Shaking table tests on a masonry building monitored using smart bricks: Damage detection and localization

The seismic behavior of unreinforced masonry buildings is typically characterized by premature brittle collapse mechanisms that can cause serious consequences for the protection of human lives and for the preservation of historical and cultural heritage. Structural health monitoring can be a powerful tool enabling a quick post-earthquake assessment of the structure's performance, but its applications are still scarce as a consequence of the severe limitations affecting off-the-shelf sensing technologies, in terms of local nature of the measurements, costs, as well as long-term behavior, installation, and maintenance. To overcome some of these limitations, the authors have recently proposed a new sensing technology, called “smart brick,” that is a durable clay brick doped with stainless steel microfibers, working as a smart strain sensor for masonry buildings. This paper presents the first full-scale application of smart bricks, used for detecting and localizing progressive earthquake-induced damage in an unreinforced masonry building subjected to shaking table tests. Smart bricks are employed to detect changes in load paths on masonry walls, comparing strain measurements acquired after each step of the seismic sequence with those referring to the undamaged structure. Experimental results are interpreted using a 3D finite element model built to reproduce the shaking table tests. Overall, the results demonstrate that the smart bricks can effectively reveal local permanent changes in structural conditions following a progressive damage, therefore being apt for earthquake-induced damage detection and localization.     

Enhanced boulder weathering under late-lying snowpatches

A Schmidt test hammer was employed to assess the aggregate surface hardness of samples of boulders dug out from under late-lying snowpatches at sites in Switzerland, Scotland and Norway. The results were compared with an equivalent set of readings made on boulders at nearby snow-free control sites. The results in every case reveal that the aggregate surface hardness of boulders buried by late-lying snow is significantly less (at the 0·001 level) than that of boulders at the corresponding control sites. This result indicates that late-lying snow significantly enhances rock weathering, probably because boulder and rock surfaces are exposed to prolonged wetting by percolating meltwater under late-lying snowbeds.     

Supersonic plasma jet interaction with gases and plasmas

The interaction of supersonic plasma jets with dense gases and plasmas has been studied experimentally and theoretically. Collimated plasma jets were generated from the laser pulse interaction with solid targets. The jet propagates with the velocity exceeding 400 km/s and transports the energy of a few kJ/cm². The interaction of such a jet with an Ar and He gases at various pressures has been studied by using optical and X-ray diagnostics. Qualitative estimates and numerical simulations with a radiative hydrodynamic code explain a sequence of physical processes during the interaction. Experimental and numerical results show that, by changing ambient material, the working surface structure changes from an adiabatic outflow to a radiative cooling jet. The applications of this phenomenon to astrophysical conditions and the inertial confinement fusion are discussed.     

Source and genesis of sulphate and phosphate–sulphate minerals in a quartz‐sandstone cave environment

Gypsum (CaSO₄·2H₂O), alunite (KAl₃(SO₄)₂(OH)₆), and rare phosphate–sulphate sanjuanite Al₂(PO₄)(SO₄)(OH) 9(H₂O) and rossiantonite (Al₃(PO₄)(SO₄) 2(OH)₂(H₂O)₁₄) have recently been identified as secondary mineral deposits in different quartz‐sandstone caves in the Gran Sabana region, Venezuela. Due to the extended time scale required for speleogenesis in the hard and barely soluble quartz‐sandstone lithology, these caves are considered to be as old as 20 to 30 My. The study of these peculiar secondary mineral deposits potentially reveals important insights for understanding the interaction between deep, superficial and atmospheric processes over thousands to perhaps millions of years. In this study, chemical and petrographic analyses of potential host rock sources, sulphur and oxygen isotope ratios, and meteorological, hydrological and geographical data are used to investigate the origin of sulphates and phospho–sulphates. The results suggest that the deposition of sulphates in these caves is not linked to the quartz‐sandstone host rock. Rather, these mineral deposits originate from an external atmospheric sulphate source, with potential contributions of marine non‐sea salt sulphates, terrestrial dimethyl sulphide and microbially reduced H₂S from the forests or peatbogs within the watershed. Air currents within the caves are the most plausible means of transport for aerosols, driving the accumulation of sulphates and other secondary minerals in specific locations. Moreover, the studied sulphate minerals often co‐occur with silica speleothems of biological origin. Although this association would suggest a possible biogenic origin for the sulphates as well, direct evidence proving that microbes are involved in their formation is absent. Nonetheless, this study demonstrates that these quartz‐sandstone caves accumulate and preserve allogenic sulphates, playing a yet unrecognized role in the sulphur cycle of tropical environments.     

