Geotechnical and machinery properties influencing the offshore pile drillability

Foundations of offshore oil and gas production platforms or wind parks are in the majority of cases piled-based. Piles are mainly driven to a certain design depth using hammers. However, there are many situations were driven piles cannot be properly installed. Plug formation or presence of rock layers and/or boulders preclude the correct installation. Since time is a key factor in offshore operations, offshore drilled piles are not very common. Their high level of uncertainty is mainly due to the complexity to assess a pile drillability analysis. For these reasons, assessing the drilling time needed to overcome the problems is very important. The following research compared first of all several well-known equations used for estimating the tunnel boring machine (TBM) excavation rate. Second, a novel approach has been used, which is based on the estimation of the specific energy. After having performed continuous automatic diagraphy tests in Turin subsoils (Italy), values of friction angles and compressive strength were obtained. Specific energy was calculated at the scale of the continuous automatic diagraphy test as a function of ξ, which is a coefficient depending on the geotechnical parameters assumed by Nishimatsu. It is therefore possible to estimate the drilling rate for different values of friction angle and cohesion.     

Spacecraft trajectories to the L<Subscript>3</Subscript> point of the Sun–Earth three-body problem

Of the three collinear libration points of the Sun–Earth Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP), L₃ is that located opposite to the Earth with respect to the Sun and approximately at the same heliocentric distance. Whereas several space missions have been launched to the other two collinear equilibrium points, i.e., L₁ and L₂, taking advantage of their dynamical and geometrical characteristics, the region around L₃ is so far unexploited. This is essentially due to the severe communication limitations caused by the distant and permanent opposition to the Earth, and by the gravitational perturbations mainly induced by Jupiter and the close passages of Venus, whose effects are more important than those due to the Earth. However, the adoption of a suitable periodic orbit around L₃ to ensure the necessary communication links with the Earth, or the connection with one or more relay satellites located at L₄ or L₅, and the simultaneous design of an appropriate station keeping-strategy, would make it possible to perform valuable fundamental physics and astrophysics investigations from this location. Such an opportunity leads to the need of studying the ways to transfer a spacecraft (s/c) from the Earth’s vicinity to L₃. In this contribution, we investigate several trajectory design methods to accomplish such a transfer, i.e., various types of two-burn impulsive trajectories in a Sun-s/c two-body model, a patched conics strategy exploiting the gravity assist of the nearby planets, an approach based on traveling on invariant manifolds of periodic orbits in the Sun–Earth CR3BP, and finally a low-thrust transfer. We examine advantages and drawbacks, and we estimate the propellant budget and time of flight requirements of each.     

Theoretical Study on the TBM Tool-Rock Interaction

Despite several decades of academic rock mechanics and practical rock engineering there is still a lack of some fundamental knowledge on rock-tool interaction. A model is considered in this paper that takes the constitutive law of the rock, the presence of the tunnel head, the discontinuities and the amount of the natural stress due to the high overburden in the presence of the forces caused by the TBM disk on the tunnel head, into account in the failure mode.     

The response of drainage basins to the late Quaternary tectonics in the Sicilian side of the Messina Strait (NE Sicily)

Despite more than 40 yr of research attributing temporal changes in streambank erosion rates to subaerial processes, little quantitative information is available on the relationships between streambank erodibility (k_d) and critical shear stress (τ_c) and the environmental conditions and processes that enhance streambank erosion potential. The study goal was to evaluate temporal changes in k_d and τ_c from soil desiccation and freeze–thaw cycling. Soil erodibility and τ_c were measured monthly in situ using a multiangle, submerged jet test device. Soil moisture, temperature, and bulk density as well as precipitation, air temperature, and stream stage were measured continuously to determine changes in soil moisture content and state. Pairwise Mann–Whitney tests indicted k_d was 2.9 and 2.1 times higher (p < 0.0065) during the winter (December–March) than in the spring/fall (April–May, October–November) and the summer (June–September), respectively. Regression analysis showed 80% of the variability in k_d was explained by freeze–thaw cycling alone. Study results also indicated soil bulk density was highly influenced by winter weather conditions (r² = 0.86): bulk density was inversely related to both soil water content and freeze–thaw cycling. Results showed that significant changes in the resistance of streambank soils to fluvial erosion can be attributed to subaerial processes. Water resource professionals should consider the implications of increased soil erodibility during the winter in the development of channel erosion models and stream restoration designs.     

