Numerical investigation of the resistance of precast RC pinned beam‐to‐column connections under shear loading

In precast technology, the effective design and construction are related to the behaviour of the connections between the structural members in order to cater for all service, environmental and earthquake load conditions. Therefore, the design and detailing of the connections should be undertaken consistently and with awareness of the desired structural response. In the research presented herein, an analytical expression is proposed for the prediction of the resistance of precast pinned connections under shear monotonic and cyclic loading. The proposed formula addresses the case where the failure of the connection occurs with simultaneous flexural failure of the dowel and compression failure of the concrete around the dowel, expected to occur either when (i) adequate concrete cover of the dowels is provided (d > 6 D) or (ii) adequate confining reinforcement (as defined in the article) is foreseen around the dowels in the case of small concrete covers (d < 6 D). The expression is calibrated against available experimental data and numerical results derived from a nonlinear numerical investigation. Emphasis is given to identifying the effect of several parameters on the horizontal shear resistance of the connection such as: the number and diameter of the dowels; the strength of materials (concrete, grout, steel); the concrete cover of the dowels; the thickness of the elastomeric pad; the type of shear loading (monotonic or cyclic); the pre‐existing axial stress in the dowels; and the rotation of the joint. In addition, recommendations for the design of precast pinned beam‐to‐column connections are given, especially when the connections are utilised in earthquake resistant structures. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Age,stratigraphy, sedimentology and tectonic setting of the Sigri Pyroclastic Formation and its fossil forests,Early Miocene,Lesbos, Greece

The Petrified Forest of Lesbos comprises silicified tree fossils at multiple stratigraphic levels within the Lower Miocene Sigri Pyroclastic Formation. Our objective was to understand the interplay of tectonic setting, structural evolution, volcanological setting and basin evolution in the preservation of this remarkable natural monument. Sections were logged for lithology, sedimentary structures and hydrothermal alteration. Orientations of fallen fossil trees were measured. Samples were taken for mineralogical and geochemical analysis. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating was carried out on mineral separates from four samples. Widespread andesite‐dacite domes, the Eressos Formation, intrude and overlie metamorphic basement and are overlain by the Sigri Pyroclastic Formation, which comprises several hundreds of metres of pyroclastic flow tuffs (unwelded ignimbrites) interbedded with fluvial conglomerate and volcaniclastic sandstone. The Sigri Pyroclastic Formation ranges in age from 21.5 to 22 Ma, where it overlies the lacustrine Gavathas Formation, to younger than 18.4 Ma. Tuffs and fluvial conglomerates in the Sigri Pyroclastic Formation coarsen eastwards, and petrified trees and soil horizons occur throughout the Formation. The recurrence of pyroclastic flows was approximately one every 20 ka, so destructive flows were relatively infrequent, allowing the development of climax vegetation between most eruptions. Conglomerate‐filled channels show that rivers flowed westwards. Tree fall directions indicate NW to N movement of pyroclastic flows, implying a source near the younger Mesotopos–Tavari caldera to the south. The basin, which formed in a NNE‐trending dextral strike‐slip regime, provided some topographic steering. Following the Sigri Pyroclastic Formation at ca. 18 Ma, there was a rapid increase in the pace of volcanic activity, with the eruption of thick lava sequences and welded ignimbrites, and intrusion of dykes and laccoliths in SW Lesbos. Rapid burial by permeable tuffs, silica from alteration of volcanic ash, and later hydrothermal circulation all contributed to the preservation of the petrified trees.     

Assessment of global wave models on regular and unstructured grids using the Unresolved Obstacles Source Term

Ocean Dynamics - The Unresolved Obstacles Source Term (UOST) is a general methodology for parameterizing the dissipative effects of subscale islands, cliffs, and other unresolved features in ocean...     

Copper mineralization around the Ahar batholith, north of Ahar (NW Iran): Evidence for fluid evolution and the origin of the skarn ore deposit

