Pullout Response of Uniaxial Geogrid in Tire Shred–Sand Mixtures

Use of tire shred–soil mixtures as backfill materials in mechanically stabilized earth walls has several advantages over other backfill materials: (1) good drainage, (2) high shear strength, and (3) low compacted unit weight. This paper presents the results of laboratory pullout tests performed on uniaxial geogrid embedded in tire shred–sand mixtures. The effects of tire shred size, tire shred–sand mixing ratio and confining pressure on the interaction between the geogrid and tire shred–sand mixtures are evaluated. Three sizes of tire shreds are considered: tire chips (with 9.5 mm nominal size), tire shreds 50-to-100 mm long and tire shreds 100-to-200 mm in length, with mixing ratios of 0, 12, 25 and 100 % of tire shreds in the mixtures (by weight). Based on compaction testing of a number of mixtures, the optimal mixing proportion of tire shreds and sand was found to lie between 25/75 and 30/70 (by weight of tire shred and sand); this is equivalent to approximately 40/60 and 50/50, respectively, by volume of tire shreds and sand. The pullout resistance of a geogrid embedded in tire shred–sand mixtures is significantly higher than that of the same geogrid embedded in tire shreds only. The size of the tire shreds has negligible effect on the pullout resistance of a geogrid embedded in mixtures prepared with either low (12/88 mix) or high (100/0 mix) tire shred content. However, when the 25/75 mixture is used, greater geogrid pullout resistance was obtained for the geogrid embedded in tire chip–sand mixtures than in tire shred–sand mixtures.     

Characterization of spatial and temporal variation of suspended sediments in the Yellow and East China Seas using satellite ocean color data

Total suspended sediment (TSS) data concentrations are retrieved from two sets of satellite ocean color data (the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Aqua and the Korean Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI)) using an existing regional model to characterize spatial and temporal variation of TSS in the Yellow and East China Seas. MODIS-derived TSS maps show that TSS concentrations are, in general, high along the Korean and Chinese coasts including the Bohai Sea and the Yangtz River estuary, and lower in the middle of the Yellow Sea and the southeastern area of the East China Sea. The monthly average of 10-year MODIS data reveals that TSS values are highest during winter (January to February) and lowest in summer (July to August). Short-term TSS concentrations retrieved from GOCI data showed the dominant influence of semi-diurnal tidal changes on sediment dynamics through temporal (hourly) and spatial distribution in coastal zones of the Yellow sea. The results presented here demonstrate that the satellite-derived TSS products can be utilized as an application tool for future studies on long- and short-term sediment dynamics of turbid coastal waters. In particular, GOCI observations provide unique important capabilities to characterize and quantify the water properties at high temporal (hourly) and spatial (0.5 km) resolutions in the turbid coastal waters of the Yellow Sea and its vicinities.     

Estimation of the Roll Hydrodynamic Moment Model of a Ship by Using the System Identification Method and the Free Running Model Test

When a fast container ship or a naval vessel turns, accompanying roll motions occur. This roll effect must be considered in the horizontal equations of the motion of the ship to predict the maneuverability of the ship properly. In this paper, a new method for determining a model structure of the hydrodynamic roll moment acting on a ship and for estimating the hydrodynamic coefficients is proposed. The method utilizes a system identification technique with the data from sea trial tests or from free running model (FRM) tests. To obtain motion data that is applied to the proposed algorithm, an FRM of a large container ship was developed. Using this model ship, standard maneuvering tests were carried out on a small body of water out of doors. A hydrodynamic roll moment model was constructed utilizing the data from turning circle tests and a 20-20 zig-zag test. This was then confirmed through a 10-10 zig-zag test. It was concluded that a model structure of the hydrodynamic roll moment model could be established without difficulty through a system identification method and FRM tests.     

Photochemical characteristics of high and low ozone episodes observed in the Taehwa Forest observatory (TFO) in June 2011 near Seoul South Korea

We present a comprehensive discussion on what cause high ozone episodes at a suburban photochemical observation site of the Seoul Metropolitan Area (population ～23 million). The observational site, Taehwa Research Forest (TRF), is situated ～30 km from the center of Seoul. In June 2011, we observed two very distinctive ozone periods-high ozone (peak up to 120 ppbv) and low ozone (peak up to 60 ppbv) in the mid and early month, respectively. The trace gas measurement dataset, especially CO and NO _X clearly indicate that less anthropogenic influences during the high ozone period. Volatile organic compound (VOC) measurement results show that at the observational site, biogenic VOCs (mostly isoprene) contribute most of chemical reactivity towards OH, although toluene from anthropogenic activities was observed in higher concentrations. Back-trajectory analysis indicates that air-masses from the forest part of Korea Peninsula were dominant influences during the high ozone episode event. On the other hand, Aged air masses from China were the dominant influence during the low ozone episode event. Model calculations conducted using the University of Washington Chemical Mechanism (UWCM) box model, also consistently show that BVOC, especially isoprene photochemistry, can be the significantly contribution to local ozone formation in the given photochemical environments of TRF. These research results strongly suggest that ozone control strategy in the Eastern Asian megacities, mostly situated in surrounding forest areas should be based on the comprehensive scientific understanding in BVOC photochemistry and interplays between anthropogenic and biogenic interactions.     

