Vertical impulse measurements of mines buried in saturated sand

The ultimate aim of our overall task, of which the effort described in this paper is a part, is to be able to model the impulsive output of buried charges and the response of targets of interest. It is not practical or cost-effective to determine the response of all targets of interest to buried charges of all sizes by testing them. In order to have confidence in our models, however, they must be validated by a modest number of tests. A critical element in modelling the response of a target is the ability to model the loading function. The load a buried charge applies to a target above it when the charge detonates can be characterized in terms of the vertical impulse. The vertical impulse is a function of the size of the charge, its depth of burial, and the properties of the soil in which it is buried. The primary objective of the effort described in this paper is to determine the load a known charge places on a non-responding target so the data can be used to validate our models.

For model validation, a large number of detonator-scale experiments have been conducted by the University of Maryland (Fourney et al. [1]). It was also necessary to conduct a modest number of experiments at a larger scale, nine in total, to ensure that the results of the detonator-scale tests can be satisfactorily scaled up. Of the nine large-scale experiments conducted, seven were conducted with 5 or 10 lb cast TNT charges. All experiments were conducted in sand that was as nearly fully water-saturated as possible. The objective of the experiments was to determine the vertical impulse applied to a non-deforming target plate above the charge.

The large-scale experiments were conducted using the Vertical Impulse Measurement Fixture (VIMF) at the Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, MD. The VIMF is a unique facility that has been designed specifically to measure accurately the vertical impulse from buried charges weighing up to 8 kg.

This paper describes the VIMF and its instrumentation, test methods and test results. The results obtained demonstrate that in some cases, when the soil is saturated sand, explosive 'bubble' effects similar to those encountered in shallow water are encountered.     

Cyclic shearing and liquefaction of soil under irregular loading: an incremental model for the dynamic earthquake-induced deformation

The paper presents a mathematical model for the deformation of soil under irregular cyclic loading in the simple-shear conditions. The model includes the possible change in the effective pressure in saturated soil due to the cyclic shearing, the reciprocal influence of the effective pressure on the response of the soil to the shear loading, and the pore pressure dissipation due to the seepage of the pore fluid. The hysteresis curves for the strain–stress relationship are constructed in such a way that they produce both the required backbone curve and the required damping ratio as functions of the strain amplitude. At the same time, the approach enables the constitutive functions involved in the model to be specified in various ways depending on the soil under study. The constitutive functions can be calibrated independently of each other from the conventional cyclic shear tests. The constitutive model is incorporated in the boundary value problem for the dynamic site response analysis of level ground. A numerical solution is presented for the dynamic deformation and liquefaction of soil at the Port Island site during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nambu earthquake.     

A Comparative Study of the Atmospheric Layers below First Lifting Condensation Level for Instantaneous Pre-Monsoon Thunderstorm Occurrence at Agartala (23o30’N, 91o15’E) and Ranchi (23o14’N, 85o14’E) of India

An attempt has been made to investigate the role of vertical wind shear, corrective instability and the thermodynamic parameter (θes - θe) below the first lifting condensation level (FLCL) in the occurrence of instanta-neous premonsoon thunderstorm over Agartala (AGT) and Ranchi (RNC) at 12 GMT Radiosonde data of 1988 have been utilized here. The study has however been confined to 1000 hPa-500 hPa range at most Here the convectively unstable layers with positive vertical wind shear upto 500 hPa have been termed as ‘Fa?vourable Layers’ (FL) and the level at which an initially stable layer turns out to be convectively unstable for the first time has been termed as ‘Transition Level’ (TL). It is observed that the changes in vertical wind shear are positive at TL at the time of occurrence of thunderstorm (TS) and the corresponding change is negative on fair-weather situa?tion Moreover, the 90% confidence interval for (θes - θe) reveals that for AGT the upper layer thermodynamic characteristic is important at the time of occurrence of TS whereas for RNC, the value of (θes - θe) at the surface is much more effective     

The liquefaction and displacement of highly saturated sand under water pressure oscillation

In order to investigate the characteristics of water wave induced liquefaction in highly saturated sand in vertical direction, a one-dimensional model of highly saturated sand to water pressure oscillation is presented based on the two-phase continuous media theory. The development of the effective stresses and the liquefaction thickness are analyzed. It is shown that water pressure oscillating loading affects liquefaction severely and the developing rate of liquefaction increases with the decreasing of the sand strength or the increasing of the loading strength. It is shown also that there is obvious phase lag in the sand column. If the sand permeability is non-uniform, the pore pressure and the strain rise sharply at which the smallest permeability occurs. This solution may explain why the fracture occurs in the sand column in some conditions.     

Stresses and excess pore pressure induced in saturated poroelastic halfspace by moving line load

This paper examines stresses and excess pore fluid pressure that are induced in a saturated poroelastic soil of halfspace extent by a concentrated line load. The line load is moving at a constant velocity along the surface of the poroelastic halfspace. The governing equations for the proposed analysis are based on the Biot's theory of dynamics in saturated poroelastic soils. The governing partial differential equations are solved using Fourier transforms. The solutions for the stresses and excess pore pressure are expressed in the forms of inverse Fourier transforms. The numerical results are obtained by performing the numerical inversion of the transform integrals. A parametric study is presented to illustrate the influences of the velocity of moving load and the poroelastic material parameters on the stresses and excess pore pressure. At a high velocity, the maximum values of the stresses in a poroelastic halfspace are smaller than those in an elastic solid, whilst at a low velocity the stresses in a poroelastic halfspace are larger than those in an elastic halfspace. The potential of diffusivity has an important influence on the stresses and excess pore pressure.     

