A proposed geotechnical-based method for evaluation of liquefaction potential analysis subjected to earthquake provocations (case study: Korzan earth dam, Hamedan province, Iran)

During the earthquakes, a number of earth dams have had severe damages or suffered major displacements as a result of liquefaction, thus modeling by computer codes can provide a reliable tool to predict the response of the dam foundation against earthquakes. These modeling can be used in the design of new dams or safety assessments of existing ones. In this paper, on the basis of the field and laboratory tests and by combination of several software packages a seismic geotechnical-based analysis procedure is proposed and verified by comparison with computer model tests and field and laboratory experiences. Verification or validation of the analyses relies to the ability of the applied computer codes. By using the Silakhor earthquake (2006, M _s 6.1) as a basis in order to check the efficiency of the proposed framework, the procedure is applied to the Korzan earth dam of Iran which is located in Hamedan Province to analyze and estimate the liquefaction and safety factor. Design and development of a computer code by the authors which was named as the ??Abbas Converter?? with graphical user interface which operates as logic connecter function that can compute and model the soil profiles is the critical point of this study. The results confirmed and proved the ability of the generated computer code on the evaluation of soil behavior during earthquake excitations. Also, this code was able to facilitate this study better than previous ones have, taking over the encountered problem.     

Forest cover change assessment in conflict-affected areas of northwest Pakistan: the case of swat and shangla districts

This study examines the spatial and temporal forest cover changes in Swat and Shangla districts to understand the deforestation pattern in context of the recent security conflict in these districts. We used multi-resolution satellite images to assess the long term deforestation from 2001 to 2009 and also to identify episodic forest cutting areas appeared during the conflict period of Oct. 2007 - Oct. 2008. There are only 58 ha of deforestation identified during the conflict period while 1268 ha of gross annual deforestation were assessed during last eight years. Most of the deforestation patches persist around the administrative boundaries at sub-district levels (tehsils) which can be attributed to ambiguity in unclear jurisdiction between the forest official. The results highlight that the forest cutting appeared in Swat and Shangla during the conflict period is not as significant when compared with the long term deforestation pattern in the area. On the one side the results of the study are supportive to the picture that emerges from international studies which report high rate of deforestation in the country and on the other side it negates any relation between the security situation and the increasing deforestation in the north western Pakistan. The study concludes that deforestation assessments require verification by independent sources of data, such as satellite imagery to improve our understanding of deforestation processes.     

Numerical modeling of two-phase flow in heterogeneous permeable media with different capillarity pressures

Contrast in capillary pressure of heterogeneous permeable media can have a significant effect on the flow path in two-phase immiscible flow. Very little work has appeared on the subject of capillary heterogeneity despite the fact that in certain cases it may be as important as permeability heterogeneity. The discontinuity in saturation as a result of capillary continuity, and in some cases capillary discontinuity may arise from contrast in capillary pressure functions in heterogeneous permeable media leading to complications in numerical modeling. There are also other challenges for accurate numerical modeling due to distorted unstructured grids because of the grid orientation and numerical dispersion effects. Limited attempts have been made in the literature to assess the accuracy of fluid flow modeling in heterogeneous permeable media with capillarity heterogeneity. The basic mixed finite element (MFE) framework is a superior method for accurate flux calculation in heterogeneous media in comparison to the conventional finite difference and finite volume approaches. However, a deficiency in the MFE from the direct use of fractional flow formulation has been recognized lately in application to flow in permeable media with capillary heterogeneity. In this work, we propose a new consistent formulation in 3D in which the total velocity is expressed in terms of the wetting-phase potential gradient and the capillary potential gradient. In our formulation, the coefficient of the wetting potential gradient is in terms of the total mobility which is smoother than the wetting mobility. We combine the MFE and discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods to solve the pressure equation and the saturation equation, respectively. Our numerical model is verified with 1D analytical solutions in homogeneous and heterogeneous media. We also present 2D examples to demonstrate the significance of capillary heterogeneity in flow, and a 3D example to demonstrate the negligible effect of distorted meshes on the numerical solution in our proposed algorithm.     

A parametric study of stability of geotextile-reinforced soil above an underground cavity

A study based on two-dimensional finite element analyses under plane strain condition was performed by PLAXIS code to investigate the behavior of geotextile-reinforced soil above an underground cavity. The effects of depth of single layer, tensile stiffness, number and length of reinforcement layers, and size of cavity on settlement of ground surface and head of cavity have been investigated. Results indicated that when a single layer of reinforcement is used, there is a critical depth at which settlements are maximum. Maximum settlements reduce with increase in stiffness of reinforcement. Also settlements reduce with increase in number and length of reinforcement but there is a critical value for number and length of geotextile which increase more than this certain value has not significant effect on reduction of settlements. Also for a given load and tensile stiffness, increase in length of reinforcement has more effect for higher diameter of cavity.     

Quantitative and qualitative simulation of groundwater by mathematical models in Rafsanjan aquifer using MODFLOW and MT3DMS

Agriculture sector by using 80% of freshwater is the greatest water consumer in Iran. Excessive use of agricultural fertilizers in last decade, caused accumulation of enormous amounts of salts and subsequence declined the physical properties of soil. In desert and dry regions such as Rafsanjan plain, use of the groundwater resources is more than the surface water resources. Therefore, information about the quality of these resources remains a necessary task for optimum management, protection of water resources, and stopping the future damages. In this study, the groundwater quantity and quality of Rafsanjan plain was investigated by MODFLOW and MT3DMS. The presented quantitative model for this aquifer was compared by observed data and calibrated. This model was used to predict a 10-year period. Results show that water elevation decreases approximately 15 m for 10 years to come in this plain. Qualitative model results show that most quality parameters will increase. Electrical conductivity will increase more than other parameters. As values of this parameter will reach 16,000 µs/l for next 5 years. Therefore, we suggest that exploitation of water from these resources should be reduced and discharge from some of agricultural wells stop; also we suggested that recharge to groundwater resources should be increased and agricultural activities should be limited or improved using of modern irrigation systems in this plain.     