Seismic capacity of irregular unreinforced masonry walls with openings

Masonry buildings are often characterized by geometric irregularities. In many cases, such buildings meet global regularity requirements provided by seismic codes, but they are composed by irregular walls with openings. The latter are masonry walls characterized by (i) openings of different sizes, (ii) openings misaligned in the horizontal and/or vertical direction, or (iii) a variable number of openings per story. An irregular layout of openings can induce not only a nonuniform distribution of gravity loads among masonry piers but also unfavorable damage localizations resulting in a premature collapse of the wall and hence a higher seismic vulnerability. This paper is aimed at providing a simplified methodology to assess the effects of irregularities on the in‐plane seismic capacity of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls with openings. To this end, a macroelement method was developed and validated through experimental results available in the literature. The proposed methodology was based on the quantification of wall irregularities by means of geometric indices and their effects on seismic capacity of URM walls with openings through both sensitivity and regression analyses. Sensitivity analysis was based on a high number of static pushover analyses and allowed to assess variations in key seismic capacity parameters. Regression analysis let to describe each capacity parameter under varying irregularity index, providing empirical models for seismic assessment of irregular URM walls with openings. The in‐plane seismic capacity was found to be significantly affected by wall irregularities, especially in the case of openings with different heights. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implications of channel processes for juvenile fish habitats in Alpine rivers

We adopt a multidisciplinary approach toward the quantitative assessment of juvenile fish habitats in Alpine rivers using analytical modeling. The study focuses on braided and single-thread channel configurations together with their associated hydrodynamic patterns. A distinct difference between flows in these channels is the number and spatial arrangement of recirculation zones. These are due to the separation of flow from the river banks and result in a higher retention of flow in braided channels. Braided channels were also shown to provide more favourable shelter and nursing conditions for fish larvae and juveniles by mitigating high velocities during floods, by maintaining relatively shallow areas of flow, and by significant adjustments in the thermal regime. A historical analysis revealed a significant reduction of braided reaches along Alpine rivers that have most likely led to a significant degradation of the fish fauna.     

Dragons,brimstone and the geology of a volcanic arc on the island of the last Samurai,Kyushu, Japan

Not even Hollywood could dream of a place so magical as Kyushu. The southern‐most of the four major islands of the Japanese archipelago, this is a land of volcanoes, dinosaurs, and the last stand of the Samurai. And for good measure, James Bond visited here too, in the 1967 film You Only Live Twice. The final explosive scenes of that film featured the destruction of megalomaniac Ernst Stavro Blofeld's headquarters hidden inside the crater of one of Kyushu's most emblematic volcanoes, Shinmoedake. Kyushu also straddles the largest geological structure in Japan, the Median Tectonic Line (MTL) that runs from the western approaches of the island to the central part of Honshu. The MTL has been active since the Cretaceous, and the sedimentary basins formed along its line in Kyushu contain some of Japan's most famous dinosaur finds. The MTL also defines a fundamental divide between the geological histories of the terranes north and south of its line, a history that takes us back to the origins of the Japanese archipelago half a billion years ago.     

Modelling the Effect of Tree Foliage on Sprayer Airflow in Orchards

The effect of tree foliage on sprayer airflow through pear trees in a fruit orchard was studied and modelled in detail. A new three-dimensional (3-D) computational fluid dynamics model that integrates the 3-D canopy architecture with a local closure model to simulate the effect of the stem and branches and leaves of trees separately on airflow was developed. The model was validated with field observations made in an experimental orchard (pcfruit, Sint-Truiden, Belgium) in spring and summer 2008 and was used to investigate the airflow from three air-assisted orchard sprayers (Condor V, Duoprop and AirJet quatt). Velocity magnitudes were measured before and behind leafless and fully-leafed pear canopies across the row while the operating sprayers are passing along the row, and were compared with the simulations. The simulation results predicted the measured values well with all the local relative errors within 20%. The effect of foliar density on airflow from the three air assisted sprayers was manifested by changing the magnitude and direction of the sprayers’ air velocity behind the canopy, especially at the denser regions of the canopy and by changing the pattern of velocity decay horizontally along the jet. The developed methodology will also allow a thorough investigation of atmospheric airflow in canopy structures.     

Assessing climate change impacts,sea level rise and storm surge risk in port cities: a case study on Copenhagen

This study illustrates a methodology to assess the economic impacts of climate change at a city scale and benefits of adaptation, taking the case of sea level rise and storm surge risk in the city of Copenhagen, capital of Denmark. The approach is a simplified catastrophe risk assessment, to calculate the direct costs of storm surges under scenarios of sea level rise, coupled to an economic input–output (IO) model. The output is a risk assessment of the direct and indirect economic impacts of storm surge under climate change, including, for example, production and job losses and reconstruction duration, and the benefits of investment in upgraded sea defences. The simplified catastrophe risk assessment entails a statistical analysis of storm surge characteristics, geographical-information analysis of population and asset exposure combined with aggregated vulnerability information. For the city of Copenhagen, it is found that in absence of adaptation, sea level rise would significantly increase flood risks. Results call for the introduction of adaptation in long-term urban planning, as one part of a comprehensive strategy to manage the implications of climate change in the city. Mitigation policies can also aid adaptation by limiting the pace of future sea level rise.