Mechanical behavior of lead rubber bearings under and after nonproportional plane loading

Lead rubber bearings, which have been extensively applied in many seismic isolation designs for buildings, infrastructures, and facilities worldwide, were tested under unilateral reversal loading as well as nonproportional plane loading including circular, figure-eight, and square orbits in this study. The test results indicate that unlike the unilateral hysteretic behavior, the bilateral one of lead rubber bearings is too complicated to be characterized adequately by a simplified bilinear hysteretic model. It is mainly attributed to the bilateral coupling effect, which can be clearly observed from the abnormal deformation of the mesh pattern drawn on the rubber cover during the tests. In addition, after being subjected to nonproportional plane loading, the tested bearings reveal visible permanent twisting deformation. The profiles of the cut bearings present the fracture of the inside lead plugs. Even so, the further unilateral reversal loading test results prove that the fracture might not affect the whole hysteretic behavior and mechanical properties very much. The applicability, robustness, and generalization of adopting three previously developed analytical models for describing the coupled bilateral hysteretic behavior of lead rubber bearings are further demonstrated by comparing their predictions with the nonproportional plane loading test results. Although the coefficients are identified from unilateral reversal loading tests, the three analytical models can still have an acceptable prediction capability.     

The impact of the Changjiang River plume extension on the nanoflagellate community in the East China Sea

Variation in the summer nanoflagellate community on the continental shelf ecosystem of East China Sea (ECS) is closely coupled with environmental variation due to extension of the Changjiang River plume. Spatial patterns of nanoflagellate abundance were studied in June and August 2003, June 2006 and July 2007 over the ECS shelf. The Changjiang River plume was smaller during the August 2003 and July 2007 cruises than during the rest other 2 cruises. Total nanoflagellates densities varied between 1 and 120 × 10² cells ml⁻¹ with the highest abundances occurring within the Changjiang River plume during large plume periods. In the small plume periods, the range of nanoflagellates abundance was 3–33 × 10² cells ml⁻¹ and the highest abundances were observed during these periods either within the Changjiang River plume or the Yellow Sea Coastal Water (YSCW). During large plume periods, nanoflagellate abundance closely related to changes in salinity and during the small period, abundance was most related to water temperature. The pigmented nanoflagellate community (PNF) within Changjiang River plume, especially in the <3 μm size class, appears to increase in response to terrestrial or anthropogenic inorganic nutrient loading in the discharge of fresh water from the Changjiang River. The PNF abundance pronounced increase caused the variation of nanoflagellate community of ECS in summer. We suggest that the discharge of fresh water from Changjiang River has significant ecological impacts on spatial variations in nanoflagellate community in the ECS.     

Complete two-dimensional analysis of sea-wave-induced fully non-linear sloshing fluid in a rigid floating tank

A time-independent finite-difference method and a fifth-order Runge–Kutta–Felhberg scheme were used to analyze the dynamic responses of sea-wave-induced fully non-linear sloshing fluid in a floating tank. The interaction effect between the fully non-linear sloshing fluid and the floating tank associated with coupled surge, heave and pitch motions of the tank are analyzed for the first time in the present pilot study. For the analysis of fluid motion in the tank, the coordinate system is moving (translating and rotating) with tank motion. The time-dependent water surface of the sloshing fluid is transformed to a horizontal plane and the flow field is mapped on to a rectangular region. The Euler equations as well as the fully non-linear kinematic free surface condition were used in the analysis of the sloshing fluid. The strip theory for linearized harmonic sea-wave loading was adopted to evaluate the regular encounter wave force. In addition, the dynamic coefficients used in the dynamic equations of tank motion were also derived based on strip theory and a harmonic motion of the tank. The characteristics of free and forced tank motions with and without the sloshing effect are studied. By the damping effect, the response of free oscillation will damp out and that of forced oscillation will approach a steady state. Without sea-wave action, the contribution of the sloshing load would enlarge the angular response of tank motion as well as the rise of free surface and the sloshing effect will delay the damping effect on angular displacement. On the contrary, under sea-wave action, the sloshing effect will decrease the dynamic response of tank motion and rise of free surface. The interaction, sloshing and coupling effects are found to be significant and should be considered in the analysis and design of floating tanks.     

Air velocity distribution measurements on four mechanized longwall coal faces

Summary Air velocity distribution surveys on four mechanized longwall faces are presented and discussed. Although there are discernible patterns in the velocity distribution, there are wide differences in distribution in the cases examined. This can be attributed to differences in mining and face geometry. An important factor is air leakage into the goaf.     

