Bidirectional loading hybrid tests of square cross‐sections of steel bridge piers

Steel rectangular section columns with stiffened plates are commonly used for elevated highway bridges in the urban areas of Japan. The seismic design of bridge piers is usually performed by dynamic analysis in the horizontal direction using various independent directional seismic acceleration data. However, this simple treatment does not reflect the effect of bilateral loading as a structural response to inelastic interaction. In this study, unidirectional and bidirectional loading hybrid tests were conducted to examine the seismic response and performance of square cross‐sections of steel bridge piers subjected to bidirectional seismic accelerations. Comparison of the results of unidirectional and bidirectional loading tests revealed that the maximum load is the same as the average of unidirectional loading in the NS and EW directions; however, the maximum response displacement and residual displacement increase in proportion with hard to soft ground types. Moreover, a modified seismic design is proposed considering these bidirectional loading effects. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Provenance diversification within an arc‐trench system induced by batholith development: the Cretaceous Japan case

By comparing detrital zircon U–Pb age spectra of coeval fore‐arc and back‐/intra‐arc basin sandstones, we identified the overall distributary pattern of terrigenous clastic material within the Cretaceous arc system of SW Japan. Abundant Proterozoic (c. 1500–2500 Ma) detrital grains from the interior of East Asia are present in the Cretaceous intra‐arc basin. However, after a barrier mountain range formed during batholith emplacement, Proterozoic clastics were rarely transported into the fore‐arc domain. Episodic batholith formation in Pacific‐type orogens likely played a major role in controlling terrigenous supply routes between coeval back‐arc and fore‐arc domains. The Cretaceous orogen in Japan thus provides a good template for analysing the tectono‐sedimentary development of other arc‐related basins.     

Monitoring volcanoes using seismic noise correlations

In this article, we summarize some recent results of measurements of temporal changes of active volcanoes using seismic noise cross-correlations. We first present a novel approach to estimate volcano interior temporal seismic velocity changes. The proposed method allows to measure very small velocity changes (≈ 0.1%) with a time resolution as small as one day. The application of that method to Piton de la Fournaise Volcano (La Réunion Island) shows velocity decreases preceding eruptions. Moreover, velocity changes from noise cross-correlations over 10 years allow to detect transient velocity changes that could be due to long-lasting intrusions of magma without eruptive activity or to pressure buildup associated to the replenishing of the magma reservoir. We also present preliminary results of noise cross-correlation waveform perturbation associated with the occurrence of dike injection and volcanic eruption. We show that such an analysis leads us to locate the areas of dike injection and eruptive fissures at Piton de la Fournaise Volcano. These recent results suggest that monitoring volcanoes using seismic noise correlations should improve our ability to forecast eruptions, their intensity and thus potential environmental impact.     

Unsteady flows in Io’s atmosphere caused by condensation and sublimation during and after eclipse: Numerical study based on a model Boltzmann equation

The behavior of Io’s atmosphere during and after eclipse is investigated on the basis of kinetic theory. The atmosphere is mainly composed of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) gas, which condenses to or sublimates from the frost of SO₂ on the surface depending on the variation of surface temperature (～90–114 K). The atmosphere may also contain a noncondensable gas, such as sulfur monoxide (SO) or oxygen (O₂), as a minor component. In the present study, an accurate numerical analysis for a model Boltzmann equation by a finite-difference method is performed for a one-dimensional atmosphere, and the detailed structure of unsteady gas flows caused by the phase transition of SO₂ is clarified. For instance, the following scenario is obtained. The condensation of SO₂ on the surface, starting when eclipse begins, gives rise to a downward flow of the atmosphere. The falling atmosphere then bounces upward when colliding with the lower atmosphere but soon falls again. This process of falling and bounce back of the atmosphere repeats during the eclipse, resulting in a temporal oscillation of the macroscopic quantities, such as the velocity and temperature, at a fixed altitude. For a pure SO₂ atmosphere, the amplitude of the oscillation is large because of a fast downward flow, but the oscillation decays rapidly. In contrast, for a mixture, the downward flow is slow because the noncondensable gas adjacent to the surface hinders the condensation of SO₂. The oscillation in this case is weak but lasts much longer than in the case of pure SO₂. The present paper is complementary to the work by Moore et al. (Moore, C.H., Goldstein, D.B., Varghese, P.L., Trafton, L.M., Stewart, B. [2009]. Icarus 201, 585–597) using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method.     

Cyclic shear behaviour of steel box girders: experiment and analysis

An experimental investigation of the cyclic shear behaviour of steel box girders was conducted on one‐quarter scale models, comprising of two specimens with longitudinally unstiffened webs and one specimen with longitudinally stiffened webs. All the specimens exhibited ductile behaviour. The tests evidenced significant increases in the shear strength and energy dissipation capacity regarding the use of thicker webs and the provision of longitudinal web stiffeners. The web stiffeners also enhanced the stable hysteresis behaviour without substantial degradation in the energy dissipation due to pinching. The test results are compared with the shear behaviour simulated by inelastic large deformation analysis incorporated with a sophisticated constitutive model. The hysteresis behaviour, peak cyclic shear stresses, energy dissipation, and deformation shapes of the three specimens are satisfactorily predicted by the analysis. It is verified that the presented analytical method can be used precisely for further investigations of box girders in shear. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Titanochondrodite and titanoclinohumite derived from the upper mantle in the Buell Park Kimberlite,Arizona, USA

Kimberlite from Buell Park, Arizona, which was intruded into Permian sediments about 30 m.y. ago, is characterized by the hydrous silicates titanochondrodite and titanoclinohumite. Titanochondrodite is the first finding in kimberlites. Optical properties, chemical compositions and cell dimensions of these two minerals are determined.Titanochondrodite and titanoclinohumite are considered to crystallize from kimberlite magma at a depth of about 100 km and at 1,000° C, on the basis of kimberlite mineralogy, petrography and high pressure experimental work. Although there is no direct evidence, the importance of these two minerals in peridotite wedges above sinking lithosphere at the continental margins is also discussed.     

Titanochondrodite and titanoclinohumite derived from the upper mantle in the Buell Park kimberlite,Arizona, USA

Titanoclinohumite, titanochondrodite, and associated Na-bearing tremolite occurring as crystal fragments in the Buell Park kimberlite are not likely crystallization products of a kimberlite magma. They more likely formed as phases in hydration assemblages of peridotite at temperatures below 700 ° C and pressures below 18 kbar. The crystals were dispersed in kimberlite as rock fragments were comminuted during transport to the surface.     

Petrology of kaersutite-bearing ultramafic and mafic inclusions in Iki Island,Japan

Kaersutite-bearing peridotite, clinopyroxenite, gabbro and hornblendite inclusions up to 5 cm in size and megacrysts of kaersutite, andesine and titanomagnetite occur in alkali basalt scoria at Takenotsuji, Iki Island, Japan. New analyses are presented for seven kaersutite-bearing basaltic rocks, three inclusions, three clinopyroxenes and six kaersutites.From the petrography and chemistry of the inclusions and recent experimental work at high pressures and temperatures on natural rock systems, it is suggested that kaersutite-bearing inclusions have been produced from alkali basalt magmas under hydrous conditions at a depth of about 25 to 30 km in the lowest part of the crust.