Statistical analysis of some main geomechanical formulations evaluated with the Kaniadakis exponential law

The following paper reviews four well-known geomechanical equations, i.e. the elastic modulus of the rock mass as function of the Rock Mass Rating (RMR) system, the relation between Rock Quality Designation (RQD) and spacing distribution of the natural discontinuities in the rock mass, the distribution of the discontinuity spacing along a straight line for a rock mass and the intact rock strength in function of the specimen diameter by using a power-law flat tails equation based on the theory of Kaniadakis. The results show that by using novel formulations, the experimental data are better approximated by the power-law flat tails statistical approach, which shows a trend similar to ordinary exponential for a certain part of the interval of variability of x; the tails, however, follow the power law for extreme values of x. It was, therefore, possible to obtain new formulations able to better represent some fundamental aspects of geomechanics.     

Gravimetric Study Of A Retrogressive Landslide In Southern Italy

Post-failure activity of the December 1993 Senerchia slump-earthflow was characterised by intermittent recession of the headscarp and earthflow movements. The retrogression showed considerable spatial variability, depending on the properties of the geological materials. The retrogressive failures were preceded by intense fissuring of the ground in the crown zone. Two microgravimetric surveys were carried out in order to detect possible spatial-temporal density variations in an area upslope of the headscarp. Although it was not possible to recognise any significant temporal density changes, this surveying revealed the presence of a negative anomaly which coincided with the area of maximum headscarp retreat. The gravity modelling was constrained by borehole information and new headscarp exposures produced by a series of retrogressive failures suggested that the origin of the anomaly might be associated with a hollow in an underlying clay-rich bedrock which had been subsequently filled by coarse colluvium. A possible concentration of groundwater in the hollow and its discharge towards the headscarp area controlled the local slope instability. The results of this study showed that microgravimetric surveys conducted upslope of retrogressive landslides can provide useful information on subsurface lithological heterogeneities that may control the amount and preferential direction of upslope landslide enlargement.     

The people’s food: the ingredients of “ethnic” hierarchies and the development of Chinese restaurants in Rome

In the last 20 years, the growth of Chinese immigration in Italy has increased, being characterized by multiple migration strategies linked to transnational economic activities. This has been particularly the case with the Chinese immigrant community in Rome, where many of these immigrants are involved in the restaurant or import–export business. In this context, the Chinese immigrant presence in the restaurant sector will be analysed in detail within a multimethod approach developed to explore the number, location and characteristics of all Chinese restaurants that were opened and closed since the 1970s. This exercise in economic geography is linked to other questions such as power and cultural relations, urban planning practices and the discourses of racism. The development and the geography of the Chinese restaurants allow us to understand not only how far or close they are to the mainstream Italian restaurant sector, but also the spatial trajectories of Roman Chinese in general within the urban landscape. As Chinese restaurants outside China have become a symbol of transnational Chinese identity, it is worth considering the real spatial practices attached to the construction and negotiation of this transnationality.     

Relation water content ratio-to-liquidity index versus the Atterberg limits ratio evaluated with the Kaniadakis exponential law

Water content ratio (WCR) is defined as the ratio water content to liquid limit (LL) and it is proved to be a good replacer of the well-known parameter liquidity index (LI) to predict shear strength of fine-grained soils. An interesting correlation between the slope of LI and WCR and LL/PL ratio was observed. However, this trend is poorly described by conventional regression functions. By employing the Kaniadakis exponential law based on the relativistic mechanics, 22 data set, considering the LL/PL vs the slope of LI and WCR, were very-well matched.     

The influence of temperature and seawater composition on calcite crystal growth mechanisms and kinetics: Implications for Mg incorporation in calcite lattice

The composition of carbonate minerals formed in past and present oceans is assumed to be significantly controlled by temperature and seawater composition. To determine if and how temperature is kinetically responsible for the amount of Mg incorporated in calcite, we quantified the influence of temperature and specific dissolved components on the complex mechanism of calcite precipitation in seawater. A kinetic study was carried out in artificial seawater and NaCl-CaCl₂ solutions, each having a total ionic strength of 0.7 M. The constant addition technique was used to maintain [Ca²⁺] at 10.5 mmol kg⁻¹ while [] was varied to isolate the role of this variable on the precipitation rate of calcite.Our results show that the overall reaction of calcite precipitation in both seawater and NaCl-CaCl₂ solutions is dominated by the following reaction: