Measurement and prediction of water movement in a field soil: The matrix-macropore dichotomy

The saturated and unsaturated flow properties of a field soil under two tillage treatments were obtained with ponded rings and disc permeameters of dissimilar radii. No difference was observed between tillage treatments but the flow properties displayed a distinct macropore-matrix dichotomy, with K changing by an order of magnitude as ψ₀ went from just - 30 mm to zero. Accurate prediction of time to incipient ponding was achieved using both numerical and analytical models calibrated with field hydraulic properties that were characteristic of the soil matrix. However, extension of the numerical model to the prediction of the wetting front development under non-ponded conditions was less accurate due to localized preferred wetting It is hypothesized that at this site, localized concentration of rainfall and hence, preferred wetting, May, occur by interception and stemflow associated with lines of standing stubble present in the original seeding slots.     

A micro-mechanical investigation of the dynamic response and liquefaction of saturated granular soils

A coupled continuum-discrete hydromechanical model was utilized to analyze the meso-scale pore fluid flow and micro-scale solid phase deformation of saturated granular soils. The fluid motion was idealized using averaged Navier–Stokes equations and the discrete element method was employed to model the solid particles. Well established semi-empirical relationships were used to quantify the fluid–particle interactions. Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the mechanisms of granular deposit liquefaction in the presence of a critical upward pore fluid flow as well as when subjected to a dynamic base excitation. The outcome of these simulations was consistent with experimental observations and revealed valuable information on the micro-mechanical characteristics of soil liquefaction and associated loss of stiffness and strength.     

Reflection and transmission of attenuated waves at the boundary between two dissimilar poroelastic solids saturated with two immiscible viscous fluids

The phenomenon of reflection and transmission of plane harmonic waves at the plane interface between two dissimilar poroelastic solids saturated with two immiscible viscous fluids is investigated. Both porous media are considered dissipative due to the presence of viscosity in pore‐fluids. Four attenuated (three dilatational and one shear) waves propagate in such a dissipative porous medium. A finite non‐dimensional parameter is used to define the effective connections between the surface‐pores of two media at their common interface. Another finite parameter represents the gas‐share in the saturation of pores. An attenuated wave in a dissipative medium is described through the specification of directions of propagation and maximum attenuation. A general representation of an attenuated wave is defined through its inhomogeneous propagation, i.e., different directions for propagation and attenuation. Incidence of an inhomogeneous wave is considered at the interface between two dissipative porous solids. This results in four reflected and four transmitted inhomogeneous waves. Expressions are derived for the partition of incident energy among the reflected and transmitted waves. Numerical examples are studied to determine the effects of saturating pore fluid, frequency, surface‐pore connections and wave inhomogeneity on the strengths of reflected and transmitted waves. Interaction energy due to the interference of different (inhomogeneous) waves is calculated in both the dissipative porous media to verify the conservation of incident energy.     

Vertical dynamic response of a pipe pile in saturated soil layer

An analytical solution is developed in this paper to investigate the vertical time-harmonic response of a pipe pile embedded in a viscoelastic saturated soil layer. The wave propagation in the saturated soil is simulated by Biot’s 3D poroelastic theory and that in the pipe pile is simulated by 1D elastodynamic theory. Potential functions are applied to decouple the governing equations of the soil. The analytical solutions of the outer and inner soil in frequency domain are obtained by the method of separation of variables. The vertical response of the pipe pile is then obtained based on the continuity assumption of the displacement and stress between the pipe pile and both the outer and inner soil. The solution is compared with existing solutions to verify the validity. Numerical examples are presented to analyze the vibration characteristics of the pile.     

The response of bucket foundation under horizontal dynamic loading

The experimental investigation of the response of suction bucket foundation in fine sand layer under horizontal dynamic loading has been carried out. The developments of settlement and excess pore pressure of sand foundation have been mainly studied. It is shown that the sand surrounding the bucket softens or even liquefies at the first stage if the loading amplitude is over a critical value, at later stage, the bucket settles and the sand layer consolidates gradually. With the solidification of the liquefied sand layer and the settlement of the bucket, the movement of the sand layer and the bucket reach a stable state.     

