Stage–discharge estimation in straight compound channels using isovel contours

For various hydrological applications such as flood control projects, a knowledge of stage–discharge relationship is of particular interest to river engineers. Stage–discharge curves in compound channels cannot be easily predicted in comparison with single channels due to their 3D characteristics of flow. In this paper, the concept of cross‐sectional isovel contours is used for estimation of stage–discharge curves in compound channels. The multivariate Newton's method is applied to the difference between the observed and estimated data to optimize the exponent values of the governing parameters. The accuracy of the proposed model is tested successfully against available experimental results, which are taken from the Flood Channel Facility (FCF) laboratory. Then the results are compared with the Single and Divided Channel Methods (SCM and DCM, respectively), the Weighted Divided Channel Method (WDCM), the exchange discharge method (EDM), and the Coherence Method (COHM). The average values of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) in discharge estimation based on each referenced section at any level for 6 sections of the experimental cases are within 3.1% and 0.023, respectively. The biggest advantage of the proposed method is its inherent simplicity, which does not need any calibration.     

Numerical simulation of liquefaction in porous media using nonlinear fluid flow law

It is well known that for a sufficiently high seepage velocity, the governing flow law of porous media is nonlinear (J. Computers & Fluids 2010; 39 : 2069–2077). However, this fact has not been considered in the studies of soil‐pore fluid interaction and in conventional soil mechanics. In the present paper, a fully explicit dynamic finite element method is developed for nonlinear Darcy law. The governing equations are expressed for saturated porous media based on the extension of the Biot (J. Appl. Phys. 1941; 12 : 155–164) formulation. The elastoplastic behavior of soil under earthquake loading is simulated using a generalized plasticity theory that is composed of a yield surface along with non‐associated flow rule. Numerical simulations of porous media subjected to horizontal and vertical components of ground motion excitations with different permeability coefficients are carried out; while computed maximum pore water pressure is specially taken into consideration to make the difference between Darcy and non‐Darcy flow regimes tangible. Finally, the effect of non‐Darcy flow on the evaluated liquefaction potential of sand in comparison to conventional Darcy law is examined. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trailer allocation and truck routing using bipartite graph assignment and deep reinforcement learning

Trailer allocation and truck routing are critical components of truck transportation management. However, in real-world applications, inter-influence between selecting the best trailers and trucks, strict fulfillment of Pickup or Delivery (PD) orders, and the size of the fleet are some of the challenges that need to be dealt with in a large truck company. In addition, trailer allocation and truck routing problems are considered to be NP-hard combinatorial optimization (CO) problems. Therefore, we use deep reinforcement learning (DRL), which has the capability of solving routing problems with a single set of hyperparameters. This is significant progress toward finding strong heuristics for a special case of the trailer allocation to customers and truck routing problem presented in this article. Given a set of trailers, trucks, customers, and orders we propose a novel two-phase framework based on Bipartite Graph Assignment (BGA) and attention-based DRL to minimize the total traveling distance traveled from trucks to trailers and then to customers. The BGA heuristic finds the minimum traveling distance from the trailers to the customers based on the edge information and the encoder-decoder helps DRL to get useful node and graph feature representations and trains the model to find the proper solutions for the trailer allocation and truck routing problem. Our experiments on three different problem sizes showcase the effectiveness of ARTT-DRL. The results indicate that ARTT-DRL produces desirable outcomes and has strong generalization capabilities.     

Rain-fed fig yield as affected by rainfall distribution

Variable annual rainfall and its uneven distribution are the major uncontrolled inputs in rain-fed fig production and possibly the main cause of yield fluctuation in Istahban region of Fars Province, I.R. of Iran. This introduces a considerable risk in rain-fed fig production. The objective of this study was to find relationships between seasonal rainfall distribution and rain-fed fig production in Istahban region to determine the critical rainfall periods for rain-fed fig production and supplementary irrigation water application. Further, economic analysis for rain-fed fig production was considered in this region to control the risk of production. It is concluded that the monthly, seasonal and annual rainfall indices are able to show the effects of rainfall and its distribution on the rain-fed fig yield. Fig yield with frequent occurrence of 80 % is 374 kg ha^?1. The internal rates of return for interest rate of 4, 8 and 12 % are 21, 58 and 146 %, respectively, that are economically feasible. It is concluded that the rainfall in spring especially in April and in December has negatively affected fig yield due to its interference with the life cycle of Blastophaga bees for pollination. Further, it is concluded that when the rainfall is limited, supplementary irrigation can be scheduled in March.     

