Information, uncertainty and decision making in site investigation for rock engineering

Although there is general awareness that uncertainty, information and decision making are key elements of site investigation, there has previously been little comprehensive attempt to formalize these factors in the site investigation process. In modern design, rock engineering is considered as a system and it is necessary to establish the key variables and interactions between the variables within the system as a precursor to design. Then, questions concerning (i) the information required to characterize the system, (ii) the uncertainty associated with this information, and (iii) the influence that this has on decision making, naturally arise and need to be addressed. We consider the application of information theory to geotechnical engineering through interpretation of informatic concepts in a rock mechanics context. Examples are then given, concentrating on the ideas of information received in sequential phases of site investigation, the information content of rock-mass classification systems, and the information content of scalar and vector quantities using discontinuity frequency as an example. In the concluding section, there are recommendations for making improvements to site investigation using information theory.     

Large-scale active coronal phenomena in Yohkoh SXT images

We discuss Yohkoh SXT observations of stationary giant post-flare arches which occurred on 3–6 May, 1992 and study in detail the last arch, associated with the flare at 19:02 UT on 5 May, which extended above the west limb. The arch was similar to the first giant arch discovered on board the SMM, on 21–22 May, 1980. We demonstrate that the long lifetimes of these structures necessarily imply additional energy input from the underlying active region: otherwise, conduction would cool these arches in less than one hour and even with the unlikely assumption of conduction inhibited, pure radiative cooling would not produce the temperature decrease observed. All arch tops, although varying in brightness, stayed for several days at a fairly constant altitude of 100 000 km, and the arch studied, on 5–6 May, was just a new brightening of the pre-existing decaying structure. The brightening was apparently due to inflow of hot plasma from the flare region. Yohkoh data confirm that these stationary arches are rare phenomena when compared with the rising arches studied in Paper I and with Uchida et al.'s expanding active regions.     

TRACE and Yohkoh Observations of High-Temperature Plasma in a Two-Ribbon Limb Flare

The ability of the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) to image solar plasma over a wide range of temperatures (Te approximately 104-107 K) at high spatial resolution (0&farcs;5 pixels) makes it a unique instrument for observing solar flares. We present TRACE and Yohkoh observations of an M2.4 two-ribbon flare that began on 1999 July 25 at about 13:08 UT. We observe impulsive footpoint brightenings that are followed by the formation of high-temperature plasma (Te greater, similar10 MK) in the corona. After an interval of about 1300 s, cooler loops (Te<2 MK) form below the hot plasma. Thus, the evolution of the event supports the qualitative aspects of the standard reconnection model of solar flares. The TRACE and Yohkoh data show that the bulk of the flare emission is at or below 10 MK. The TRACE data are also consistent with the Yohkoh observations of hotter plasma (Te approximately 15-20 MK) existing at the top of the arcade. The cooling time inferred from these observations is consistent with a hybrid cooling time based on thermal conduction and radiative cooling.     

Optimizing the control of rock failure in servo-controlled laboratory tests

SummaryOptimizing the Control of Rock Failure in Servo-Controlled Laboratory Tests Recent studies of rock failure have been made with a closed loop servo-controlled testing machine. Feedback from the failing specimen is electronically compared with a pre-determined program and the hydraulic system is continuously and automatically adjusted to ensure that feedback and program are coincident. It is suggested that optimum control of rock failure in any laboratory test is achieved when the closed loop feedback represents the most sensitive indicator of failure. Any required experimental output can then be independently monitored. This method was applied to a variety of rock specimens loaded in uniaxial compression using lateral displacement as feedback. It was possible to control the failure of some rocks which had failed explosively in previous tests where the axial displacement had been programmed to increase monotonically.

