A comparative study of different model families for the constitutive simulation of viscous clays

The simulation of the viscous behavior of some clays is of high importance in many geotechnical problems. The literature offers a vast amount of constitutive models able to simulate the rate dependence observed on these materials. Although most of these models are calibrated to very similar experimental observations and share similar definitions of material parameters, some discrepancies of their response have been detected, which are related to their mathematical formulations. In this work, the causes of these discrepancies are carefully studied. To that end, four different model families are analyzed, namely, nonstationary flow surface (NSFS) models, viscoplasticity with overstress function (OVP), viscoplasticity with Norton's power law (NVP), and visco-hypoplasticity (VHP). For the sake of a fair comparison, single constitutive models using the same set of material parameters, and following other requirements, are developed for each model family. Numerical implementations of the four resulting models are performed. Their response at different tests are carefully analyzed through simulation examples and direct examination of their constitutive equations. The set includes some basic tests at isotropic stress states and others as responses envelopes, undrained creep rupture, and an oedometer test with loading, unloading-reloading, creep, and relaxation. The article is concluded with some remarks about the observed discrepancies of these model families.     

Der Steingrund bei Helgoland

Zusammenfassung Der Steingrund, eine Bank in etwa 9 m Tiefe, 5–6 sm nordostwärts von Helgoland, wurde 1953 von Atair mit modernen Methoden vermessen, nachdem sich die Notwendigkeit herausgestellt hatte, die letzte vorhergehende Vermessung (1908) zu überholen. Die Form des Grundes wurde in fast der gleichen Gestalt bestätigt, und auch die geographische Lage wurde mit derjenigen von 1908 in Übereinstimmung befunden.

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The Steingrund near the Island of Heligoland

Summary The Steingrund, a bank at a depth of about 9 m, located at a distance of about 5–6 sm northeast from the Island of Heligoland was surveyed for the first time in 1908. As a verification proved to be necessary, another survey was undertaken with modern methods on board the surveying cutter Atair in 1953. According to this survey the form of the Steingrund as well as its geographical position were found to correspond almost completely with the 1908 records.

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Le Steingrund au voisinage de l'île d'Heligoland

Résumé Le Steingrund, un banc en 9 mètres de profondeur, situé à une distance de 5–6 milles marins environ au nord-est de l'île d'Heligoland fut relevé dernièrement en 1908. Comme il se montra nécessaire d'en vérifier les résultats, on effectua un autre relèvement avec des méthodes modernes à bord de la chaloupe hydrographique Atair en 1953. On trouva que la forme actuelle du Steingrund se confond prèsque complètement avec celle que l'on avait constatée en 1908 et que sa position géographique correspond également avec celle déterminée en 1908.

     

Influence of Hematite Coating on the Activation of the Swelling Potential of Smectite-Bearing Rocks

The fraction of swelling-type clay minerals (smectites) is a first measure to estimate the swelling potential of natural rocks. This swelling potential is only activated if water can be incorporated in the sheet silicates. The samples studied in this work are volcanic rocks from the Southern Andes. According to the petrographic and mineralogical studies, the rocks are characterized as vulcanite with high content of smectite. Undisturbed samples showed minor swelling behaviour in conventional swelling tests, although X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis revealed swelling clay contents of more than 70 % in some samples. Powder swelling tests were performed on ground and recompacted rock samples. The results of these tests show a better agreement with those expected according to the mineralogical composition of the samples. The reason for the non-activation of the swelling potential in undisturbed samples was suspected to be the influence of the iron-oxide/hydroxide content, which was on average around 11 %. Scanning electron microscope images showed that the edge terminations of the clay particles are coated with hematite. The hydrophobic properties of hematite impede the access of water between the interlayers of the clay minerals and, in addition, hematite cementation prevents the expansion. In a further series of swelling tests water was replaced by a reducing solution (0.1 molar hydroxylammonium chloride) which removes the Fe-oxide coating. It can be shown that thus the swelling potential of the clay minerals in such undisturbed rocks can be activated.     

Ozone abundance on Mars from infrared heterodyne spectra: I. Acquisition, retrieval, and anticorrelation with water vapor

Observations of ozone on Mars were made using the Goddard Space Flight Center's Infrared Heterodyne Spectrometer and Heterodyne Instrument for Planetary Wind and Composition at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. Ozone is an important observable tracer of martian photochemistry. Infrared heterodyne spectroscopy with spectral resolution ?¹⁰⁶ is the only technique that directly measures ozone in the martian atmosphere from the surface of the Earth. Ozone column abundances down to the martian surface were acquired in seven data sets taken between 1988 and 2003 at various orbital positions (LS=40°, 74°, 102°, 115°, 202°, 208°, 291°). Ozone abundances are compared with those retrieved using ultraviolet techniques, showing good agreement. Odd hydrogen (HO_X) chemistry predicts anticorrelation of ozone and water vapor abundances. Retrieved ozone abundances consistently show anticorrelation with corresponding water vapor abundances, providing strong confirmation of odd hydrogen activity. Deviation from strict anticorrelation between the observed total column densities of ozone and water vapor suggests that constituent vertical distribution is an additional, significant factor.     

