Analysis of earth dams affected by the 2001 Bhuj Earthquake

An earthquake of magnitude of 7.6 (M_w 7.6) occurred in Bhuj, India on January 26, 2001. This event inflicted damages of varying extents to a large number of small to moderate size multi-zone earth dams in the vicinity of the epicenter. Some of the distress was due to the liquefaction of saturated alluvium in foundation. Liquefaction was relatively localized for the majority of these dams because the earthquake struck in the middle of a prolonged dry season when the reservoirs behind these dams were nearly empty and shallow alluvium soils underneath the downstream portions of the dams were partly dry. Otherwise, liquefaction of foundation soils would have been more extensive and damage to these dams more significant. Six such dams have been examined in this paper. Four of these facilities, Chang, Shivlakha, Suvi, and Tapar were within the 50 km of epicenter region. These dams underwent free-field ground motion with peak ground accelerations between 0.28g to 0.52g. Of these Chang Dam underwent severe slumping, whereas Shivlakha, Suvi, and Tapar Dams were affected severely especially over the upstream sections. Fatehgadh Dam and Kaswati Dam were affected relatively less severely. Foundation conditions underneath these dams were first examined for assessing liquefaction potential. A limited amount of subsurface information available from investigations undertaken prior to the earthquake indicates that, although the foundation soils within the top 2.0 to 2.5 m underneath these dams were susceptible to liquefaction, Bhuj Earthquake did not trigger liquefaction because of lack of saturation of these layers underneath the downstream portions of these dams. These dams were then analyzed using a simple sliding block procedure using appropriate estimates of undrained soil strength parameters. The results of this analysis for these structures were found to be in general agreement with the observed deformation patterns.     

Influence of tectonic structures on the Hope Slide, British Columbia, Canada

The Hope Slide, which occurred on January 9, 1965, involved an estimated 47-Mm³ of meta-volcanics and intrusive rocks. Previous workers reported the presence of tectonic structures (faults and shear zones) along the failure surface at the Hope Slide. These tectonic features were investigated in detail to assess their effects on rock-mass quality and the related implications for slope stability. This paper integrates basic field and laboratory concepts from structural and engineering geology. Subdividing the failure area into structural domains allowed distinct discontinuity sets to be associated with specific tectonic structures. The Geological Strength Index (GSI) was used to estimate the rock-mass damage related to the tectonic structures. Low GSI values were seen to outline tectonic damage zones. Point-load tests were used to characterise the compressive strength of rocks adjacent to the tectonic structures. Strength anisotropy, tentatively attributed to damage caused by a large shear zone, was observed in greenstone samples. Seepage zones along the failure surface were observed preferentially along shallow discontinuities that dipped downslope and in rock masses of good quality (GSI > 40). An alternative morphology of the slope failure is proposed by distinguishing between the extent of the surficial damage due to the rock-slope failure and the zone of failed material (depletion zone). For the first time, a kinematic mechanism for the Hope Slide is proposed, based on a preliminary 3-dimensional block model. A pre-1965 DEM was produced from estimates of material lost and gained as reported by previous workers. The pre-1965 DEM revealed that the tectonic structures recognised during fieldwork bounded the material that failed in the 1965 event.     

Slope stability evaluation using Back Propagation Neural Networks

The Yudonghe landslide, located in western Hubei Province of China, consists of eastern and western subunits as well as a main landslide mass with upper and lower slip surfaces. As an important landslide close to Shuibuya Dam on the Qing River, its stability is crucial, as the slide might reactivate because of a change in ground-water level caused by filling of the Shuibuya Reservoir. Existing weakness zones, growth of ruptures, the downslope attitude of geologic strata, and water infiltration, which reduced the strength of rocks and soils, have been found to be the most important factors contributing to the Yudonghe landslide. With regard to the landslide processes, it can be noted that the original large-scale slide activity was due to erosion by the Qing River, the second sliding resulted from the fall of blocks from the head scarp, and the final activity was the growth of the eastern and western secondary slides. A base failure was the main type of slope movement, however, it was obvious that more than one sliding event occurred, as inferred from striations and fractures detected by microstructure analysis of soils along the failure surfaces. Slope instability was evaluated by the method of Back Propagation Neural Networks (BPNN), in which a four-layer BPNN model with five input nodes, two hidden layers, and two output nodes was constructed using a training data set of landslide samples throughout the Qing River area. The predicted results of this analysis showed that the factor of safety was 1.10, which indicates that the Yudonghe landslide is currently in a marginally stable condition.     

