Response of base-isolated buildings to wind loading

The response of base-isolated buildings to gusting wind is analysed theoretically based on experimental data obtained in a boundary layer wind tunnel. A comparison is made with the response evaluated using existing codes. A special procedure, similar to that of current codes, for computing the alongwind and torsional responses of base-isolated buildings is presented.     

Tropical weathering control of Ni, Cu, Co, and platinum group element distributions at the O'Toole Ni-Cu sulphide deposit, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The O'Toole nickel sulphide deposit is located in the Southern Plateau morphological and structural province of Minas Gerais, which has a humid tropical climate characterized by a mean temperature of 19°C and rainfall of 1600 mm. The primary ore reserve is 5.44 million tonnes at 2.72% Ni, 0.45% Cu, 0.06% Co, and 1.3 ppm combined platinum-group elements. Tropical weathering of the vertically dipping orebody has created gossans at the surface, an oxidized zone to a depth of about 20 m, and a zone of transition above fresh ore to a depth of up to 70 m. The weathering profile is similar mineralogically to the profiles at the Kambalda, Mt. Windarra, and Agnew Ni sulphide deposits in Western Australia, but differs in the depth extents of its mineralogically distinctive zones. These zones exhibit geochemically distinctive enrichments and depletions of various elements in this environment based on mass balance calculations and on the relative immobility of iridium. The work presented characterizes the geochemical behavior of Ni, Cu, Co, and platinum-group elements in the weathering of the O'Toole deposit.     

Transition enthalpies and entropies of high pressure zinc metasilicates and zinc metagermanates

The enthalpies of transition at T= 298 K between zinc metasilicate assemblages, measured by molten oxide solution calorimetry, are:

Cation disorder in garnets along the Mg3Al2Si3O12-Mg4Si4O12 join: an infrared,Raman and NMR study

We have obtained infrared and Raman spectra for garnets synthesized at high (static) pressures and temperatures along the join Mg₃Al₂Si₃O₁₂ (pyrope) — Mg₄Si₄O₁₂ (magnesium majorite). The vibrational spectra of Mg-majorite show a large number of additional weak peaks compared with the spectra of cubic pyrope garnet, consistent with tetragonal symmetry for the MgSiO₃ garnet phase. The Raman bands for this phase show no evidence for line broadening, suggesting that Mg and Si are ordered on octahedral sites in the garnet. The bands for the intermediate garnet compositions are significantly broadened compared with the end-members pyrope and Mg-majorite, indicating cation disorder in the intermediate phases. Solid state ²⁷Al NMR spectroscopy for pyrope and two intermediate compositions show that Al is present only on octahedral sites, so the cation disorder is most likely confined to Mg-Al-Si mixing on the octahedral sites. We have also obtained a Raman spectrum for a natural, shock-produced (Fe,Mg) majorite garnet. The sharp Raman peaks suggest little or no cation disorder in this sample.     

Extension of Penman's formulae to multi-layer models

In this paper, the well-established multi-layer model originally devised by Waggoner and Reifsnyder (1968) is used. This steady-state model based on an electrical analogue simulates the energy exchange between the vegetation and the atmosphere. A purely mathematical development of the basic equations of this model yields explicit expressions of the total fluxes of sensible and latent heat at the top of the canopy as a function of the net radiation absorbed in each layer, the soil heat flux, the water vapour pressure deficit at a reference height and the whole set of elementary conductances (stomatal, boundary-layer and aerodynamic). These new equations can be considered as a generalization of the familiar Penman's formulae to a multi-layer model.     

Observations of longitudinal roll vortices during arctic cold air outbreaks over open water

An evolving convective Arctic planetary boundary layer (PBL) containing longitudinal roll vortices (rolls) was observed with aircraft data during the 1983 Marginal Ice Zone Experiment and the 1984 Arctic Cyclone Experiment.The PBL is observed to grow rapidly as the very cold and dry air flows off the ice over the relatively warm water. There is very large sensible heat flux, a result of the large surface-air temperature differences. Coherent structures were identified in these PBL's by use of power, coherence squared and phase spectra of the data. A systematic method of separating the rolls from organized thermal plumes was devised, based on theoretical characteristics for roll circulations and the resulting modified mean wind profile. The rapid mixing by the rolls aids in the establishment of equilibrium and an observed adiabatic modified mean Ekman layer. Rolls that form in a thermally neutral atmosphere over ice have different characteristics than those that appear in the unstable stratification over water. The rolls become increasingly more convective in character with distance from the ice edge. They have aspect ratios (wavelength/PBL height) that decrease with distance from the ice edge in agreement with linear theory. This is in contrast to the cloud street wavelength to inversion height ratio which is observed to increase downwind from the ice edge.