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ZusammenfassungOptimale Aufzeichnung des Bruchablaufes von Gestein in servo-gesteuerten Laborversuchen Studien zum Bruch von Gesteinsproben wurden kürzlich mit einem elektronisch geregelten Belastungssystem vorgenommen. Bei diesem System werden Meßdaten der über die maximale Bruchverformung hinaus deformierten Probe mit einem vorgegebenen Verformungs-Programm elektronisch verglichen und das hydraulische Belastungs-System wird dementsprechend kontinuierlich geregelt.Ein optimaler Ablauf des Bruchvorganges wird gewährleistet, wenn das Regelsystem durch möglichst feinstufige Meßdaten der Bruchverformung gesteuert wird. Jede gewünschte zusätzliche physikalische Größe kann dann unabhängig davon gemessen werden.Die Meßmethode wurde bei einachsigen Belastungsversuchen von verschiedenen Gesteinsproben angewendet, wobei zur Steuerung des Regelsystems die gemessene Verformung normal zur Belastungsrichtung gewählt wurde. Dabei war es möglich, auch den Bruch solcher Gesteinsproben zu beherrschen, welche bei früheren Versuchen, bei denen der Vorgang aufgrund der Verformung in Belastungsrichtung mit stetigem Verlauf programmiert wurde, explosionsartig geborsten waren.

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RésuméPour un meilleur contrôle de la rupture des roches dans les essais de laboratoire sur machines asservies Des études récentes sur la rupture des roches ont fait usage de machines d'essai asservies.La réponse de l'éprouvette en cours de rupture est comparée électroniquement à un programme fixé à l'avance, et le système hydraulique est ajusté continuellement et automatiquement pour faire coïncider la réponse avec le programme.On suggère que le meilleur contrôle sera obtenu, quel que soit l'essai, si le signal utilisé représente l'indicateur le plus sensible de la progression de la rupture. Toute autre grandeur physique qui est jugée nécessaire peut alors être enregistrée indépendamment.Cette méthode a été appliquée à la compression monoaxiale de diverses roches, en employant comme signal la déformation transversale. On a pu ainsi régulariser la rupture de certaines roches, qui était explosive dans des essais antérieurs où la déformation axiale augmentait suivant un programme monotone.(Dans cet article, la rupture est un processus, comportant notamment la naissance et le développement de fissures, qui ne peut être observé, avec les machines d'essai classiques, à cause de l'explosion due à une libération brutale de l'énergie de déformation emmaganisée dans la presse. Le contrôle de la rupture, au sens anglais, correspond à une régularisation de ce processus. Note de la Rédaction.)

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Climatic soil moisture deficit - climate and soil data integration in a GIS

This paper discusses a GIS based implementation of a model for soil droughtiness assessment evaluating the impact of possible climate change. It focuses, in particular, on the development of a methodology for mapping Available Water Capacity. An assessment of the Soil Drought Susceptibility for Scotland in the year 2030 is made and illustrated with maps and derived statistics.     

The replacement of chrome spinel by chromian valleriite in sulphide-bearing ultramafic rocks in Western Australia

Chromian valleriite occurs as a replacement product of chrome spinel in the Nepean and Perseverance nickel-iron sulphide deposits of Western Australia. Compositions determined for chromian valleriites are variable due to intergrowth with spinel and to substitution of Fe and Ni for Cu. At Perseverance, valleriite, with minor admixed chrome spinel, has a composition expressed by the formula Fe_1.18Cu_0.81Ni_0.01S_2.00·2.03[Mg_0.50Cr_0.37Mn_0.08Fe_0.03Ti_0.01Al_0.01(OH)_2.00]. Nepean valleriites are similarly intergrown with spinel, with the purest chromian valleriites varying in composition from a nickel-poor Fe_1.21Cu_0.78Ni_0.01S_2.00·1-46.[Mg_0.43Cr_0.18Mn_0.05Fe_0.30(OH)₂] to Fe_1.58Cu_0.28Ni_0.15S_2.00·1.79[Mg_0.51Cr_0.30Fe_0.16Ti_0.03(OH)₂]. Conversion of chrome spinel to valleriite is attributed to addition of Cu and S from the breakdown of chalcopyrite, addition of Mg from serpentinising olivine and limited addition of Ni from the breakdown of pentlandite to mackinawite. These processes are thought to occur as post-metamorphic hydrothermal reactions in nickel sulphide ores that have been subjected to high grade regional metamorphism.