J.H. Hagedoorn – inventing the Hapa: A review of a geophysicist's 'other' work and how it inspired others

This paper describes J.G. Hagedoorn's work on 'ultimate sailing'– the combination of a manned kite and a water kite called a Hapa, constituting a minimal sailing system – and the way others have taken up his challenge to sail while suspended from a kite. Hagedoorn's goal has not been entirely achieved, but 'near' and partial solutions have been reached. Kite-Hapa-sailing continues to pose a 'Holy Grail' type challenge to many kite-sailors.     

Crystallographic studies of some olivine-related (Ni,Mg)3(PO4)2 solid solutions

Olivine-related (Ni, Mg)₃(PO₄)₂ solid solutions were prepared and equilibrated at 1070 K. Accurate monoclinic unit cell dimensions were determined from Guinier-Hägg photographic data. Structural refinements based on the X-ray profile-fitting technique after Rietveld were carried out for pure nickel (II) orthophosphate and for three Ni/Mg solid solutions. (Ni_1-x Mg _x )₃(PO₄)₂ phases with 0.40≦x≦0.60 are probably isostructural with Ni₃(PO₄)₂ (P2₁/a) while phases with low magnesium contents (<27 atom % Mg) deviate structurally from Ni₃(PO₄)₂. The results also show that Ni²⁺ is partially ordered at the octahedralM(1) sites, withK _D (Ni, Mg)=4.0±0.2     

Flow rule in a high-cycle accumulation model backed by cyclic test data of 22 sands

The flow rule used in the high-cycle accumulation (HCA) model proposed by Niemunis et al. (Comput Geotech 32: 245, 2005) is examined on the basis of the data from approximately 350 drained long-term cyclic triaxial tests (N = 10⁵ cycles) performed on 22 different grain-size distribution curves of a clean quartz sand. In accordance with (Wichtmann et al. in Acta Geotechnica 1: 59, 2006), for all tested materials, the “high-cyclic flow rule (HCFR)”, i.e., the ratio of the volumetric and deviatoric strain accumulation rates \(\dot{\varepsilon}_{\rm{v}}^{{\rm acc}}/\dot{\varepsilon}_{\rm{q}}^{{\rm acc}}\) , was found dependent primarily on the average stress ratio η ^av = q ^av/p ^av and independent of amplitude, soil density and average mean pressure. The experimental HCFR can be fairly well approximated by the flow rule of the modified Cam-clay (MCC) model. Instead of the critical friction angle \(\varphi_{\rm{c}}\) which enters the flow rule for monotonic loading, the HCA model uses the MCC flow rule expression with a slightly different parameter \(\varphi_{\rm{cc}}\) . It should be determined from cyclic tests. \(\varphi_{\rm{cc}}\) and \(\varphi_{\rm{c}}\) are of similar magnitude but not always identical, because they are calibrated from different types of tests. For a simplified calibration in the absence of cyclic test data, \(\varphi_{\rm{cc}}\) may be estimated from the angle of repose \(\varphi_{\rm{r}}\) determined from a pluviated cone of sand (Wichtmann et al. in Acta Geotechnica 1: 59, 2006). However, the paper demonstrates that the MCC flow rule with \(\varphi_{\rm{r}}\) does not fit well the experimentally observed HCFR in the case of coarse or well-graded sands. For an improved simplified calibration procedure, correlations between \(\varphi_{\rm{cc}}\) and parameters of the grain-size distribution curve (d ₅₀,   C _u) have been developed on the basis of the present data set. The approximation of the experimental HCFR by the generalized flow rule equations proposed in (Wichtmann et al. in J Geotech Geoenviron Eng ASCE 136: 728, 2010), considering anisotropy, is also discussed in the paper.     

A tectono-stratigraphic record of an extensional basin: the Lower Jurassic Ab-Haji Formation of east-central Iran

The Lower Jurassic Ab-Haji Formation consists of siliciclastic strata which are widespread and superbly exposed across the Tabas and Lut blocks of east-central Iran. The formation records the geodynamic history of central Iran during the Early Jurassic in the aftermath of the main Cimmerian event (near the Triassic–Jurassic boundary) through its sedimentary facies and stratigraphic architecture and allows palaeogeographic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. We measured and studied three well-exposed outcrop sections and identified lithofacies and facies associations (fluvial plain, delta plain, delta front, prodelta, and shallow-marine siliciclastic shelf). The integration of all geological, stratigraphic, and sedimentological data shows a west-to-east continental-to-marine gradient within the Ab-Haji Formation. Based on thickness variations, lateral facies changes, palaeocurrent patterns, and changes in the nature of the basal contact of the Ab-Haji Formation on the Tabas and Lut blocks, we locate the fault-bounded Yazd Block in the west and the Shotori Swell at the eastern edge of the Tabas Block as provenance regions. The pattern of thickness variations, rapid east–west facies changes, and provenance is best explained by a tectonic model invoking large tilted fault blocks in an extensional basin. The basal unit shows distinct increase in grain size at the base of the Ab-Haji Formation, similar to the Shemshak Group of the Alborz Mountains (the base of the Alasht Formation) and the non-marine time-equivalent succession of the Binalud Mountains of northeastern Iran. This grain size pattern may have been caused by rapid source area uplift due to slab break-off of the subducted Iran plate in the course of the Cimmerian collision in east-central Iran.