Left upstream slope design for the Çatalan Dam, Adana, Turkey and its behaviour under actual earthquake loading

An investigation and remediation of instability along upstream cut slopes for an earthfill dam in differentially weathered rock in southern Turkey is described. The major instability problem was a 45-m high and 200-m long previously cut slope next to the main axis of the dam, above the diversion tunnels and water outlet structures. The slope was first designed and excavated in 1986 based on the temporary berm approach. Rising water level in the reservoir would change the shear strength parameters and the pore-water pressure in the slope; thus, probable deep failure would damage the entrance of the diversion tunnels and water outlet structures, as well as the earthfill embankment of the dam. In June 1996, the slope face was re-excavated and protected against wave erosion by placement of a layer of rock riprap over a layer of bedding and a filter material. A strong earthquake (M_S = 6.2) occurred during a period of rapid drawdown in 27 June 1998. The slope remained stable, although numerous tension cracks developed in Quaternary terrace deposits near the reservoir area.     

Long-Term Variability of the Wind Field over the Indian Ocean Based on ERA-Interim Reanalysis

A detailed study of long-term variability of winds using 30 years of data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts global reanalysis (ERA-Interim) over the Indian Ocean has been carried out by partitioning the Indian Ocean into six zones based on local wind extrema. The trend of mean annual wind speed averaged over each zone shows a significant increase in the equatorial region, the Southern Ocean, and the southern part of the trade winds. This indicates that the Southern Ocean winds and the southeast trade winds are becoming stronger. However, the trend for the Bay of Bengal is negative, which might be caused by a weakening of the monsoon winds and northeast trade winds. Maximum interannual variability occurs in the Arabian Sea due to monsoon activity; a minimum is observed in the subtropical region because of the divergence of winds. Wind speed variations in all zones are weakly correlated with the Dipole Mode Index (DMI). However, the equatorial Indian Ocean, the southern part of the trade winds, and subtropical zones show a relatively strong positive correlation with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), indicating that the SOI has a zonal influence on wind speed in the Indian Ocean. Monsoon winds have a decreasing trend in the northern Indian Ocean, indicating monsoon weakening, and an increasing trend in the equatorial region because of enhancement of the westerlies. The negative trend observed during the non-monsoon period could be a result of weakening of the northeast trade winds over the past few decades. The mean flux of kinetic energy of wind (FKEW) reaches a minimum of about 100?W?m^?2 in the equatorial region and a maximum of about 1500?W?m^?2 in the Southern Ocean. The seasonal variability of FKEW is large, about 1600?W?m^?2, along the coast of Somalia in the northern Indian Ocean. The maximum monthly variability of the FKEW field averaged over each zone occurs during boreal summer. During the onset and withdrawal of monsoon, FKEW is as low as 50?W?m^?2. The Southern Ocean has a large variation of about 1280?W?m^?2 because of strong westerlies throughout the year.     

Effect of 2D spatial variability on slope reliability: A simplified FORM analysis

To meet the high demand for reliability based design of slopes, we present in this paper a simplified HLRF(Hasofere Linde Rackwitze Fiessler) iterative algorithm for first-order reliability method(FORM). It is simply formulated in x-space and requires neither transformation of correlated random variables nor optimization tools. The solution can be easily improved by iteratively adjusting the step length. The algorithm is particularly useful to practicing engineers for geotechnical reliability analysis where standalone(deterministic) numerical packages are used. Based on the proposed algorithm and through direct perturbation analysis of random variables, we conducted a case study of earth slope reliability with complete consideration of soil uncertainty and spatial variability.     

