Predicting the initiation of static liquefaction of cross‐anisotropic sands under multiaxial stress conditions

Experimental evidence has shown that the liquefaction instability of sands can be affected by its material density, stress state, and inherent anisotropy. In order to predict the initiation of the static liquefaction of inherent cross‐anisotropic sands under multidimensional stress conditions, a rational constitutive model is needed. An elastoplasticity model able to capture the influences of intermediate principal stress ratio (b  = (σ ₂ ? σ ₃)/(σ ₁ ? σ ₃)) and loading direction on stress–strain relationships and volumetric properties was proposed. The yield function was formulated to be controlled by Lode angle, loading direction, and material state; the stress–dilatancy was a material state‐dependent function. After using the existing drained hollow cylinder tests to validate the proposed model, this model was used to simulate the existing undrained hollow cylinder tests. During this simulation, the second‐order work criterion was used to determine the initiation of static liquefaction. The results showed that an increase in both the intermediate principal stress ratio and the loading angle induces a decrease in the second‐order work. Static liquefaction is initiated more easily at a stress state with a large intermediate principal stress ratio and a large loading angle, and the mobilized friction angle at the instability points decreases with the intermediate principal stress ratio and the loading angle. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical modeling of hydraulic fracture propagation,closure and reopening using XFEM with application to in‐situ stress estimation

In this paper, a fully coupled model is developed for numerical modeling of hydraulic fracturing in partially saturated weak porous formations using the extended finite element method, which provides an effective means to simulate the coupled hydro‐mechanical processes occurring during hydraulic fracturing. The developed model is for short fractures where plane strain assumptions are valid. The propagation of the hydraulic fracture is governed by the cohesive crack model, which accounts for crack closure and reopening. The developed model allows for fluid flow within the open part of the crack and crack face contact resulting from fracture closure. To prevent the unphysical crack face interpenetration during the closing mode, the crack face contact or self‐contact condition is enforced using the penalty method. Along the open part of the crack, the leakage flux through the crack faces is obtained directly as a part of the solution without introducing any simplifying assumption. If the crack undergoes the closing mode, zero leakage flux condition is imposed along the contact zone. An application of the developed model is shown in numerical modeling of pump‐in/shut‐in test. It is illustrated that the developed model is able to capture the salient features bottomhole pressure/time records exhibit and can extract the confining stress perpendicular to the direction of the hydraulic fracture propagation from the fracture closure pressure. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Evaluation of the Effects of Primary and Cross‐Contamination during the Preparation of Rock Powders for Chemical Determinations

Quartz crystals from the Batatal site, Minas Gerais, southern Brazil, were used to determine quantitatively primary contamination when submitting the samples to milling processes. Crushing devices used were a primary steel jaw crusher (br1), a secondary tungsten carbide (WC) crusher (br2) and a hydraulic press with stainless steel plates (pr). Fragments with suitable sizes were then ground in different Fritsch planetary mills, equipped with agate, WC and chromium‐steel rings for 7, 4 and 3 min, respectively. Solutions of the powders were analysed initially with the TotalQuant^? method in a quadrupole ICP‐MS instrument, providing semi‐quantitative results for seventy‐five elements. Contamination from crushers and mills was visible in major and minor elements such as Fe, Mn and Ti, and noticeable in trace elements such as Cr, Co, Ni, Cu and also V, Zr, Sc; significant contamination was observed from W, Mo, Co, Ta and Nb (mainly by use of the WC devices). Little or no contamination was observed for Pb, REE, Sr and Rb, elements that are important in routine isotopic determinations. Cross‐contamination was tested by grinding either a granite or a basalt sample, followed by conventional cleaning with mica‐free quartz sand, before the working quartz powder was prepared.     

Blueschists of the Amassia-Stepanavan Suture Zone (Armenia): linking Tethys subduction history from E-Turkey to W-Iran

The Amassia–Stepanavan blueschist-ophiolite complex of the Lesser Caucasus in NW Armenia is part of an Upper Cretaceous-Cenozoic belt, which presents similar metamorphic features as other suture zones from Turkey to Iran. The blueschists include calcschists, metaconglomerates, quartzites, gneisses and metabasites, suggesting a tectonic mélange within an accretionary prism. This blueschist mélange is tectonically overlain by a low-metamorphic grade ophiolite sequence composed of serpentinites, gabbro-norite pods, plagiogranites, basalts and radiolarites. The metabasites include high-P assemblages (glaucophane–aegirine–clinozoisite–phengite), which indicate maximal burial pressure of ∼1.2 GPa at ∼550°C. Most blueschists show evidence of greenschist retrogression (chlorite—epidote, actinolite), but locally epidote-amphibolite conditions were attained (garnet—epidote, Ca/Na amphibole) at a pressure of ∼0.6 GPa and a temperature of ∼500°C. This LP–MT retrogression is coeval with exhumation and nappe-stacking of lower grade units over higher grade ones. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar phengite ages obtained on the high-P assemblages range between 95 and 90 Ma, while ages obtained for epidote-amphibolite retrogression assemblages range within 73.5–71 Ma. These two metamorphic phases are significant of (1) HP metamorphism during a phase of subduction in the Cenomanian–Turonian times followed by (2) exhumation in the greenschist to epidote-amphibolite facies conditions during the Upper Campanian/Maastrichtian due to the onset of continental subduction of the South Armenian block below Eurasia.     

