Structural monitoring of offshore platforms using impulse and relaxation response

Monitoring offshore platforms, long span bridges, high rise buildings, TV towers and other similar structures is essential for ensuring their safety in service. Continuous monitoring assumes even greater significance in the case of offshore platforms, which are highly susceptible to damage due to the corrosive environment and the continuous action of waves. Also, since a major part of the structure is under water and covered by marine growth, even a trained diver cannot easily detect damage in the structure. In the present work, vibration criterion is adopted for structural monitoring of jacket platforms. Artificial excitation of these structures is not always practicable and ambient excitation due to wind and waves may not be sufficient for collecting the required vibration data. Alternate methods can be adopted for the same purpose, for example, the application of an impact or a sudden relaxation of an applied force for exciting the structure. For jacket platforms, impact can be applied by gently pushing the structure at the fender while relaxation can be accomplished by pulling the structure and then suddenly releasing it using a tug or a supply vessel in both cases. The present study is an experimental investigation on a laboratory model of a jacket platform, for exploring the feasibility of adapting vibration responses due to impulse and relaxation, for structural monitoring. Effects of damage in six members of the platform as well as changes in deck masses were studied. A finite element model of the structure was used to analyze all the cases for comparison of the results as well as system identification. A data acquisition and analysis procedure for obtaining the response signatures of the platform due to the impulse and relaxation procedure was also developed for possible adoption in on-line monitoring of offshore platforms. From the study, it has been concluded that both impulse and relaxation responses are useful tools for monitoring offshore jacket platforms. The present work forms the basis for the development of an automated, on-line monitoring system for offshore platforms, using neural networks.     

渭河下游河道调整过程中的复杂响应现象

应用系统复杂响应的原理研究三门峡水库上游渭河河道调整过程,表明上游河道河床形态对基面上升所作出的响应是复杂的,弯曲系数的变化为先减小而后增大,宽深比的变化是先增大后减小,比降由先减小而后增大,最后均趋于稳定.     

数字水准仪标尺编码原理研究

数字水准仪的标尺编码规则直接影响其测量精度.基于现有几种数字水准仪标尺编码的特点,归纳出标尺条码的编码衡量指标:信息密度、分辨率和纠错能力.以条码的最大编码容量与单个码区长度之比值衡量其承载的信息密度;利用光学系统的点扩散函数研究条码图像的分辨率,即相邻边缘的相互影响,得出码元相邻边缘的间距相等时,影响最小的结论;用相关系数或编码所用函数本身的性质表征条码的纠错能力.依据编码指标建立一套新的标尺编码规则:以格雷码为数值码,固定宽度的码元为参考码,两者交替组合.分析表明,该种编码不但信息密度大,分辨率高,而且纠错能力强.     

Application of Spectral Decomposition to Detection of Fracture-Cavity Carbonate Reservoir Beds in the Tahe Oiifieid, Tarim Basin, NW China

Ordovician fracture-cavity carbonate reservoir beds are the major type of producing formations in the Tahe oilfield, Tarim Basin. The seismic responses of these beds clearly changes depending on the different distance of the fracture-cavity reservoir bed from the top of the section. The seismic reflection becomes weak or is absent when the fracture-cavity reservoir beds are less than 20 ms below the top Ordovician. The effect on top Ordovician reflection became weaker with deeper burial of fracture-cavity reservoir beds but the developed deep fracture-cavity reservoir beds caused stronger reflection in the interior of the Ordovician. This interior reflection can be divided into strong long-axis, irregular and bead string reflections, and was present 80 ms below the top Ordovician. Aimed at understanding reflection characteristics, the spectral decomposition technique, which uses frequency to ＂tune-in＂ bed thickness, was used to predict Ordovician fracture-cavity carbonate formations in the Tahe oilfield. Through finely adjusting the processing parameters of spectral decomposition, it was found that the slice at 30 Hz of the tuned data cube can best represent reservoir bed development. Two large N-S-trending strong reflection belts in the mid-western part of the study area along wells TK440- TK427-TK417B and in the eastern part along wells TK404-TK409 were observed distinctly on the 30 Hz slice and 4-D time-frequency data cube carving. A small N-S trending reflection belt in the southern part along wells T403-TK446B was also clearly identified. The predicted reservoir bed development area coincides with the fracture-cavities connection area confirmed by drilling pressure testing results. Deep karst cavities occur basically in three reservoir bed-development belts identified by the Ordovician interior strong reflection. Spectral decomposition proved to be a useful technique in identifying fracture-cavity reservoir beds.     

