The effect of seasonally frozen soil on stochastic response of elevated water tank under random excitation

Significant seismic events have occurred around the world during winter months in regions where cold temperatures cause ground freezing. Current seismic design practice does not address the effects of cold temperatures in the seasonally frozen areas. Since many elevated water tank structures in cold regions are located in seismic active zones, determining the effect of seasonally frozen soil on the stochastic response of elevated water tank structures subjected to random seismic excitation is an important structural consideration. A three dimensional finite element model, which considers viscous boundaries, was built up to obtain the stochastic seismic behavior of an elevated water tank–fluid–soil interaction system for frozen soil condition. For this model, the power spectral density function represents random ground motion applied to each support point of the three dimensional finite element model of the elevated water tank–fluid–soil interaction system. Numerical results show that the soil temperature affects the seismic response of the elevated water tank; whereas the variation in the thickness of the frozen soil causes insignificant changes on the response. In addition, the effect of the variation in water tank’s fullness on the stochastic response of the coupled system is investigated in the study. As a result, the seasonal frost changes the foundation soil stiffness and may impact seismic behavior of the water tank.     

Şarköy-Mürefte 1912 Earthquake's Tsunami, extension of the associated faulting in the Marmara Sea, Turkey

The historical tsunamis in the Marmara Seawere mainly caused by earthquakes andneeded to be documented. Following 1999Izmit earthquake occurred at the EasternMarmara region, a complete inventory ofactive faults in the Marmara Sea regionbecame much more stressed. To the west, thelatest event is 09.08.1912arköy-Mürefte Earthquake. Itoccurred on the active Ganos Fault zone andwas one of the largest earthquakes in theBalkans. The eastern termination of theassociated faulting is in the deep WestMarmara Trough, westernmost of thesuccessive basins forming the Marmara Sea.On the basis of recent multibeam bathymetryand seismic reflection data, estimatedtotal length of the surface rupture isabout 56 km. The historical data reviewedfrom library and archive documents,geological field surveys and offshoregeophysical investigations have shown thatthe 1912 earthquake produced a tsunami. Inaddition a seabed dislocation, the sourceof 1912 tsunami can also be assigned to thesediment slumps appearing in the form ofechelon landslide prisms along the southernslopes of the West Marmara Trough.     

Site classification of Turkish national strong-motion stations

Since 1973, the General Directorate of Disaster Affairs of Turkey has deployed several strong-motion accelerographs at selected sites. Within the framework of the project entitled Compilation of National Strong Ground Motion Database in Accordance with International Standards, site conditions were investigated within the upper 30-m depth by surface seismic and standard penetration tests. Preliminary characterization of the sites is made by making use of both geophysical and geotechnical criteria of NEHRP Provisions and Eurocode-8 site classification systems. The liquefaction susceptibility of those sites which comprise saturated cohesionless deposits is also determined. Mean shear-wave velocity, mean penetration resistance, site class, and liquefaction susceptibility of each site are tabulated. The Turkish strong-motion database supplemented by detailed information on site conditions is a valuable source of information particularly for those studies that put emphasis on the relationship between site conditions and strong-motion parameters.     

Local magnitude scale for earthquakes in Turkey

Based on the earthquake event data accumulated by the Turkish National Seismic Network between 2007 and 2013, the local magnitude (Richter, Ml) scale is calibrated for Turkey and the close neighborhood. A total of 137 earthquakes (Mw?>?3.5) are used for the Ml inversion for the whole country. Three Ml scales, whole country, East, and West Turkey, are developed, and the scales also include the station correction terms. Since the scales for the two parts of the country are very similar, it is concluded that a single Ml scale is suitable for the whole country. Available data indicate the new scale to suffer from saturation beyond magnitude 6.5. For this data set, the horizontal amplitudes are on average larger than vertical amplitudes by a factor of 1.8. The recommendation made is to measure Ml amplitudes on the vertical channels and then add the logarithm scale factor to have a measure of maximum amplitude on the horizontal. The new Ml is compared to Mw from EMSC, and there is almost a 1:1 relationship, indicating that the new scale gives reliable magnitudes for Turkey.     