Modelling effects of spatial variability of saturated hydraulic conductivity on autocorrelated overland flow data: linear mixed model approach

The mixed linear model approach was introduced and applied in studying the effects of spatial variation of the saturated hydraulic conductivity (K _s ) on the variation of the overland flow. Analysis was carried out with 2,000 rainfall-runoff events, all generated through transformation of real, observed rainfall events and different spatially variable K _s fields in a small (12 ha) agricultural catchment. The parameters accounting for the variation in the generation method were the coefficient of variation (cv) and correlation length (L _x L _y ) of K _s both having two levels of values obtained from field measurements of other studies. The analysis showed that the combinations with both parameters having the smaller or bigger value during flow peaks only caused different response in the overland flow. However, the parameters were statistically significant only at the 10% level. Most of the flow variation was explained by the event dynamics. The mixed models were able to model the structure of the data efficiently with less restrictive assumptions than for example the analysis of variance, hence producing more reliable results. The method was able to take into account autocorrelation of the test series, correlation between the factors and unequal variances. The usefulness of the method was supported by the fact that the conclusions drawn by it were confirmed by simple, conventional methods of a previous study, added with statistical criteria and confidence levels for each calculation moment. The findings of the study can be utilized in practise for example when designing the field sampling experiments.     

Investigation on the dynamic liquefaction responses of saturated granular soils due to dynamic compaction in coastal area

Dynamic compaction (DC) has been widely used for a variety of soil types and conditions in coastal area. However, as the ground water table is near the ground surface, a significant increase of pore water pressure is noticed after each impact, which results in local liquefaction and limits further drop effect. Consequently, to obtain effective compaction effects on saturated soils, it is essential for the evaluation of the liquefaction responses of soil medium caused by DC to determine the time delay between the drops and prevent ‘rubbery soil’. In this study, a numerical investigation on the liquefaction responses of saturated granular soils during DC is carried out using a coupled hydro-mechanical model. The developed model considers all the stages of DC involved in impact stage and consolidation stage. A new cap model for simulations of high strain rate behaviors of soils under DC is incorporated in the coupled hydro-mechanical model. Verification of the proposed model is performed against the previous test data and analytical result. Then, a series of parametric studies have been performed to examine the effects of the tamping energy level, hammer radius and permeability on liquefaction responses of saturated granular soils at several stages of DC. The numerical results demonstrate that the dimension of liquefaction zone is driven by the tamping energy level rather than the permeability, and strain rate has a significant effect on soil responses in DC.     

横观各向同性饱和地基中埋置荷载的非轴对称瞬态响应

基于孔隙介质的Biot理论,首先利用Laplace变换,给出圆柱坐标系下横观各向同性饱和弹性多孔介质在变换域上的波动方程;将波动方程解耦后,根据方位角的Fourier展开和径向Hankel变换,求解了Biot波动方程,得到以土骨架位移、孔隙水压力和土介质总应力分量的积分形式的一般解;借助一般解,建立了有限厚度饱和土层和饱和半空间的精确动力刚度矩阵,并由土层的层间界面连续条件建立三维非轴对称层状饱和地基的总刚度方程;在此基础上,系统研究了横观各向同性饱和半空间体在内部集中荷载激励下的动力响应,并给出了问题的瞬态解答.该研究为运用边界元法求解饱和地基动力响应奠定了理论基础.     

Mechanical Response of Saturated Geological Rock Mass under Tidal Force

In this paper,the mechanical response of saturated geological rock under tidal force is explored by poroelastic theory.First,we use the free energy formula of saturated rock under a tidal force to study the relationships of pore pressure with stress,and stress with strain.Then we analyze the relationship between rock strain and tidal potential by the equilibrium differential equations of saturated rock under tidal force.Finally,we derive the physical relationship between the two parameters (pore pressure and tidal mean stress) of saturated rock and tidal potential.The relationship shows that:pore pressure is directly proportional with tidal potential,but tidal mean stress of saturated rock is inversely proportional with tidal potential.The ratio coefficient is related not only to the Lame coefficients of rock skeletons,but also to the Biot modulus.By using this model to analyze observational well water level of C-18 well which locates in Huili,Sichuan Province,the well level response coefficient (D) was estimated.This way,we derive the Skempton coefficient (B),the coefficient A and C which refer to the response coefficients of pore pressure and tidal stress to tidal potential respectively.Then we compare the differences among each coefficient in coupling and uncoupling conditions.It shows that for saturated rocks,the response of stress and pore pressure to earth tides is a product of coupling,and it is necessary to take into account the coupling effect when we study the mechanical response.The model will provide the basis not only for the study of mechanics and hydrodynamics of well-confined aquifer systems,and the mechanics of faulting under tidal force,but also for quantitative research of the triggering mechanism of tidal forces.