Coal facies evolution of the main minable coal-bed in the Heidaigou Mine,Jungar Coalfield,Inner Mongolia,northern China

The No. 6 Coal-bed from the Heidaigou Mine, Jungar Coalfield, Inner Mongolia is a super-large Ga deposit. The dominant carrier of Ga is boehmite in coal. The study of coal facies may provide genetic enrichment information of Ga and its carrier (boehmite) in the Ga deposit. On the basis of study on coal petrology and mineralogy, it was found that the No. 6 Coal-bed from the Heidaigou Mine of Jungar was enriched in inertinites and the microlitho-types were dominated by clarodurite. The maceral morphological features and association indicate that the coal-bed was formed in a dry sedimentary environment or in a periodic dry sedimentary environment caused by the alternating variations of groundwater level. The optimum conditions for the enrichment of Ga and its particular carrier (boehmite) were dominated by four transitional conditions: (1) the upper delta plain which was the transitional zone between alluvial and lower delta plains, (2) the transitional zone between the dry and wet forest swamps, being slightly apt to the dry one, (3) the transitional tree density between the thick and loose ones, and (4) the low moor that was the transitional zone between two high moors during peat accumulation.     

Identification of modal parameters of non‐classically damped linear structures under multi‐component earthquake loading

A method for parametric system identification of classically damped linear system in frequency domain is adopted and extended for non‐classically damped linear systems subjected up to six components of earthquake ground motions. This method is able to work in multi‐input/multi‐output (MIMO) case. The response of a two‐degree‐of‐freedom model with non‐classical damping, excited by one‐component earthquake ground motion, is simulated and used to verify the proposed system identification method in the single‐input/multi‐output case. Also, the records of a 10 storey real building during the Northridge earthquake is used to verify the proposed system identification method in the MIMO case. In this case, at first, a single‐input/multi‐output assumption is considered for the system and modal parameters are identified, then other components of earthquake ground motions are added, respectively, and the modal parameters are identified again. This procedure is repeated until all four components of earthquake ground motions which are measured at the base level of the building are included in the identification process. The results of identification of real building show that consideration of non‐classical damping and inclusion of the multi‐components effect of earthquake ground motions can improve the least‐squares match between the finite Fourier transforms of recorded and calculated acceleration responses. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Energy demands for seismic design against low‐cycle fatigue

A seismic design procedure that does not take into account the maximum and cumulative plastic deformation demands that a structure is likely to undergo during severe ground motion could lead to unsatisfactory performance. In spite of this, current design procedures do not take into account explicitly the effect of low‐cycle fatigue. Based on the high correlation that exists between the strength reduction factor and the energy demand in earthquake‐resistant structures, simple procedures can be formulated to estimate the cumulative plastic deformation demands for design purposes. Several issues should be addressed during the use of plastic energy within a practical performance‐based seismic design methodology. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new approach of selecting real input ground motions for seismic design: The most unfavourable real seismic design ground motions

This paper presents a new way of selecting real input ground motions for seismic design and analysis of structures based on a comprehensive method for estimating the damage potential of ground motions, which takes into consideration of various ground motion parameters and structural seismic damage criteria in terms of strength, deformation, hysteretic energy and dual damage of Park & Ang damage index. The proposed comprehensive method fully involves the effects of the intensity, frequency content and duration of ground motions and the dynamic characteristics of structures. Then, the concept of the most unfavourable real seismic design ground motion is introduced. Based on the concept, the most unfavourable real seismic design ground motions for rock, stiff soil, medium soil and soft soil site conditions are selected in terms of three typical period ranges of structures. The selected real strong motion records are suitable for seismic analysis of important structures whose failure or collapse will be avoided at a higher level of confidence during the strong earthquake, as they can cause the greatest damage to structures and thereby result in the highest damage potential from an extended real ground motion database for a given site. In addition, this paper also presents the real input design ground motions with medium damage potential, which can be used for the seismic analysis of structures located at the area with low and moderate seismicity. The most unfavourable real seismic design ground motions are verified by analysing the seismic response of structures. It is concluded that the most unfavourable real seismic design ground motion approach can select the real ground motions that can result in the highest damage potential for a given structure and site condition, and the real ground motions can be mainly used for structures whose failure or collapse will be avoided at a higher level of confidence during the strong earthquake. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of the weightiness of site effects on reinforced concrete (RC) building seismic behaviour: The Adra town example (SE Spain)

The damage distribution in Adra town (south‐eastern Spain) during the 1993 and 1994 Adra earthquakes (5.0 magnitude), that reached a maximum intensity degree of VII (European Macroseismic Scale (EMS scale)), was concentrated mainly in the south‐east zone of the town and the most relevant damage occurred in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with four or five storeys. In order to evaluate the influence of ground condition on RC building behaviour, geological, geomorphological and geophysical surveys were carried out, and a detailed map of ground surface structure was obtained. Short‐period microtremor observations were performed in 160 sites on a 100m × 100m dimension grid and Nakamura's method was applied in order to determine a distribution map of soil predominant periods. Shorter predominant periods (0.1–0.3 s) were found in mountainous and neighbouring zones and larger periods (greater than 0.5 s) in thicker Holocene alluvial fans. A relationship T = (0.049 ± 0.001)N, where T is the natural period of swaying motion and N is the number of storeys, has been empirically obtained by using microtremor measurements at the top of 38 RC buildings (ranging from 2 to 9 storeys). 1‐D simulation of strong motion on different soil conditions and for several typical RC buildings were computed, using the acceleration record in Adra town of the 1993 earthquake. It is noteworthy that all the aforementioned results show the influence of site effects in the degree and distribution of observed building damage. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of surface characteristics on infiltration patterns in an arid shrub desert