A combined hydrologic and hydraulic modeling approach for testing efficiency of structural flood control measures

The necessity of estimating the degree and spatial extent of positive impacts with regard to protecting communities and properties through potential flood control projects can be considered one of the main reasons for performing flood modeling. This paper presents an overall systematic approach based on the simulation of some extreme event conditions, using a hydrological model to generate the resulting river flows and then using a hydraulic modeling exercise to decide upon floodplain evolution in the case-study area, Bostanli river basin, which has been under the threat of flooding for many years. The potential serviceability of the planned Bostanli Dam in the study area was examined by using the HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS modeling tools, both integrated with GIS functions for spatial operations. The results indicate that the dam construction as planned would have a somewhat positive impact as a potential flood control measure, since it seems to decrease the flood peaks of 68.9 and 158.7 m³/s (that would potentially be generated by 100- and 500-year storm events under current conditions) to 65.5 and 150.7 m³/s (when the dam is in operation), respectively. However, this seems to contribute little to the overall flood mitigation performance in the basin.     

Examination of the structural characteristics arising in gypsums by the GPR and MASW methods (Sivas,Turkey)

This study was performed at an area of 50?×?48 m² being defined as a new settlement in the northeast of Sivas. In the study, the discontinuities that are not deep and their geophysical characteristics were examined by the GPR and MASW methods. For interpretation, GPR cross sections were prepared as 2D–3D, and MASW cross sections were prepared as 2D. As for geophysical cross sections, about 10 m depth was examined. It was understood that the reflections observed in the form of hyperbolas in GPR cross sections correspond to areas having low S wave velocity (V_s) in MASW cross sections. It was understood that the S wave velocities are lower than 653 m/s, that the seismic velocities in between 653 and 275 m/s indicate partially deteriorated areas and that the S wave velocities of unweathered gypsums are higher than 1275 m/s at these low-velocity zones. Thus, it was thought that the fill material that may arise in the fracture, crack and deterioration areas arises from intercalation and clastic gypsum units, and that it plays a role in having low value S wave velocities. In all the geophysical cross sections, it was understood that the structures with gypsum are intense at the initial 5 m. And a fracture at the south of the study area, that it was estimated might be longer than 40 m, was determined as the largest gypsum structure. It was understood that this fracture starts from a depth of about 5 m in the west and that it slopes down to 7 m depth in the east. According to these results, it was understood that the damage amount arising in time in the gypsum structures from the effect of water may increase, the study area was defined as risky, and the required importance should be attached to these structures especially in foundation engineering.     

The Utilization and Modeling of Photo-Fenton Process as a Single Unit in Textile Wastewater Treatment

Studies on the direct application of the photo-Fenton process (PFOP) to disinfect and decontaminate textile wastewater are rare. The output of the artificial neural network (ANN) models applied to the wastewater of a textile factory producing woven fabrics, which is used to assess the efficiency of the PFOP process, are investigated and compared with each other in this study. The highest PFOP efficiency is obtained at a pH of 3. Chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids (SS) and color removal rates are 94%, 90%, and 96%, respectively. The data are modeled with ANNs and nonlinear external input autoregressive ANNs (NARX-ANN) using the MATLAB R2020a software program. Both Levenberg–Marquardt (trainlm) and scaled conjugate gradient (trainscg) algorithms are employed in the ANN and NARX-ANN models, whereas hyperbolic tangent sigmoid (Tansig) and logistic sigmoid (Logsig) functions are superimposed on the hidden layer in the ANN model, and Tansig functions are superimposed on the NARX-ANN model. It is determined that the developed ANN models are more effective in estimating the PFOP efficiency. The mean squared error is 0.000 953, and the coefficient of determination (R²) is 0.96 661.