A New Framework for Solving the Spatial Network Problems Based on Line Graphs

In this article we define inverse line graphs of directed graphs as a new framework for solving some classical network analysis problems. The extraction method and theories of inverse line graphs are explained in this article. It is shown that by changing the analysis space from the original directed graph to the inverse line graph, complex problems can be changed into simpler problems. We show the usefulness of the proposed framework in two particular applications: shortest path computations and the more general route planning. Considering the implementation result, we expect that this framework could be used in many more network analysis problems.     

Collaborative Ontology Development for the Geosciences

Ontology‐based information publishing, retrieval, reuse, and integration have become popular research topics to address the challenges involved in exchanging data between heterogeneous sources. However, in most cases ontologies are still developed in a centralized top‐down manner by a few knowledge engineers. Consequently, the role that developers play in conceptualizing a domain such as the geosciences is disproportional compared with the role of domain experts and especially potential end‐users. These and other drawbacks have stimulated the creation of new methodologies focusing around collaboration. Based on a review of existing approaches, this article presents a two‐step methodology and implementation to foster collaborative ontology engineering in the geosciences. Our approach consists of the development of a minimalistic core ontology acting as a catalyst and the creation of a virtual collaborative development cycle. Both methodology and prototypical implementation have been tested in the context of the EU‐funded ForeStClim project which addresses environmental protection with respect to forests and climate change.     

A note on the wave-passage effects in out-of-plane response of long structures to strong earthquake pulses

Elementary consequences of the wave-passage effects are described for out-of-plane response of long structures, excited by SH wave earthquake ground motion pulses propagating along their longitudinal axis. For the passage times in the range of 0.005–0.10 s, the maximum column drifts can increase several folds due to the combined action of out-of-plane and torsional response. Because most of the seismic wave energy do not arrive at a site vertically, the common engineering assumption that it does, leads to nonconservative response estimates.     

Uplift response of buried pipelines in saturated sand deposit under earthquake loading

Pipelines buried in saturated sand deposits, during earthquake loading could damage from resulting uplift due to excess pore water pressure generation. Several studies have been made to better understand the uplift mechanism and evaluate the effectiveness of mitigating techniques through experiment, but little numerical works have been done to assess the influence of soil properties and field conditions in pipeline floatation. Especially for previously buried pipelines, in order to set the priority for seismic retrofit, evaluating the risk of floatation in each region could be a concern. In this paper, effects of several parameters including dilatancy angle and density ratio of natural soil, diameter and burial depth of pipe, underground water table and thickness of the saturated soil layer on uplift of pipe have been investigated. Results show the prominent role of burial depth in pipe response and that there exits an optimum level for drop of water table to reduce floatation.     

Relationships between magnetic susceptibility and heavy metals in urban topsoils in the arid region of Isfahan, central Iran

Electromagnetic induction (EMI) method results are shown for vertical magnetic dipole (VMD) configuration by using the EM38 equipment. Performance in the location of metallic pipes and electrical cables is compared as a function of instrumental drift correction by linear and quadratic adjusting under controlled conditions. Metallic pipes and electrical cables are buried at the IAG/USP shallow geophysical test site in São Paulo City, Brazil. Results show that apparent electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility data were affected by ambient temperature variation. In order to obtain better contrast between background and metallic targets it was necessary to correct the drift. This correction was accomplished by using linear and quadratic relation between conductivity/susceptibility and temperature intending comparative studies. The correction of temperature drift by using a quadratic relation was effective, showing that all metallic targets were located as well deeper targets were also improved.