Stratigraphical evidence of Late Holocene barrier breaching and extreme storms in lagoonal sediments of Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal

Stratigraphical, sedimentological and paleoecological studies undertaken in lagoonal sediments of the Ria Formosa barrier lagoon indicate that a number of present-day aligned beaches outcropping within the marsh and detached from mainland (marsh detached beaches, MDB) represent the remnants of former ephemeral flood deltas, which established following barrier breaching induced by extreme storms from circa 1270 BC onwards. Dating of these beaches suggests that they resulted from multiple events of flooding separated both in time and space. Repeated emplacement of tidal deltas following overwash of the same location of the barrier is represented in the stratigraphical record by buried and partly overlapping marsh beaches. It is suggested that further refinement of the data presented in this paper and the extension of the stratigraphic survey to the entire lagoonal space will substantiate the usefulness of the stratigraphic record as a proxy to hindcast a time series of extreme storminess extending far beyond the instrumental and historical records.     

Limits to Global Rotation and spin density in Einstein-Cartan Cosmology

Global rotation in the universe is investigated in the context of Einstein-Cartan cosmology. As a first example we compute the global limit to rotation on a flat affine connection teleparallelism, and obtain where ο is the rotation of the model and H₀ is the Hubble constant. Another example is given where the global rotation in the case of a Friedmann universe with torsion. In this example we place limits to global rotation from spin-torsion fluctuations and obtain a lower bound for global rotation of . This value is obtained from a spin-torsion density lower bound of10^-28g²cm^-2s^-2. Both limits are within current results obtained in the literature. Gravitational stability of Friedmann metric is also discussed. All these examples seems to indicate that torsion theories are well within present cosmological observations.     

On the dynamical stability of the very low-mass object Gliese 22 Bb

Gliese 22 is a hierarchical triple red dwarf system formed by two close components, Aa and Ab, and a distant component, B, which is moving around the center of mass of the first two.The possible existence of a fourth very low-mass object (15 Jupiter mass) orbiting around component B was reported by Docobo et al. (Docobo, J.A. et al. [2007]. IAU Commun. 26, 3-4). In this probable scenario with four bodies, component B would be in reality two: star Ba and the new object, Bb.Two full three-dimensional accurate (circular and elliptical) solutions for the orbit of Bb have been obtained, along with an improved arrangement of the system masses. In addition, such a multiple system is analyzed by means of a (2 + 2)-body model considering its evolution during 10 Myr. In particular, we have studied its apsidal motion in order to eventually find any evidence of chaotic behavior. The nature of the new object as a giant planet or a brown star is also discussed.     

A micro‐mechanical study of peak strength and critical state

We present a micro‐mechanical analysis of macroscopic peak strength, critical state, and residual strength in two‐dimensional non‐cohesive granular media. Typical continuum constitutive quantities such as frictional strength and dilation angle are explicitly related to their corresponding grain‐scale counterparts (e.g., inter‐particle contact forces, fabric, particle displacements, and velocities), providing an across‐the‐scale basis for a better understanding and modeling of granular materials. These multi‐scale relations are derived in three steps. First, explicit relations between macroscopic stress and strain rate with the corresponding grain‐scale mechanics are established. Second, these relations are used in conjunction with the non‐associative Mohr–Coulomb criterion to explicitly connect internal friction and dilation angles to the micro‐mechanics. Third, the mentioned explicit connections are applied to investigate, understand, and derive micro‐mechanical conditions for peak strength, critical state, and residual strength. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Brazilian Decimetric Array (Phase-I)

An East – West, one-dimensional radio interferometer array consisting of five parabolic dish antennas has been set up at Cachoeira Paulista (longitude 45°0′20″ W, latitude 22°41′19″ S) for observations of the Sun and some of the strong sidereal sources by the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Brazil. This is Phase-I of the proposed Brazilian Decimetric Array and can be operated at any frequency in the range 1.2 – 1.7 GHz. The instrument has been in operation since November 2004 onwards at 1.6 GHz. The angular and temporal resolutions at this frequency are ∼3′ and 100 ms, respectively. Details of the array, analog/digital receiver system, and a preliminary East – West one-dimensional solar image at the 1.6 GHz are presented in this paper.