This investigation presents and interprets fluid inclusion data from different lithological units of the Cu skarn deposits at Mazraeh, north of Ahar, Azarbaijan, NW Iran. The results provide an assessment of the P–T conditions and mineral–fluid evolution and suggest new exploration parameters. Five types of inclusions are recognized from quartz and garnet. The temperature of homogenization of Type I inclusions with daughter minerals halite and sylvite ranges from 312° to 470 °C with total salinity of 52 to 63 wt.% NaCl equiv.; Type II and III inclusions with halite have homogenization temperatures of 230° to 520 °C and salinity of 31 to 50 wt.% NaCl equiv. The salinity of Types IV and V biphase (liquid + vapor) inclusions, based on their final ice melting temperature, varies between 10.2 to 20.8 wt.% NaCl equiv. T_h vs. salinity plots of inclusions show that the salinity of the fluids correlates positively with temperature. The inclusions formed at low pressure. Changes in the temperature and salinity of the fluids can be reconstructed from the inclusions. Highly saline, high-temperature fluids were most abundant during the main chalcopyrite ore-forming phase in the skarn and mineralized quartz veins. Low-salinity aqueous fluids were abundant in barren veins, in which there is no evidence for early hot high-salinity brine, and might have resulted from late-stage dilution and mixing of hydrothermal fluids with meteoric water. Based on petrographic features and fluid-inclusion data, early-stage magnetite deposition is related to boiling of fluid at temperatures of about 500 °C. At a later stage, boiling at temperatures of around 320° to 400 °C favored the deposition of sulfides and Fe mobility was decreased at these lower temperatures. The following inclusion characteristics may be used as exploration parameters in the Mazraeh area. (i) Presence of high-temperature, salt-bearing inclusions, with T_h between 300 and 500 °C; (ii) High-salinity fluid inclusions; and (iii) Inclusions showing evidence of boiling of the fluid. In addition, the presence of magnetite is an important exploration parameter.     

The roles of pedogenesis and diagenesis in clay mineral assemblages: Lower Cretaceous fluvial mudrocks,Nova Scotia,Canada

Clay mineral assemblages in alluvial mudrocks are important for paleoclimatic interpretation and for understanding burial diagenetic cementation in sandstones, but it is commonly difficult to unravel the relative importance of source weathering, pedogenesis and diagenesis in their origin. The clay mineral assemblages in fluvial overbank mudrocks from the Lower Cretaceous Chaswood Formation in central Nova Scotia, investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis of the < 2 µm fraction of 45 samples, include kaolinite, illite, vermiculite, and mixed layer kaolinite/expandable clay and mica/vermiculite. The assemblages vary with depositional facies. Wetland organic-rich mudrocks have large amounts of amorphous material and kaolinite is the dominant clay mineral. In the eastern part of the basin, where overbank mudrocks were episodically uplifted by syn-sedimentary strike-slip faulting, cumulate ultisol and alfisol paleosols are common. In the ultisols, hematite is enriched and kaolinite increases at the expense of illite in the B horizon. Alfisols contain more illite and vermiculite and the B horizon is enriched in goethite. In the western part of the basin, where thin sandstones with abundant diagenetic kaolinite cement are interbedded with the mudrocks, the distinctive clay mineral assemblage of mica/vermiculite mixed layer, vermiculite with 15.5 Å peak, and kaolinite/expandable mixed layer clay with a 17.7 Å peak is interpreted to result from bacterially-mediated oxidation of organic matter below the paleo-water table during early burial diagenesis. Deeper burial diagenesis may lead to slightly higher kaolinite crystallinity. Volcanic ash appears to alter to kaolinite/expandable mixed layer clay with a 7.9 Å peak. Comparison with the continuously subsiding and rapidly accumulated Wessex Formation of southern England, formed at a similar paleolatitude, shows the strong role of pedogenic processes and early diagenesis by meteoric water in development of clay mineral assemblages in the locally tectonically uplifted Chaswood Formation.     

Miocene magnesian andesites and dacites, Evia, Greece: adakites associated with subducting slab detachment and extension

Mid-Miocene volcanic rocks are rare in the Aegean region, although early Miocene and late Miocene-Quaternary volcanism is widespread. At Oxylithos (island of Evia), 14 Ma dacites form a dome or sub-volcanic complex. Phreatomagmatic eruptions formed nearby rhyolitic pyroclastic surge deposits. The calc-alkaline dacites contain bronzite, Mg-rich clinopyroxene, phlogopite and plagioclase phenocrysts. The magma results from mixing of a Mg-rich andesitic magma, similar to that in the nearby island of Skyros, with more felsic magmas represented by the rhyolitic pyroclastics. The dacites are geochemically similar to adakites, which are derived by partial melting of eclogitic subducted oceanic crust and have low Y and Yb and high Sr/Y ratio. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr≈0.7095 is found in both dacite and rhyolite. Lead isotopic composition from the high-Mg andesite from Skyros, with ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 15.70 and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 38.90, forms a linear trend with Evia dacite and rhyolite with ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 15.71 and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 39.05. The high temperatures required to produce such magma resulted from decompression due to extension of the Aegean basin at the same time as the initial intrusion of the detached subducted slab in the western Aegean that has been imaged by seismic tomography. The Oxylithos rocks extend the known occurrences of adakite series rocks: this series is not restricted to sites with subduction of young oceanic crust.     