Precipitation is often the sole source of water replenishment in arid and semi‐arid areas and, thus, plays a pertinent role in sustaining desert ecosystems. Revegetation over 40 years using mainly Artemisia ordosica and Caragana korshinskii at Shapotou Desert Experimental Research Station near Lanzhou, China, has established a dwarf‐shrub and microbiotic soil crust cover on the stabilized sand dunes. The redistribution of infiltrated moisture through percolation, root extraction, and evapotranspiration pathways was investigated. Three sets of time‐domain reflectometry (TDR) probes were inserted horizontally at 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 cm depths below the ground surface in a soil pit. The three sets of TDR probes were installed in dwarf‐shrub sites of A. ordosica and C. korshinskii community with and without a microbiotic soil crust cover, and an additional set was placed in a bare sand dune area that had neither vegetation nor a microbiotic soil crust present. Volumetric soil moisture content was recorded at hourly intervals and used in the assessment of infiltration for the different surface covers. Infiltration varied greatly, from 7·5 cm to more than 45 cm, depending upon rainfall quantity and soil surface conditions. In the shrub community area without microbiotic soil crust cover, infiltration increased due to preferential flow associated with root tunnels. The microbiotic soil crust cover had a significant negative influence on the infiltration for small rainfall events (～10 mm), restricting the infiltration depth to less than 20 cm and increasing soil moisture content just beneath the soil profile of 10 cm, whereas it was not as strong or clear for larger rainfall events (～60 mm). For small rainfall events, the wetting front depth for the three kinds of surface cover was as follows: shrub community without microbiotic soil crust > bare area > shrub community with microbiotic soil crust. In contrast, for large rainfall events, infiltration was similar in shrub communities with and without microbiotic soil crust cover, but significantly higher than measured in the bare area. Soil water extraction by roots associated with evapotranspiration restricted the wetting front penetration after 1 to 3 h of rainfall. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface current variability in the Keum River Estuary (South Korea) during summer 2002 as observed by high-frequency radar and coastal monitoring buoy

High-frequency (HF) radar observations of surface currents were conducted for 3 months during summer 2002 in the Keum River estuary. A comparison between HF radar-derived currents and directly measured ones form a buoy showed that the regression slope is close to 1 and the correlation coefficient greater than 0.86, with an RMS difference less than 13 cm/s which is less than 17% of the tidal current. This fairly good agreement allows us to use HF radar observation in investigating the surface flow and circulation in this tidal-current-dominant coastal-plume area. To examine the spatial variation in tidal current characteristics, as well as currents associated with non-tidal forcing, the HF radar-derived currents were separated into tidal and sub-tidal frequency currents. The overall pattern of M₂-current ellipse distribution in the study area showed a counterclockwise rotation, with the offshore maximum current direction to the northeast. Eccentricity, the direction of maximum current, and the phase of net motion of the ellipse changed near the estuary mouth and near the gap of the Saemangeum reclamation tide dyke due to the complex coastal geometry and the out-flowing jet during the ebb period.     

Ekman motion in shallow open sea in the presence of time-harmonic variation of water depth

The time variation of the wind-induced flow in a homogeneous unbounded sea region has been analytically investigated. The time-dependent Ekman solution in a homogeneous, shallow open sea has been further extended by taking into account the time variation in water depth which might be caused by either tidal motion or change in the mixed layer thickness. The solution approach taken in this study is based on the Galerkin-eigenfunction method originally developed by Heaps [1972. On the numerical solution of three-dimensional hydrodynamical equations for tides and storm surges. Memoires de la Societe Royale des Sciences de Liege Serie 6(2), 143–180]. A series of calculations have been made with emphasis on the influence of the time variation in water depth upon the build-up of Ekman spirals in the presence of oscillatory variations in water depth. It has been found that two oscillations contribute to the wind drift current, the inertial oscillation and the depth-variation-induced oscillation; the inertial oscillation decays with time, but the depth-variation-induced oscillation remains undamped despite the presence of bottom friction. The presence of time-harmonic variation produces peculiar forms of hodograph with a curled or circular pattern according to the angular frequency of the water depth variation.     

Coal facies evolution of the main minable coal-bed in the Heidaigou Mine, Jungar Coalfield, Inner Mongolia, northern China

The No. 6 Coal-bed from the Heidaigou Mine, Jungar Coalfield, Inner Mongolia is a super-large Ga deposit. The dominant carrier of Ga is boehmite in coal. The study of coal facies may provide genetic enrichment information of Ga and its carrier (boehmite) in the Ga deposit. On the basis of study on coal petrology and mineralogy, it was found that the No. 6 Coal-bed from the Heidaigou Mine of Jungar was enriched in inertinites and the microlitho-types were dominated by clarodurite. The maceral morphological features and association indicate that the coal-bed was formed in a dry sedimentary environment or in a periodic dry sedimentary environment caused by the alternating variations of groundwater level. The optimum conditions for the enrichment of Ga and its particular carrier (boehmite) were dominated by four transitional conditions (1) the upper delta plain which was the transitional zone between alluvial and lower delta plains, (2) the transitional zone between the dry and wet forest swamps, being slightly apt to the dry one, (3) the transitional tree density between the thick and loose ones, and (4) the low moor that was the transitional zone between two high moors during peat accumulation.