Performance analysis of digital acoustic communication in a shallowwater channel

The major obstacle to underwater acoustic communication is the interference of multi-path signals due to surface and bottom reflections. High speed acoustic transmission over a shallow water channel characterized by small grazing angles presents formidable difficulties. The reflection losses associated with such small angles are low, causing large amplitudes in multi-path signals. In this paper we propose a simple but effective model for multi-path interference, which is then used to assess the performance of a digital communication system operating in a shallow water channel. The results indicate that transmission rates in excess of 8 kbits/s are possible over a distance of 13 km and channel depth of only 20 meters. Such a system offers improved performance in applications such as data collection from underwater sensors     

Acoustic bubble counting technique using sound speed extracted fromsound attenuation

Sound attenuation has been solely used to estimate bubble size distributions of bubbly water in the conventional acoustic bubble sizing methods. These conventional methods are useful for the void fraction around 10^-6 or lower. However, the change of compressibility in the bubbly water also should be considered in bubble sizing for the void fraction around 10^-5 or higher. Recently the sound speed as well as sound attenuation was considered for acoustic bubble size estimation in bubbly water. In this paper, the sound speed estimated from sound attenuation in bubbly water by an iterative method is used for a bubble counting. This new iterative inverse bubble sizing technique is numerically tested for bubble distributions of single-size Gaussian, and power-law functions. The numerical simulation results are in agreement with the given bubble distributions even for the high void fractions of 10^-4-10^-3. It suggests that the iterative inverse technique can be a very powerful tool for practical use in acoustic bubble counting in the ocean     

Statistical approach to determine the salinized ground water flow path and hydrogeochemical features around the underground LPG cavern,Korea

The ground water flow path of the coastal area in the Yellow Sea, Korea, was interpreted using both the cross‐correlation analysis of hydraulic properties and the principal component analysis (PCA) of ground water chemistry. Data was obtained from observation wells in the underground liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cavern constructed in the coastal area of Pyeongtaek. Cross‐correlation results showed that the operating pressure became more influenced on artificial factors for the variation of the groundwater level of the study area (45–66% of correlation coefficient) even though its affecting area was limited to the region with fractures or faults, and also showed that the delay time from the variation of operating pressure to the fluctuation of ground water level were relatively long periods (28–31 days). Three hydrogeochemical events (encrusted cement dissolution, host rock dissolution, and seawater intrusion), which were dominantly influenced on ground water quality, could be induced from the result of PCA. Quantitative evaluation for these events using the mixed equation with principal component scores suggest that the dissolution of encrusted cement materials was the predominant factor (39·0% of the total mixed proportion) to change the chemical composition of the seepage water during the ground water flow from the observation wells to the cavern. Integration of the statistical results also imply that ground water flow and hydrogeochemistry were predominantly affected by artificial factors such as cavern operation pressure and dissolution of encrusted cement materials, which were interdependent factors on the observation wells with high cross‐correlation coefficients and pH. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bayesian probabilistic damage detection of a reinforced‐concrete bridge column

A Bayesian probabilistic approach for damage detection has been proposed for the continuous monitoring of civil structures (Sohn H, Law KH. Bayesian probabilistic approach for structure damage detection. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics 1997; 26 :1259–1281). This paper describes the application of the Bayesian approach to predict the location of plastic hinge deformation using the experimental data obtained from the vibration tests of a reinforced‐concrete bridge column. The column was statically pushed incrementally with lateral displacements until a plastic hinge is fully formed at the bottom portion of the column. Vibration tests were performed at different damage stages. The proposed damage detection method was able to locate the damaged region using a simplified analytical model and the modal parameters estimated from the vibration tests, although (1) only the first bending and first torsional modes were estimated from the experimental test data, (2) the locations where the accelerations were measured did not coincide with the degrees of freedom of the analytical model, and (3) there existed discrepancies between the undamaged test structure and the analytical model. The Bayesian framework was able to systematically update the damage probabilities when new test data became available. Better diagnosis was obtained by employing multiple data sets than just by using each test data set separately. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A three‐dimensional transmitting boundary formulated in Cartesian co‐ordinate system for the dynamics of non‐axisymmetric foundations

A three‐dimensional transmitting boundary is formulated in the Cartesian co‐ordinate system. It is developed for the dynamic soil–structure interaction problems of arbitrary shape foundations in laterally heterogeneous strata overlying rigid bedrock. Dynamics of a rectangular rigid surface foundation on a homogeneous stratum is analysed by a hybrid approach in which the finite region including foundation is modelled by the conventional finite element method and the surrounding infinite region by the newly developed transmitting boundary. To demonstrate its strength, the present method is applied to a rectangular foundation in a horizontally heterogeneous ground consisting of two distinct regions divided by and welded along a vertical plane. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative assessment of inundation risks from physical contributors associated with future storm surges: a case study of Typhoon Maemi (2003)

Natural Hazards - Future storm-induced inundation risks were assessed by performing storm surge modeling based on Typhoon Maemi (2003) under the generic climate change scenarios proposed by IPCC...