Probability analysis of seismic pounding of adjacent buildings

The need to investigate the level of seismic pounding risk of buildings is apparent in future building code calibrations. In order to provide further insight into the pounding risk of adjacent buildings, this study develops a numerical simulation approach to estimate the seismic pounding risk of adjacent buildings separated by a minimum code‐specified separation distance during a certain period of time. It has been demonstrated that the period ratio of adjacent buildings is an important parameter that affects the pounding risk of adjacent buildings. However, there is no specific consideration for the period ratio in the related seismic pounding provisions of the 1997 Uniform Building Code. Results also reveal that, for two adjacent buildings, the probability distribution of required distance to avoid seismic pounding fits very well with the type I extreme value distribution. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exact and hybrid-element solutions for the vibration of a thin elastic structure seated on the sea floor

Exact analytical solutions are derived for simple elastic structures vibrating in water. Linear acoustic and beam theories are used to treat several cases some of which have been studied by more approximate methods before. A hybrid element method which is based on a localized variational principle is demonstrated numerically for a beam-dam; its theoretical bases is then generalized for arbitrary two-dimensional elastic structure. Foundation compliance is not included.     

Experimental and computational verification of reasonable design formulae for base‐isolated structures

It is clear that base isolation is a sensible strategic design in attenuating the responses of a structural system induced by ground motions. The design of seismically isolated structures is mainly governed by the Uniform Building Code (UBC) published by the International Conference of Building Officials. The UBC code emphasizes a simple, statically equivalent design method that displacements of an isolated structure are concentrated at the isolation level. Therefore, the superstructure nearly moves as a rigid body and the design forces of elements above isolators are based on the behaviour of isolators at the design displacement. However, in the UBC code, the distribution of inertial (or lateral) forces over the height of the superstructure above isolation has been found to be too conservative for most isolated structures. In view of this, two simple and reasonable design formulae for the lateral force distribution on isolated structures have been proposed in this paper. Results obtained from a full‐scale isolated structure tested on the shaking table and numerical analyses of two additional examples verify the suitability of design formulae. It is illustrated that the proposed formulae can predict well the lateral force distribution on isolated structures during earthquakes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Number and volume raindrop size distributions in Taiwan

Knowledge of rainfall characteristics is very important for the accurate estimation of rainfall kinetic energy and prediction of soil erosion. In this study, a reliable and efficient data collection and analysis system was developed to analyse the natural raindrop data collected in subtropical Taiwan. Both raindrop size distributions by number and volume were carefully analysed. The seasonal variations of the rainfall erosivity factor R, which is an index of the erosive potential of rainfall and a function of rainfall kinetic energy, was also discussed. An isoerodent map of Taiwan was also developed based on the rainfall data recorded by 158 automated rainfall‐measuring stations within 26 years. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Increased zooplankton PAH concentrations across hydrographic fronts in the East China Sea

The Changjiang has transported large quantities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to the East China Sea (ECS), but information of these pollutants in zooplankton is limited. To understand PAHs pollution in zooplankton in the ECS, total concentrations of PAHs in zooplankton from surface waters were measured. Values of PAHs ranged from 2 to 3500 ng m⁻³ in the ECS, with highest PAHs levels located at the salinity front between the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) and the mid-shelf waters. In contrast, concentrations of zooplankton PAHs in the mid-shelf and outer-shelf waters were significantly lower (2–23 ng m⁻³) than those in the CDW. These results demonstrate that PAHs are conspicuously accumulated in zooplankton at the salinity front between the CDW and the mid-shelf waters. These higher levels of PAHs in zooplankton at the salinity front may be further biomagnified in marine organisms of higher trophic levels through their feeding activities.     

Comparison of three different methods in investigating shallow shear-wave velocity structures in Ilan,Taiwan

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) and National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) launched a project to build an engineering geological database for strong-motion stations in Taiwan in 2000. The project measures shear-wave velocity using the suspension PS-logging method. In this study, we conduct array measurements of microtremors and apply the stress wave propagation method (SWPM) at seven free-field strong-motion stations in Ilan County to estimate shallow shear-wave velocity structures. We focus on the sediment layers of the top 100 m to compare the shear-wave velocity structures of the three different methods. There are some misfits among the results of the three different methods; so we calculate the values of Vs₃₀, Vs₁₀₀ and plot S-wave travel-time curves of these methods for each site to analyze the misfits effectively. This analysis helped us to prove the efficiency of the microtremor array method in investigating shear-wave velocity structures in the shallow subsurface. Moreover, the horizontal-to-vertical ratios of microtremors for each survey point show the existence of divergence at the same site. We considered this as evidence that misfits are caused by the heterogeneous nature of sediments and also due to the nature of the methods as being one-, two- and three-dimensional. Furthermore, the average shear-wave velocity structure of microtremor arrays may be more representative of the whole site.