Harmonic wave propagation through viscoelastic heterogeneous media exhibiting mild stochasticity - I. Fundamental solutions

This work examines the propagation of time harmonic, horizontally polarized shear waves through a naturally occurring heterogeneous medium that exhibits viscous behaviour as well as random fluctuations of its elastic modulus about a mean value. As a first step, the governing equation, which is a heterogeneous Helmholtz equation, is solved using algebraic transformations and the relevant Green's function is obtained for two sets of boundary conditions, one corresponding to a finite depth layer and the other to an infinite layer. Viscous material behaviour is introduced by considering the depth-dependent elastic modulus to be a complex quantity. Subsequently, material stochasticity in the medium is handled through the perturbation approach by assuming that the elastic modulus has a small random fluctuation about its mean value. The final results are closed-form expressions for the mean value and covariance matrix of both the wave speed profile in the medium and the corresponding Green's function. In Part II, (Soil Dynam. Earth. Engng, 1996,15, 129-39), two examples concerning seismic wave propagation in soft topsoil and in sandstone serve to illustrate the methodology and comparisons are made with Monte Carlo simulations.     

南海东北部内潮的模态结构和传播

The evolution of energy, energy flux and modal structure of the internal tides(ITs) in the northeastern South China Sea is examined using the measurements at two moorings along a cross-slope section from the deep continental slope to the shallow continental shelf. The energy of both diurnal and semidiurnal ITs clearly shows a～14-day spring-neap cycle, but their phases lag that of barotropic tides, indicating that ITs are not generated on the continental slope. Observations of internal tidal energy flux suggest that they may be generated at the Luzon Strait and propagate west-northwest to the continental slope in the northwestern SCS. Because the continental slope is critical-supercritical with respect to diurnal ITs, about 4.6 kJ/m~2 of the incident energy and 8.7 kW/m of energy flux of diurnal ITs are reduced from the continental slope to the continental shelf. In contrast, the semidiurnal internal tides enter the shelf because of the sub-critical topography with respect to semidiurnal ITs.From the continental slope to the shelf, the vertical structure of diurnal ITs shows significant variation, with dominant Mode 1 on the deep slope and dominant higher modes on the shelf. On the contrary, the vertical structure of the semidiurnal ITs is stable, with dominant Mode 1.     

深海管道钢的腐蚀疲劳裂纹扩展特性试验研究

采用侧壁开槽型CT试样,分别在空气和3.5%NaCl溶液中进行腐蚀疲劳裂纹扩展试验,研究海底管道用钢X65在海水腐蚀环境下的腐蚀疲劳裂纹扩展特性。为保证试样既能满足腐蚀疲劳试验机的夹具要求,又可控制裂纹沿直线方向扩展,采用侧壁开槽技术对CT试样进行改进;利用有限元软件ABAQUS,建立三维模型,验证了对于侧壁开槽型CT试样,可以采用ASTM标准推荐的应力强度因子表达式对改进后CT试样开展数值计算。利用YYF-50腐蚀疲劳试验装置开展试验,试验结果表明:和惰性环境相比,腐蚀环境不仅会加速X65钢的裂纹扩展速率,还会降低腐蚀疲劳体系下裂纹扩展的门槛值;在腐蚀体系下存在裂纹扩展的稳定阶段,可采用Paris公式对其腐蚀疲劳裂纹扩展速率进行预测。     

Analysis of kinematic seismic response of tapered piles

In the present work, a two-phase analysis is used to assess the lateral movement of a tapered pile due to kinematic seismic loading resulted from earthquakes. First, the free-field horizontal displacement of the ground due to earthquake is estimated using available theory of wave propagation. Second, these estimated soil movements are imposed on the taper pile in a closed-form solution to compute the pile response. The governing differential equation for an arbitrary pile segment is obtained, which includes the free-field horizontal movement estimated from the first phase. The equation is solved explicitly to obtain the horizontal deflection. Parametric studies show that tapered piles tend to be more flexible than uniform piles of the same volume and length under earthquake loading, which is soundly interesting.     

中国煤层气开发存在的问题及破解思路

复杂含煤地层顶板水平井射孔压裂是增加煤层透气性、提升瓦斯抽采效率的关键,而地层结构和射孔位置影响裂缝扩展形态。考虑地层结构特征及射孔位置,建立压裂工程地质模型;基于有限元方法构建数值模型,研究射孔位置、地层条件、垂向应力与水平应力差对裂缝扩展的影响,并进行工程验证,提出施工建议。结果表明：射孔孔眼位置存在全部位于煤层中、全部位于顶板岩层中和部分位于顶板部分位于煤层3种情况。孔眼位于煤层中,裂缝受到界面的“阻隔”作用,对煤层改造有利;孔眼位于顶板,当顶板层理发育,垂向应力与最小水平主应力差大于2 MPa时裂缝能够穿越层理和界面进入煤层,而顶板完整时,应力差大于−2 MPa裂缝即可在孔眼诱导作用下进入煤层,顶板层理和界面对裂缝垂向扩展具有“阻挡”作用,结构完整地层有利于裂缝的垂向穿层扩展;孔眼部分进入煤层,对裂缝起裂、扩展产生明显诱导作用,形成沿界面的水平缝和进入煤层的垂直缝,无论顶板是否完整,都能形成有效改造裂缝。当射孔孔眼距煤层较远、孔眼与煤层间弱面发育、水平应力大于垂向应力或压裂施工规模不足时,建议采用深穿透射孔、分支孔等能够沟通煤层的工程措施,以保证压裂效果。研究结果在陕西韩城某煤矿的井下分段压裂施工中进行了应用,试验孔瓦斯抽采效果良好,可为类似地质、工程条件下的压裂施工提供借鉴。