Higher-order compositional modeling with Fickian diffusion in unstructured and anisotropic media

We present advances in compositional modeling of two-phase multi-component flow through highly complex porous media. Higher-order methods are used to approximate both mass transport and the velocity and pressure fields. We employ the Mixed Hybrid Finite Element (MHFE) method to simultaneously solve, to the same order, the pressure equation and Darcy's law for the velocity. The species balance equation is approximated by the discontinuous Galerkin (DG) approach, combined with a slope limiter. In this work we present an improved DG scheme where phase splitting is analyzed at all element vertices in the two-phase regions, rather than only as element averages. This approximation is higher-order than the commonly employed finite volume method and earlier DG approximations. The method reduces numerical dispersion, allowing for an accurate capture of shock fronts and lower dependence on mesh quality and orientation. Further new features are the extension to unstructured grids and support for arbitrary permeability tensors (allowing for both scalar heterogeneity, and shear anisotropy). The most important advancement in this work is the self-consistent modeling of two-phase multi-component Fickian diffusion. We present several numerical examples to illustrate the powerful features of our combined MHFE–dg method with respect to lower-order calculations, ranging from simple two component fluids to more challenging real problems regarding CO₂ injection into a vertical domain saturated with a multi-component petroleum fluid.     

An Agent‐Based Simulation of Residential Location Choice of Tenants in Tehran,Iran

Residential location choice modeling is one of the substantial components of land use and transportation models. While numerous aggregated mathematical and statistical approaches have been developed to model the residence choice behavior of households, disaggregated approaches such as the agent‐based modeling have shown interesting capabilities. In this article, a novel agent‐based approach is developed to simulate the residential location choice of tenants in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Tenants are considered as agents who select their desired residential alternatives according to their characteristics and preferences for various criteria such as the rent, accessibility to different services and facilities, environmental pollution, and distance from their workplace and former residence. The choice set of agents is limited to their desired residential alternatives by applying a constrained NSGA‐II algorithm. Then, agents compete with each other to select their final residence among their alternatives. Results of the proposed approach are validated by comparing simulated and actual residences of a sample of tenants. Results show that the proposed approach is able to accurately simulate the residence of 59.3% of tenants at the traffic analysis zone level.     

塔克拉玛干沙漠沙垄起伏地形夏季地表温度差异特征

摘 要：开展塔克拉玛干沙漠沙垄起伏地形夏季地表温度观测试验,旨在为塔克拉玛干沙漠环境陆面过程研究提供科学依据。2019年6月7日至9月2日在塔中地区,沿沙垄迎风坡以及背风坡底部、中部、上部、顶点及垄间谷地共设8个地表温度观测点。结果表明：（1）夏季沙垄地表温度最高温出现在垄间谷地,为74.63 ℃,最低温出现在迎风坡底部,为10.52 ℃;地表温度一天中在7:00左右达到最低,15:00左右达到最高。（2）晴天、多云以及浮尘天各观测点地表温度日均变化曲线呈单峰型,降水、扬沙及沙尘暴天呈双峰型;地表温度的最高温与日均值最大值均出现在晴天的垄间谷地,地表温度的最低温及日均值最小值均出现在降水天的迎风坡底部。（3）沙垄顶点与两个底部最大温差范围是顶点与背风坡底部在晴天的温差范围,为0～18.62 ℃,最小温差范围是顶点与迎风坡底部在降水天的温差范围,为0.01～6.18 ℃;迎风坡和背风坡在晴天地表温度温差范围最大,为0.01～16.93 ℃,在降水天温差范围最小,为0.01～4.15 ℃;顶点与两个底部夏季综合温差范围在0～18.62 ℃,迎风坡与背风坡夏季综合温差范围为0～16.93 ℃。塔克拉玛干沙漠地表温度受典型天气影响变化类型多样,沙垄顶点与底部、迎风坡与背风坡地表温度差异受风力及地形作用明显。     

A new integration scheme for application to seismic hybrid simulation

Hybrid simulation is a powerful test method for evaluating the seismic performance of structural systems. This method makes it feasible that only critical components of a structure be experimentally tested. This paper presents a newly proposed integration algorithm for seismic hybrid simulation which is aimed to extend its capabilities to a wide range of systems where existing methods encounter some limitations. In the proposed method, which is termed the variable time step (VTS) integration method, an implicit scheme is employed for hybrid simulation by eliminating the iterative phase on experimental element, the phase which is necessary in regular implicit applications. In order to study the effectiveness of the VTS method, a series of numerical investigations are conducted which show the successfulness of the VTS method in obtaining accurate, stable and converged responses. Then, in a comparative approach, the improved accuracy of the VTS method over commonly used integration methods is demonstrated. The stability of the VTS method is also studied and the results show that it provides conditional stability; however, its stability limit is well beyond the accuracy limit. The effect of time delay on the VTS method results is also investigated and it is shown that the VTS method is quite successful in handling this experimental error.