Recent applications of sliding block theory to geotechnical design

The sliding block theory was proposed by Newmark for determining the permanent displacement of embankments and dams under earthquake loading. This paper highlights recent applications of sliding block theory to different geotechnical structures. The equations to determine seismic factor of safety, yield acceleration and permanent displacement are given for rock block, soil slope, landfill cover, geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining wall, and composite breakwater. The presented equations for seismic stability degenerate to that of static stability in the absence of earthquake. The permanent displacement for various structures can be obtained from that of a horizontal sliding block through a correction factor. A simplified procedure is included for the permanent displacement under vertical acceleration. The sliding block approach is rational for design under high seismic load.     

Post-earthquake investigation on several geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls and slopes during the Ji-Ji earthquake of Taiwan

This paper gives an overview on the application of geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures in Taiwan. Taiwan has an unique topography and geotechnical conditions that rendered a less conservative and more challenging design compared to that of North America, Europe and Japan. The Ji-Ji (Chi-Chi) earthquake of 1999 gave an opportunity to examine the behavior of reinforced soil structures. The performance of several modular-block reinforced soil retaining walls and reinforced slopes at the vicinity of the fault was evaluated. Reinforced structures performed better than unreinforced soil retaining walls. The failure cases were highlighted and the cause of failure was identified. The lack of seismic design consideration could be a major cause of failure. The compound failure mode, the inertia force of the blocks, and the connection stiffness and strength relative to the large dynamic earth pressure, were among major items that would warrant further design consideration.     

Implications of model uncertainty for the mapping of hillslope‐scale soil erosion predictions

An integrated modelling approach (MIRSED) which utilizes the process‐based soil erosion model WEPP (Water Erosion Prediction Project) is presented for the assessment of hillslope‐scale soil erosion at five sites throughout England and Wales. The methodology draws upon previous uncertainty analysis of the WEPP hillslope soil erosion model by the authors to qualify model results within an uncertainty framework. A method for incorporating model uncertainty from a range of sources is discussed as a first step towards using and learning from results produced through the GLUE (Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation) technique. Results are presented and compared to available observed data, which illustrate that levels of uncertainty are significant and must be taken into account if a meaningful understanding of output from models such as WEPP is to be achieved. Furthermore, the collection of quality, observed data is underlined for two reasons: as an essential tool in the development of soil erosion modelling and also to allow further constraint of model uncertainty. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Non‐stationary seismic response of tanks with soil interaction by wavelets

A wavelet‐based random vibration theory has been developed for the non‐stationary seismic response of liquid storage tanks including soil interaction. The ground motion process has been characterized via estimates of statistical functionals of wavelet coefficients obtained from a single time history of ground accelerations. The tank–liquid–soil system has been modelled as a two‐degree‐of‐freedom (2‐DOF) system. The wavelet domain equations have been formulated and the wavelet coefficients of the required response state are obtained by solving two linear simultaneous algebraic equations. The explicit expression for the instantaneous power spectral density function (PSDF) in terms of the functionals of the input wavelet coefficients has been obtained. The moments of this PSDF are used to estimate the expected pseudo‐spectral acceleration (PSA) response of the tank. Parametric variations are carried out to study the effects of tank height, foundation natural frequency, shear wave velocity of soil and ratio of the mass of tank (including liquid) to the mass of foundation on the PSA responses of tanks. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of Geochemical Distributions Using Multifractal Models

The use of multifractals in the applied sciences has proven useful in the characterization and modeling of complex phenomena. Multifractal theory has also been recently applied to the study and characterization of geochemical distributions, and its relation to spatial statistics clearly stated. The present paper proposes a two-dimensional multifractal model based on a trinomial multiplicative cascade as a proxy to some geochemical distribution. The equations for the generalized dimensions, mass exponent, coarse Lipschitz–Hölder exponent, and multifractal spectrum are derived. This model was tested with an example data set used for geochemical exploration of gold deposits in Northwest Portugal. The element used was arsenic because a large number of sample assays were below detection limit for gold. Arsenic, however, has a positive correlation with gold, and the two generations of arsenopyrite identified in the gold quartz veins are consistent with different mineralizing events, which gave rise to different gold grades. Performing the multifractal analysis has shown problems arising in the subdivision of the area with boxes of constant side length and in the uncertainty the edge effects produce in the experimental estimation of the mass exponent. However, it was possible to closely fit a multifractal spectrum to the data with enrichment factors in the range 2.4–2.6 and constant K₁ = 1.3. Such parameters may give some information on the magnitude of the concentration efficiency and heterogeneity of the distribution of arsenic in the mineralized structures. In a simple test with estimated points using ordinary lognormal kriging, the fitted multifractal model showed the magnitude of smoothing in estimated data. Therefore, it is concluded that multifractal models may be useful in the stochastic simulation of geochemical distributions.     

