies associated with the presence of buildings, roads and open spaces. These geophysical results permitted us to define the first archaeological excavations and, successively, a detailed Ground Penetrating Radar approach has been provided highlighting the rooms and paved spaces. The overlap between archaeological dataset and geophysical surveys has also allowed recognizing the path of the ancient Appia road near the city of Benevento and hypothesize the settlement organization of the investigated area, which has been identified with the ancient Nuceriola.     

Three-dimensional nonlinear random wave groups in intermediate water depth

High waves at ocean occur during a complex space–time evolution of wave groups. In this paper the nonlinear structure of three-dimensional sea wave groups at intermediate water depth is investigated. To this purpose, the Boccotti's Quasi-Determinism theory is firstly applied to describe the linear wave groups when a given exceptionally high crest occurs. Then, the second-order correction to the linear solution is derived for the general condition of three-dimensional wave groups, at a finite water depth. Several numerical applications, finally, have been carried out in order to show how both the spectral bandwidth and the directional spreading modify the nonlinear high waves at different water depth.     

Approximate analytic solutions to the isothermal Lane–Emden equation

We derive accurate analytic approximations to the solution of the isothermal Lane–Emden equation, a basic equation in Astrophysics that describes the Newtonian equilibrium structure of self-gravitating, isothermal fluid spheres. The solutions we obtain, using analytic arguments and rational approximations, have simple forms, and are accurate over a radial extent that is much larger than that covered by conventional series expansions around the origin. Our best approximation has a maximum error on density of 0.04 % at 10 core radii, and is still within 1 % from an accurate numerical solution at a radius three times larger.     

Overturning of the façade in single-nave churches under seismic loading

Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering - The out-of-plane collapse of the façade represents one of the major threats and the most frequent cause of damages of churches due to strong earthquakes....     

Bank undercutting and tension failure by groundwater seepage: predicting failure mechanisms

Groundwater seepage can lead to the erosion and failure of streambanks and hillslopes. Two groundwater instability mechanisms include (i) tension failure due to the seepage force exceeding the soil shear strength or (ii) undercutting by seepage erosion and eventual mass failure. Previous research on these mechanisms has been limited to non‐cohesive and low cohesion soils. This study utilized a constant‐head, seepage soil box packed with more cohesive (6% and 15% clay) sandy loam soils at prescribed bulk densities (1.30 to 1.70 Mg m^?3) and with a bank angle of 90° to investigate the controls on failure mechanisms due to seepage forces. A dimensionless seepage mechanism (SM) number was derived and evaluated based on the ratio of resistive cohesion forces to the driving forces leading to instability including seepage gradients with an assumed steady‐state seepage angle. Tension failures and undercutting were both observed dependent primarily on the saturated hydraulic conductivity, effective cohesion, and seepage gradient. Also, shapes of seepage undercuts for these more cohesive soils were wider and less deep compared to undercuts in sand and loamy sand soils. Direct shear tests were used to quantify the geotechnical properties of the soils packed at the various bulk densities. The SM number reasonably predicted the seepage failure mechanism (tension failure versus undercutting) based on the geotechnical properties and assumed steady‐state seepage gradients of the physical‐scale laboratory experiments, with some uncertainty due to measurement of geotechnical parameters, assumed seepage gradient direction, and the expected width of the failure block. It is hypothesized that the SM number can be used to evaluate seepage failure mechanisms when a streambank or hillslope experiences steady‐state seepage forces. When prevalent, seepage gradient forces should be considered when analyzing bank stability, and therefore should be incorporated into commonly used stability models. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Laboratory soil piping and internal erosion experiments: evaluation of a soil piping model for low‐compacted soils

Mechanistic models have been proposed for soil piping and internal erosion on well‐compacted levees and dams, but limited research has evaluated these models in less compacted (more erodible) soils typical of hillslopes and streambanks. This study utilized a soil box (50 cm long, 50 cm wide and 20 cm tall) to conduct constant‐head, soil pipe and internal erosion experiments for two soils (clay loam from Dry Creek and sandy loam from Cow Creek streambanks) packed at uniform bulk densities. Initial gravimetric moisture contents prior to packing were 10, 12 and 14% for Dry Creek soil and 8, 12, and 14% for Cow Creek soil. A 1‐cm diameter rod was placed horizontally along the length of the soil bed during packing and carefully removed after packing to create a continuous soil pipe. A constant head was maintained at the inflow end. Flow rates and sediment concentrations were measured from the pipe outlet. Replicate submerged jet erosion tests (JETs) were conducted to derive erodibility parameters for repacked samples at the same moisture contents. Flow rates from the box experiments were used to calibrate the mechanistic model. The influence of the initial moisture content was apparent, with some pipes (8% moisture content) expanding so fast that limited data was collected. The mechanistic model was able to estimate equivalent flow rates to those observed in the experiments, but had difficulty matching observed sediment concentrations when the pipes rapidly expanded. The JETs predicted similar erodibility coefficients compared to the mechanistic model for the more erodible cases but not for the less erodible cases (14% moisture content). Improved models are needed that better define the changing soil pipe cross‐section during supply‐ and transport‐limited internal erosion, especially for piping through lower compacted (more erodible) soils as opposed to more well‐compacted soils resulting from constructing levees and dams. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of the performance of hysteretic energy dissipation bracing systems

The advantages of passive supplemental dampers for performance enhancement of new and existing structures have been demonstrated extensively in the past. The big amount of experimental tests carried out all over the world on framed structures upgraded by energy dissipating bracing (EDB) systems based on hysteretic dampers (HDs), have shown their effectiveness in reducing seismic effects on buildings. The mechanical characteristics of the HDs in some cases may be different from those arising by the design procedure due to industrial tolerance or because of some damage suffered during previous earthquakes. In order to assess the robustness of this technique, in terms of capacity of seismic vibrations control even for significant changes in the mechanical characteristics of the EDB system respect to the design ones, in this paper experimental tests and parametric nonlinear time history analysis have been carried out changing the characteristics of the HD stiffness and strength. The experimental results refer to the shaking table tests performed at the Structural Laboratory of the University of Basilicata within a wide research program, named Joint Experimental Testing on Passive and semiActive Control Systems. The program has been completely funded by the Italian Department of Civil Protection within the activity of the Research Line 7 of the ReLUIS (Italian Network of University Laboratories of Earthquake Engineering) 2005–2008 project. A displacement-focused design procedure has been considered to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of the dissipating system, with the aim of limiting inter-storey drifts after frame yielding. From the experimental point of view, two design solutions have been tested for chevron braces equipped with HD, assuming the same stiffness but different values of both ductility demand and yield strength of the HDs. Moreover, parametric studies have been performed through numerical simulations. This paper provides an overview of the experimental set up and briefly summarizes the experimental outcomes and the comparison with the results of numerical nonlinear time history analysis. Moreover, the results of the parametric analysis for the assessment of the performances of the dissipating system in controlling structural response are presented.