基于免疫粒子群优化算法的影像纹理分类

粒子群优化算法是基于群智能的随机全局优化方法,它源于对鸟群简化社会系统的模拟。为了提高标准粒子群优化算法的收敛性能,将生物免疫系统的记忆能力和多样性引入标准粒子群优化算法,提出一种免疫粒子群优化算法。在提取纹理样本Laws纹理能量模板特征、小波特征等纹理特征的基础上,提出针对分类问题的粒子表达方法和群体寻优策略,实现了基于免疫粒子群算法的纹理分类。实验结果表明,与标准粒子群优化算法相比,免疫粒子群优化算法在获取训练样本类别中心时具有较好的收敛性能,并且基于该算法的影像纹理分类具有较高的分类精度。     

Characterizing heterogeneous permeable media with spatial statistics and tracer data using sequential simulated annealing

Characterizing heterogeneous permeable media using flow and transport data typically requires solution of an inverse problem. Such inverse problems are intensive computationally and may involve iterative procedures requiring many forward simulations of the flow and transport problem. Previous attempts have been limited mostly to flow data such as pressure transient (interference) tests using multiple observation wells. This paper discusses an approach to generating stochastic permeability fields conditioned to geologic data in the form of a vertical variogram derived from cores and logs as well as fluid flow and transport data, such as tracer concentration history, by sequential application of simulated annealing (SA). Thus, the method incorporates elements of geostatistics within the framework of inverse modeling. For tracer-transport calculations, we have used a semianalytic transit-time algorithm which is fast, accurate, and free of numerical dispersion. For steady velocity fields, we introduce a transit-time function which demonstrates the relative importance of data from different sources. The approach is illustrated by application to a set of spatial permeability measurements and tracer data from an experiment in the Antolini Sandstone, an eolian outcrop from northern Arizona. The results clearly reveal the importance of tracer data in reproducing the correlated features (channels) of the permeability field and the scale effects of heterogeneity.     

高新技术产业集聚的城市化响应与反馈机制研究

高新技术产业集聚与城市化存在互动机制。一方面,高新技术产业结构效应影响了城市化动力机制,集聚效应则促进了城市外部经济的发展,使城市化表现出不同的模式特征和地域特征;另一方面,城市化促进了高新技术发展所需要素资源的聚集与流动,为高新技术产业集聚提供人力资本保障,还为高新技术企业提供创新的源动力。文章以苏州高新区的高新技术产业发展和城市化互动关系佐证了这一理论,并认为建立二者之间切实可行的调控模式是当务之急。     

Modeling the seismic response of basin-edge structure by a sequential waveform method

A sequential waveform method is developed to simulate the seismic response of basin-edge structure excited by a plane incident P-wave. The full procedure involves: (a) a previous parameterization of the investigated model using the seismic wave velocities and depths of the sedimentary stratifications; (b) an input motion determined from the records at stations installed on hard rock; (c) forward computation of the P-SV elastic wave field by means of a two-dimensional finite difference (FD) method; (d) the optimization of the model vector using simulated annealing technique and comparing the simulated seismic response of the tested structure with the observed wave field; (e) the correction of the initial model by trial-and-error by testing the differences between synthetics and observed data, and (f) the final solution obtained by iteration using the conjugate gradient algorithm. The search of an optimal basin-edge model has been parallel processed by varying the shapes and velocities of strata on the basis of the fitting of relative timing, amplitude and phase between the output and the observed data. The input motion and sensitivity have been checked and the validity of the method has been demonstrated by numeric analysis. Using the teleseismic records generated by 7 earthquakes recorded at 26 broadband seismic stations, we have studied the seismic velocity structure of the southern edge of the Jiyang depression located in the Bohai Bay basin, northern China. Two cross sections show an agreement between the velocity results and the geological sections available in the region. In addition, we obtain evidence of three hidden faults under the sections and features that suggest major extensions at the Paleogene.     

On the Importance of Geolithological Features for the Estimate of the Site Response: The Case of Catania Metropolitan Area (Italy)

The evaluation of seismic site response in the urban area of Catania was tackled by selecting test areas having peculiar lithological and structural features, potentially favourable to large local amplifications of ground motion. The two selected areas are located in the historical downtown and in the northern part of Catania where the presence of a fault is evident. Site response was evaluated using spectral ratio technique taking the horizontal- to-vertical component ratio of ambient noise. Inferences from microtremor measurements are compared with results from synthetic accelerograms and response spectra computed at all drillings available for this area. Such method is particularly suitable in urban areas where the nature of the outcropping geological units is masked by city growth and anthropic intervention on the surface geology. The microtremor H/V spectral ratios evaluated at soft sites located within the downtown profile tend to be smaller than that usually reported in the literature for such soils. A tendency for amplifications to peaks near 2 Hz is observed only in some sites located on recent alluvial deposits. Evidences for amplifications of site effects (frequency range 4–8 Hz) were observed in the sampling sites located on the fault, with a rapid decrease of spectral amplitude just a few tenths of metres away from the discontinuity. Numerical simulations evidenced the importance of geolithological features at depth levels even greater than 20–30 m. Besides this, the results strongly confirm the importance of the subsurface geological conditions, in the estimate of seismic hazard at urban scale.     

Poverty, vulnerability and the impact of flooding in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

The article evaluates household vulnerability after the 2000 flood in two poor communities of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study analyses the forms of vulnerability which disasters such as floods present. Using data gathered from a survey of households, the study presents the impacts, coping and adapting strategies of households after the 2000 flood. The article argues that beyond the concern over socio-economic circumstances as the major determinant of household vulnerability, the management of the disaster can serve to perpetuate vulnerability.