On the feasibility of using satellite gravity observations for detecting large-scale solid mass transfer events

The main focus of this paper is to assess the feasibility of utilizing dedicated satellite gravity missions in order to detect large-scale solid mass transfer events (e.g. landslides). Specifically, a sensitivity analysis of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) gravity field solutions in conjunction with simulated case studies is employed to predict gravity changes due to past subaerial and submarine mass transfer events, namely the Agulhas slump in southeastern Africa and the Heart Mountain Landslide in northwestern Wyoming. The detectability of these events is evaluated by taking into account the expected noise level in the GRACE gravity field solutions and simulating their impact on the gravity field through forward modelling of the mass transfer. The spectral content of the estimated gravity changes induced by a simulated large-scale landslide event is estimated for the known spatial resolution of the GRACE observations using wavelet multiresolution analysis. The results indicate that both the Agulhas slump and the Heart Mountain Landslide could have been detected by GRACE, resulting in \({\vert }0.4{\vert }\) and \({\vert }0.18{\vert }\) mGal change on GRACE solutions, respectively. The suggested methodology is further extended to the case studies of the submarine landslide in Tohoku, Japan, and the Grand Banks landslide in Newfoundland, Canada. The detectability of these events using GRACE solutions is assessed through their impact on the gravity field.     

The role of dextral transpressional faulting in the evolution of an early Carboniferous mafic–felsic plutonic and volcanic complex: Cobequid Highlands, Nova Scotia, Canada

The Wentworth plutonic complex, consisting of gabbro and granite, was emplaced in the earliest Carboniferous in the Cobequid shear zone of the northern Appalachians. The plutonic complex is coeval with a 5-km-thick pile of volcanic rocks. Early alkalic A-type granite correlates with thick felsic pyroclastics and minor basalt, which are overlain by 1.5-km-thick basalts that correlate with a large gabbro pluton that is intruded, in turn, by late granites. The basalt and gabbro are Fe-rich tholeiites. The geochemistry of the late granites suggests that they formed by differentiation of a granodioritic magma resulting from assimilation of early granite by the gabbroic magma. The Wentworth plutonic complex lies on the north side of the dextral Rockland Brook fault, near the western tip of wedge-shaped basement block of the Avalon terrane. Field observations of mesoscopic structures and map contacts show that the plutonic bodies at all structural levels are related to transpressive strike–slip faults. Dykes parallel to the mylonitic foliation in the Rockland Brook fault zone and at the contacts between igneous phases suggest that the plutons developed largely through dyke to pluton construction. The plutonism was initiated by dyking related to major faults under transpression that was partitioned into shear zone-bounded blocks, while the sinking of those blocks finally provided the space for mafic magma emplacement. Dyking was active over at least a 10-Ma time period. The overall location of plutonism in the Cobequid shear zone appears related to its position at the intersection of the shear zone bounding the southwestern margin of the Magdalen basin and the E–W transpressional contact of the Avalon and Meguma terranes. Magmatism enabled thermomechanical softening of the crust and the vertical and lateral extrusion of the wedge-shaped basement blocks, whose movement controlled the localisation of the voluminous magmatic activity.     

Plio-Pleistocene age of high-potassium volcanism in the northwestern part of the hellenic arc

Summary Two newK/Ar dates firmly establish that the high potassium volcanic rocks of Thessaly are of late Pliocene and Pleistocene age, considerably younger than the geochemically similar rocks of the Dodecanese.

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Das plio-pleistozäne Alter des kalireichen Vulkanismus im Nordwest-Teil des hellenischen Bogens

Zusammenfassung Zwei neue Altersbestimmungen nach derK/Ar-Methode zeigen, daß die kalireichen Vulkanite Thessaliens spät-pliozänen und pleistozänen Alters sind und damit beträchtlich jünger als die geochemisch ähnlichen Gesteine des Dodekanes.

     

Geochemistry of Miocene shoshonites,Lesbos, Greece

Mid-Miocene shoshonitic volcanism in Lesbos is preceded and followed by minor calcalkaline activity that probably terminated in the Pliocene. Two differentiation trends are recognised in the shoshonites. The older shoshonites include voluminous acid rocks (mostly ignimbrites) and show normal shoshonite REE patterns. They were probably derived from partial melting of garnet peridotite enriched in LILE, with later fractionation controlled by anhydrous phases. Cooling units in the ignimbrites show upward increase in the K content of glass, suggesting K-feldspar fractionation in a high level magma chamber. Later shoshonites and the calc-alkali rocks have HREE enrichment and contain hydrous cognate xenoliths. Partial melting of a rising periodite diapir which had been relatively enriched in HREE within the garnet stability field and then entered the spinel stability field, would produce the observed HREE enrichment pattern. Later fractionation of these younger shoshonites and calc-alkali rocks was controlled largely by hydrous phases.