Soil Loss by Wind Erosion for Three Different Textured Soils Treated with Polyacrylamide and Crude Oil, Iraq

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＬａｒｇｅａｒｅａｓｏｆａｒｉｄａｎｄｓｅｍｉａｒｉｄｒｅｇｉｏｎｓｏｆｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄａｒｅａｆ ｆｅｃｔｅｄｂｙｗｉｎｄｅｒｏｓｉｏｎ .Ａｐｐｒｏｘｉｍａｔｅｌｙ 2 8.4%ｏｆｔｈｉｓａｒｅａａｒｅａｆｆｅｃｔｅｄｂｙｓｅｖｅｒｅａｎｄｖｅｒｙｓｅｖｅｒｅｗｉｎｄｅｒｏｓｉｏｎ (Ｋａｔｅｓｅｔａｌ.,1977) .ＩｎＩｒａｑ ,ｔｈｅａｒｉｄａｎｄｓｅｍｉａｒｉｄｒｅｇｉｏｎｓｒｅｐｒｅｓｅｎｔｎｅａｒｌｙ 75%ｏｆｔｈｅｔｏｔａｌｌａｎｄ .5 0 %ｏｆｔｈｉｓｌａｎｄｉｓｓｕｂｊｅｃ…     

Frequency Analysis of Heavy Tamping Vibration

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＢｅｃａｕｓｅｏｆｉｔｓｓｉｍｐｌｅｏｐｅｒａｔｉｏｎａｎｄｌｏｗｃｏｓｔａｓｗｅｌｌａｓｅｆｆｅｃ ｔｉｖｅｎｅｓｓｆｏｒｍａｎｙｐｒｏｊｅｃｔｓ ,ｈｅａｖｙｔａｍｐｉｎｇｈａｓｂｅｅｎｕｓｅｄｗｉｄｅｌｙｉｎｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄ (Ｑｉａｎｅｔａｌ.,1986 ) .Ｈｏｗｅｖｅｒ,ｔｈｅｓｔｒｏｎｇｖｉｂｒａｔｉｏｎｉｎｓｏｉｌｍａｓｓｃａｕｓｅｄｂｙｈｅａｖｙｔａｍｐｉｎｇｍａｙｂｅｈａｒｍｆｕｌｔｏｂｕｉｌｄｉｎｇｓ,ｉｎｓｔｒｕｍｅｎｔｓａｎｄｅｖｅｎｈｕｍａｎｂｏｄｉｅｓａｒ…     

Magnetic, Geochemical and Mineralogical Charac teristics of Soils in Qiangtang Basin, Tibet, China: Implications for Prospective Oil and Gas Land

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＴｈｅｐｒｅｓｅｎｃｅｏｆｍａｇｎｅｔｉｃａｎｏｍａｌｉｅｓｏｖｅｒｏｉｌａｎｄｇａｓｆｉｅｌｄｓｈａｓｂｅｅｎｋｎｏｗｎｆｏｒｓｅｖｅｒａｌｄｅｃａｄｅｓ,ｂｕｔｉｔｉｓｏｎｌｙｉｎｒｅｃｅｎｔｙｅａｒｓｔｈａｔｔｈｅｐｈｅｎｏｍｅｎｏｎｈａｓｂｅｅｎｃｒｉｔｉｃａｌｌｙｉｎｖｅｓｔｉｇａｔｅｄ .Ｔｈｅｍａｇ ｎｅｔｉｃｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｉｓｔｉｃｓｏｆｓｏｉｌａｎｄｓｅｄｉｍｅｎｔａｒｅｃｌｏｓｅｌｙｒｅｌａｔｅｄｔｏｓｏｍｅｇｅｏｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｐｒｏｃｅｓｓｅｓ,ｓ…     

Element budgets of pine stands on lignite and pyrite containing mine soils

To analyze the development of pine ecosystems on lignite and pyrite containing mine soils, four pine stands with ages of 3–35 years were investigated in a chronosequence approach. Bulk precipitation, throughfall and soil solution in depths of 20, 40, 70 and 100 cm were studied over a three-year period to determine element fluxes in these forest ecosystems on extreme acidic and saline soils.Element budgets are controlled by the processes induced by pyrite oxidation such as intensive weathering of primary minerals, precipitation and leaching of secondary phases.Despite low water fluxes, element outputs can reach extraordinary high values due to very high concentrations in the soil solution. Although element outputs decrease drastically with stand age, respectively, site age, they exceed those of comparable pine stands on non-mine sites. Nitrogen release from the lignite fraction represents a special characteristic of the examined substrates. Nitrogen losses beneath the rooted zone can be 34 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in 100 cm depth. Element input and output in the examined ecosystems are far from balance. Closed cycling of nutrients seems to be recognizable in the case of potassium.     

三峡库区紫色土坡地养分状况及养分流失*

紫色土是三峡库区移民安置区的主要坡地土壤。本研究采用典型区域调查,代表性土壤剖面养分分析,结合实验小区人工降雨的方法,初步研究了发育于侏罗纪紫色砂泥岩母质上紫色土的养分状况、养分流失特点、过程及影响养分流失因素。