Saturated area dynamics and streamflow generation from coupled surface–subsurface simulations and field observations

A distributed physically-based model describing coupled surface–subsurface flows is applied to an instrumented catchment to investigate the links between runoff generation processes and the dynamics of saturated areas. The spatial characterization of the system is obtained through geophysical measurements and in situ observations. The model is able to reproduce the dynamics of the system through the calibration of only few parameters with a clear physical interpretation, providing a solid basis for our numerical investigations. Such investigations demonstrate the important control exerted by surface topography on the time evolution of saturated area patterns, mainly mediated by topographic curvature, that dictates both the dominant streamflow generation process at the local scale and the connection-disconnection dynamics of saturated areas. The relation between hillslope water storage and streamflow, Q = f(V), is shown to be highly hysteretical and dependent on the mean saturation of the catchment: higher degrees of saturation tend to yield one-to-one relationships between streamflow and water storage. On the contrary, streamflow-water storage relations are importantly affected by the specific configuration of saturated areas connected to the outlet when the system is far from complete saturation. This observation contradicts common assumptions of a one-to-one relationship Q = f(V) often used to justify widely observed power-law Q vs. dQ/dt recession curves. Furthermore, even when Q = f(V) becomes unique at high degrees of saturation, no power-law form emerged in our runs, speculatively because of the small size of the catchment formed by a single incision and the corresponding hillslope.     

3D scattering of obliquely incident plane SV waves by an alluvial valley embedded in a fluid-saturated,poroelastic layered half-space

The indirect boundary element method is used to study the 3D dynamic response of an infinitely long alluvial valley embedded in a saturated layered half-space for obli- quely incident SV waves. A wave-number transform is first applied along the valley＇s axis to reduce a 3D problem to a 2D plane strain problem. The problem is then solved in the section perpendicular to the axis of the valley. Finally, the 3D dynamic responses of the valley are obtained by an inverse wave-number transform. The validity of the method is con- firmed by comparison with relevant results. The differences between the responses around the valley embedded in dry and in saturated poroelastic medium are studied, and the effects of drainage conditions, porosity, soil layer stiffness, and soil layer thickness on the dynamic response are dis- cussed in detail resulting in some conclusions.     

甘肃引洮供水工程饱和黄土工程地质研究

当黄土分布区地下水埋深较浅时,黄土常呈饱和状态,不具湿陷性,简称饱和黄土,甘肃引洮供水一期工程总干渠13#、14#、15#隧洞通过饱和黄土,通过常规土工和扫描电子显微镜等综合测试,对饱和黄土的显微结构及化学成分进行了研究,并探讨了其微观结构与物理力学性质及工程特性之间的关系,认为应选择盾构法进行饱和黄土隧洞开挖。     

Effect of Visitor Activities on Surface Soil Environmental Conditions and Aboveground Herbaceous Biomass in Ayder Natural Park

The effects of visitor activities on surface soil environmental conditions and aboveground herbaceous biomass in Ayder Natural Park, Turkey, were investigated. Soil properties and aboveground herbaceous biomass were identified and characterized as heavily trafficked site (HTS), moderately trafficked sites (MTS) and control (non‐trafficked site) in grassland in a forest gap. Some soil properties were measured on 60 pits at 0–5 and 5–10 cm soil depths. The intensity of visitor activities had a negative impact on both surface soil properties and the aboveground herbaceous plant biomass and root mass in the study area in Ayder. The soil bulk density and soil penetration resistance increased from 0.94 to 1.47 g cm^–3 and 0.55 to 1.65 MPa, respectively, saturated hydraulic conductivity decreased from 77.98 to 8.85 mm h^–1, and soil organic matter decreased from 6.71 to 1.77% in moderately and heavily trafficked sites, respectively, at 0–5 cm soil depth. The soil properties were degraded at both the surface layer and the subsurface layer and the greatest degradation was measured in the heavily trafficked site followed by the moderately trafficked site. There was a strong negative linear relationship between soil degradation and aboveground herbaceous plant biomass, which decreased by 50.05 and 78.19% in moderately and heavily trafficked sites, respectively.     

An edge-based smoothed point interpolation method for elasto-plastic coupled hydro-mechanical analysis of saturated porous media

An edge-based smoothed point interpolation method is adopted for coupled hydro-mechanical analysis of saturated porous media with elasto-plastic behaviour. A novel approach for the evaluation of the coupling matrix of the porous media is adopted. Stress integration is performed using the substepping method, and the modified Newton-Raphson approach is utilised to address the nonlinearities arising from the elasto-plastic constitutive model used in the formulation. Numerical examples are studied and the results are compared with analytical solutions and those obtained from the conventional finite element method (FEM) to evaluate the performance of the proposed model.