Probabilistic stability analyses of undrained slopes by 3D random fields and finite element methods

A long slope consisting of spatially random soils is a common geographical feature. This paper examined the necessity of three-dimensional(3 D) analysis when dealing with slope with full randomness in soil properties. Although 3 D random finite element analysis can well reflect the spatial variability of soil properties, it is often time-consuming for probabilistic stability analysis. For this reason, we also examined the least advantageous(or most pessimistic) cross-section of the studied slope. The concept of"most pessimistic" refers to the minimal cross-sectional average of undrained shear strength. The selection of the most pessimistic section is achievable by simulating the undrained shear strength as a 3 D random field. Random finite element analysis results suggest that two-dimensional(2 D) plane strain analysis based the most pessimistic cross-section generally provides a more conservative result than the corresponding full 3 D analysis. The level of conservativeness is around 15% on average. This result may have engineering implications for slope design where computationally tractable 2 D analyses based on the procedure proposed in this study could ensure conservative results.     

冷空气强风在大型城市中的精细结构和形成机制

地面强风可直接造成人员伤亡和经济损失,严重影响出行安全、工农业生产等社会秩序。强风的发生与天气系统和复杂下垫面的共同作用密切相关,在城市区域尤为明显。受数值模拟技术和计算资源的限制,对实际天气条件下大范围城区的强风现象进行建筑物分辨率的大规模数值模拟研究仍是一个挑战。本研究利用中尺度气象模式嵌套流体计算动力模式的超高分辨率局地气象预报系统,对强冷空气过程造成广州市区的一次强风事件进行数值模拟,深入探讨强风的精细结构和形成机制。结果表明,伴随着强冷空气入侵,广州市区的平均风速和风场高频扰动均明显增强,且在城市冠层顶尤为明显,呈现区域不均匀的三维结构,数值模拟与地面观测相一致。较大范围的强风速和阵风主要出现在建筑物较为低矮的老城区上空,并持续影响下游河道等开阔区域。在高层建筑密集的新城区,虽然整体风速明显减弱,但能在平行风向的街道狭管和下游区域形成局地强风。特别是,超高层建筑群引起显著的垂直环流,导致强风扰动向下传播,造成最大风速达8 m s?1的地面局地强风,阵风指数接近2。上游建筑群引起的风场扰动呈现大尺度湍流结构,能沿着平均气流传播影响数公里之远的下游地区。当风场扰动经过广州塔等单体超高层建筑时,可在其两侧绕流区再次加强,形成局地强风。局地强风和阵风还出现在垂直于风向排列的沿江高层建筑群的侧边,与建筑屏风的阻挡效应和缺口溢出有关。研究结果促进认识城市强风的时空特征和物理机制,有助于提升城市气象的精细化预报水平。     

某边坡变形破坏机理的数值分析

某花岗岩矿岩土体主要有填土、粉质粘土、淤泥及淤泥质土、含泥中粗砂、粘土、残积砂质粘土,其下为花岗岩基岩。边坡最大高度75m,其中残积土层以上的土质边坡高度约50m。本文运用有限元强度折减法对该边坡的稳定性进行了研究,得出了潜在的破坏模式及各个滑动部分的安全系数。分析结果表明,本边坡存在3个潜在滑动面,其中两个为浅层滑动面,另一个为深层滑动面。两个浅层滑动面的稳定系数在1.13～1.17,处于临界状态。深层滑动面稳定性系数在1.29,目前尚处在相对稳定状态。根据分析结果,提出了如下加固措施:（1）对滑坡体进行削坡处理;（2）在其滑动面下方设置抗滑台阶;（3）采用预应力锚索框架梁结合肋柱进行加固处理。     

滚石灾害防治方法浅析

随着人类活动的广度和力度不断加大,多山地带的滚石问题越来越突出,致使有关滚石灾害及其防治方法的研究也逐步得到重视。总体而言,滚石灾害的防治方法可分为主动防护和被动防护两大类,可应用于不同的滚石灾害环境。对各类滚石灾害防治方法进行简单介绍之后,作者分析了各方法的应用范围和适用条件。