     

Complex site effects and building codes: Making the leap

The engineering community is aware of the importance of site effects, but it lags behind seismological studies when it comes to incorporating site effect considerations in design spectra for seismic norms. This lag is reflected in the conspicuous fact that current building codes make allowance for 1D site effects but ignore complex site effects. The purpose of this paper is to explore a way for including complex site effects in a building code environment. We take as example Eurocode 8, which is a modern code that exemplifies the current approach to site effect consideration. We examine the restrictions that we have imposed to make the problem of a feasible size and discuss the approach we have taken. We propose a strategy to incorporate a class of complex site effects in a design elastic spectrum.     

Effects of onshore and offshore topography on sea breeze circulation: An observational study at eastern Attica,Greece

Field measurements of wind, air temperature and humidity were taken at the eastern part of the Attika district in June 1991, to examine the topographic influences exerted on the local sea breezes. These influences are due either to the elongated Evia island, faced by the northern half of Attica coastline some tens of kilometers offshore, or to the coast-parallel range of Hymettos mountain, rising steeply 12 km onshore. The instrumentation consisted mainly of three tethered meteorological balloons released at characteristic sires (i.e., the coast, a location between shoreline and mountain foot and the mountain top) and three autographic ground-based anemometers operating at selected locations. Data from the ground-based and upper air stations of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, as well as the diurnal weather maps were also obtained and analyzed. Observations were made under different synoptic wind and the latter was found to determine remarkably the significance of the topographic effects. A preliminary two-dimensional numerical approach was also made concerning the sea breeze capability to reach the Hymettos mountain top in the case of a weak opposing geostrophic flow.     

How can the uncertainty in the natural inflow regime propagate into the assessment of water resource systems?

The Canadian Rocky Mountain headwaters support the water resource systems of the Canadian Prairies. Significant variations in natural headwater contributions have been observed due to warming climate. Projecting future natural headwater flows under climate change effects, however, has large uncertainty. First, there are difficulties in climate modeling and downscaling in alpine regions. Second, streamflow modeling in mountainous areas is extremely challenging. There is therefore a need to understand the effects of uncertainty in the natural inflow regime, and in particular how this translates into uncertainty in representing the state and the outflow of water resource systems. Considering the Oldman River basin in Alberta, Canada, we synthesized different inflow regimes based on site/inter-site properties of the historical inflow regime. The water resources system was then conditioned on the synthesized inflow regimes to identify the mechanisms of error propagation from the headwater streamflows to the water allocations. The results show that the response of the water resource system to the uncertainty in the generated inflow regime depends on the system state, flow condition and the component of interest. Generally, the response of the reservoirs to the uncertainty in the estimated inflow regime is more significant in dry years, in particular during low flow conditions. The response at the system outlet is rather different, as the propagation of the headwater uncertainty is more significant during high flow conditions. Also, similar inflow estimates in terms of error and uncertainty may result in different error and uncertainty estimates in the simulated outflows; therefore, lower bias and uncertainty in estimating the regional inflow regime does not necessarily mean lower bias and uncertainty in simulating the streamflow at the outlet of the system. Our results provide improved understanding of uncertainty propagation through complex water resource systems, but also portray the need for better climate and hydrological modeling in the Rocky Mountains for improved water management in the Canadian Prairies, particularly in the face of uncertain climate futures. This will be crucial if the natural headwater inflows decline and/or the system faces drought conditions.     

Differences Between Mode I and Mode II Crack Propagation

Although mode I and mode II crack propagation show many similarities, in particular when analysed by linear elastic fracture mechanics, they differ significantly in the micro-structural behaviour. These differences, which are clearly noticeable in the fracture surface morphology, lead to fundamental differences in the macroscopic behaviour. Thus, mode II crack expansion under remote loading, appears to obey micro-structural scaling laws, implying that the dimensions of the process region stay essentially constant during crack expansion, rather than increasing with crack length. Therefore, expanding mode II cracks can almost reach the Rayleigh velocity, and actually also intersonic velocities. An expanding mode I crack, on the other hand, seems to obey continuum scaling laws, implying that the dimensions of the process region increase in proportion to crack length, leading to self-similar crack expansion at a velocity significantly below the Rayleigh speed and dependent on the remote load.