Strength criterion for cross-anisotropic sand under general stress conditions

By incorporating the fabric effect and Lode’s angle dependence into the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion, a strength criterion for cross-anisotropic sand under general stress conditions was proposed. The obtained criterion has only three material parameters which can be specified by conventional triaxial tests. The formula to calculate the friction angle under any loading direction and intermediate principal stress ratio condition was deduced, and the influence of the degree of the cross-anisotropy was quantified. The friction angles of sand in triaxial, true triaxial, and hollow cylinder torsional shear tests were obtained, and a parametric analysis was used to detect the varying characteristics. The friction angle becomes smaller when the major principal stress changes from perpendicular to parallel to the bedding plane. The loading direction and intermediate principal stress ratio are unrelated in true triaxial tests, and their influences on the friction angle can be well captured by the proposed criterion. In hollow cylinder torsional shear tests with the same internal and external pressures, the loading direction and intermediate principal stress ratio are related. This property results in a lower friction angle in the hollow cylinder torsional shear test than that in the true triaxial test under the same intermediate principal stress ratio condition. By comparing the calculated friction angle with the experimental results under various loading conditions (e.g., triaxial, true triaxial, and hollow cylinder torsional shear test), the proposed criterion was verified to be able to characterize the shear strength of cross-anisotropic sand under general stress conditions.     

Computing derivative information of sequentially coupled subsurface models

A generic framework for the computation of derivative information required for gradient-based optimization using sequentially coupled subsurface simulation models is presented. The proposed approach allows for the computation of any derivative information with no modification of the mathematical framework. It only requires the forward model Jacobians and the objective function to be appropriately defined. The flexibility of the framework is demonstrated by its application in different reservoir management studies. The performance of the gradient computation strategy is demonstrated in a synthetic water-flooding model, where the forward model is constructed based on a sequentially coupled flow-transport system. The methodology is illustrated for a synthetic model, with different types of applications of data assimilation and life-cycle optimization. Results are compared with the classical fully coupled (FIM) forward simulation. Based on the presented numerical examples, it is demonstrated how, without any modifications of the basic framework, the solution of gradient-based optimization models can be obtained for any given set of coupled equations. The sequential derivative computation methods deliver similar results compared to FIM methods, while being computationally more efficient.     

Gravimetric and magnetic fabric study of the Sintra Igneous complex: laccolith-plug emplacement in the Western Iberian passive margin

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The geometry and emplacement of the ~ 96 km2, Late Cretaceous Sintra Igneous complex (SIC, ca. 80 Ma) into the West Iberian passive...     

The Juchatengo complex: an upper-level ophiolite assemblage of late Paleozoic age in Oaxaca,southern Mexico

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The Juchatengo complex (JC) suite is located between the Proterozoic Oaxacan complex to the north and the Xolapa complex to the south, and was amalgamated...     

Rainfall thresholds for the triggering of landslides considering previous soil moisture conditions (Asturias,NW Spain)

Given its geological and climatic conditions and its rugged orography, Asturias is one of the most landslide prone areas in the North of Spain. Most of the landslides occur during intense rainfall episodes. Thus, precipitation is considered the main triggering factor in the study area, reaching average annual values of 960 mm. Two main precipitation patterns are frequent: (i) long-lasting periods of moderate rainfall during autumn and winter and (ii) heavy short rainfall episodes during spring and early summer. In the present work, soil moisture conditions in the locations of 84 landslides are analysed during two rainfall episodes, which represent the most common precipitation patterns: October–November 2008 and June 2010. Empirical data allowed the definition of available water capacity percentages of 99–100% as critical soil moisture conditions for the landslide triggering. Intensity-duration rainfall thresholds were calculated for each episode, considering the periods with sustained high soil moisture levels before the occurrence of each analysed landslide event. For this purpose, data from daily water balance models and weather stations were used. An inverse relationship between the duration of the precipitation and its intensity, consistent with published intensity-duration thresholds, was observed, showing relevant seasonal differences.     

The digital ‘connected’ earth: open technology for providing location-based services on degraded communication environments

In the current world, it is easy to listen that everybody and everything is connected. Over this connected world, the concept of location-based services has grown in order to provide digital services in everyplace and at every time. Nevertheless, this is not 100% true because the connection is not guaranteed for many people and in many places. These are the Degraded Communications Environments (DCE), environments where the availability of high-speed communications is not guaranteed in at least the 75% of the time. This paper works over the experience of a previous work in developing light protocols that do not need broadband for communication. This work provides an extension of these protocols for the inclusion of mobile devices as elements of the communication process and a set of libraries to allow the development of applications in DCE. The work done has involved the development of two frameworks: an Android framework that makes the incorporation of Android devices easier and a server-based framework that provides the server side for the development of the referred applications. A use case that uses these two frameworks has been developed. Finally, all technology developed is available throw a public Git repository.     

Revisit the calibration errors on experimental slant total electron content (TEC) determined with GPS

The calibration errors on experimental slant total electron content (TEC) determined with global positioning system (GPS) observations is revisited. Instead of the analysis of the calibration errors on the carrier phase leveled to code ionospheric observable, we focus on the accuracy analysis of the undifferenced ambiguity-fixed carrier phase ionospheric observable determined from a global distribution of permanent receivers. The results achieved are: (1) using data from an entire month within the last solar cycle maximum, the undifferenced ambiguity-fixed carrier phase ionospheric observable is found to be over one order of magnitude more accurate than the carrier phase leveled to code ionospheric observable and the raw code ionospheric observable. The observation error of the undifferenced ambiguity-fixed carrier phase ionospheric observable ranges from 0.05 to 0.11 total electron content unit (TECU) while that of the carrier phase leveled to code and the raw code ionospheric observable is from 0.65 to 1.65 and 3.14 to 7.48 TECU, respectively. (2) The time-varying receiver differential code bias (DCB), which presents clear day boundary discontinuity and intra-day variability pattern, contributes the most part of the observation error. This contribution is assessed by the short-term stability of the between-receiver DCB, which ranges from 0.06 to 0.17 TECU in a single day. (3) The remaining part of the observation errors presents a sidereal time cycle pattern, indicating the effects of the multipath. Further, the magnitude of the remaining part implies that the code multipath effects are much reduced. (4) The intra-day variation of the between-receiver DCB of the collocated stations suggests that estimating DCBs as a daily constant can have a mis-modeling error of at least several tenths of 1 TECU.