Wave pressure acting on a seawave slot-cone generator

Any kind of Wave Energy Converter (WEC) requires information on how optimize the device in terms of hydraulic performances and structural responses. This paper presents results on wave loading acting on an innovative caisson breakwater for electricity production. The Seawave Slot-Cone Generator (SSG) concept is based on the known principle of overtopping and storing the wave energy in several reservoirs placed one above the other. Using this method practically all waves, regardless of size and speed are captured for energy production. In the present SSG setup three reservoirs have been used. Comprehensive 2D and 3D hydraulic model tests were carried out at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University (Denmark) in the 3D deep water wave tank. The model scale used was 1:60 of the SSG prototype at the planned location of a pilot plant at the west coast of the Kvitsøy island (Stavanger, Norway).     

提高框架填充墙结构抗震性能的新途径和新方法

归纳分析了近5年国内发生的江西九江地震、云南盐津地震、云南普洱地震和四川汶川地震中框架填充墙结构常见的震害现象及其破坏原因,在此基础上,采取＂以强御强＂和＂以柔克刚＂两种不同的抗震思路,提出了通过捆绑墙体、构造次框架、填充墙开缝、耗能柔性连接、构造阻尼填充墙、设置节点耗能器来提高框架填充墙结构抗震性能的新途径和新方法。所提出的方法及其思路对框架填充墙结构的工程设计和抗震新方法的研发具有一定的参考价值。     

国外城市垃圾填埋场岩土工程研究的最新进展

介绍了国外在垃圾填埋场衬垫层、覆盖系统 (帽子 )、垂直隔离墙及土工布等方面的最新进展.     

Seismic response of retaining walls with cohesive backfill: Centrifuge model studies

Observations from recent earthquakes show that retaining structures with non-liquefiable backfills perform extremely well; in fact, damage or failures related to seismic earth pressures are rare. The seismic response of a 6-m-high braced basement and a 6-m free-standing cantilever wall retaining a compacted low plasticity clay was studied in a series of centrifuge tests. The models were built at a 1/36 scale and instrumented with accelerometers, strain gages and pressure sensors to monitor their response. The experimental data show that the seismic earth pressure on walls increases linearly with the free-field PGA and that the earth pressures increase approximately linearly with depth, where the resultant acts near 0.33 H above the footing as opposed to 0.5–0.6 H, which is suggested by most current design methods. The current data suggest that traditional limit equilibrium methods yield overly conservative earth pressures in areas with ground accelerations up to 0.4g.     

Evaluation and suggestions for improvement of seismic design procedures for R/C walls in dual systems

This paper aims to shed some further light on the seismic behaviour and design of reinforced concrete (R/C) walls which form part of dual (frame + wall) structures. The significance of post‐elastic dynamic effects is recognized by most seismic codes in the definition of the design action effects on walls, i.e. bending moments and shear forces. However, the resulting envelopes are not always fully satisfactory, particularly in the case of medium‐to‐high‐rise buildings. The relevant provisions of modern seismic codes are first summarized and their limitations discussed. Then an extensive parametric study is presented which involves typical multi‐storey dual systems that include walls with unequal lengths, designed according to the provisions of Eurocode 8 for two different ductility classes (M and H) and two effective peak ground acceleration levels (0.16 and 0.24g). The walls of these structures are also designed according to other methods, such as those used in New Zealand and Greece. The resulting different designs are then assessed by subjecting the structures to a suite of records from strong ground motions, carrying out inelastic time history analysis, and comparing the results with the design action effects. It is found that for (at least) the design earthquake intensity, the first two modes of vibration suffice for describing the seismic response of the walls. The bending moment envelope, as well as the base shear of each wall, is found to be strongly dependent on the second mode effect. As far as the code‐prescribed design action effects are concerned, only the NZ Code was found to be consistently conservative, whereas this was not always the case with EC8. A new method is then proposed which focuses on quantifying in a simple way the second mode effects in the inelastic response of the walls. This procedure seems to work better than the others evaluated herein. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental study on retrofit of school buildings by adding sandwich columns to partition brick walls

Thousands of buildings were damaged by the devastating Chi‐Chi earthquake on September 21, 1999. Of all the public buildings, school buildings are the most vulnerable to earthquake damage, and the retrofitting of existing school buildings becomes a stringent issue. In addition to cost effectiveness, the impact of retrofitting methods on the functions of the school buildings needs to be considered. This paper therefore proposes the retrofitting of school buildings by adding sandwich columns onto partition brick walls. The sandwich column is divided into two parts and is added to the two sides of the partition brick wall held with pairs of U‐shaped bars. The retrofit does not require the removal of windows or doors in the longitudinal direction making the proposed method cost effective and minimizes the impact on the function of the school buildings. Five full‐scale specimens without and with retrofitting were designed and fabricated for testing based on the partition brick wall frames of the existing school buildings. The specimens were subjected to cyclic loading in the out‐of‐plane direction through a loading frame so that the columns deformed with double curvatures. The experimental results verified the feasibility of the proposed retrofit method. The data showed that the lateral strength of the retrofitted specimen doubled that which was not and that the residual strength of the retrofitted specimen was just as high as the ultimate strength of the specimen without retrofitting. The analytical results in lateral strength yielded conservative figures compared with experimental measurements. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic active earth pressure on cantilever retaining walls

In normal practice, the active earth pressure on cantilever retaining wall is evaluated with different procedures relating to an ideal vertical plane passing through the heel of the wall. If the wall presents a long heel, failure planes do not interfere with the vertical stem, so that the limit Rankine conditions can develop freely in the backfill. The inclination of lateral actions along the ideal plane is assumed to be constant and depends on the geometry of the ground level and on the friction angle φ. The Authors recently proposed a new method to evaluate the active earth pressure coefficient due to seismic loading with a pseudo-static stress plasticity solution. The present paper describes the application of this method to a retaining wall supporting a φ soil backfill with an irregular surface. For two different configurations of wall-soil system, the behaviour is also studied by continuum FDM dynamic analyses, utilising four Italian accelerometric time-histories scaled at the same peak ground acceleration. The comparison between different procedures is also analysed.     

Modulus and damping from shaking table tests of reinforced soil walls

The paper presents rational procedures to estimate normalised shear modulus and damping ratio from measured responses of reinforced soil model walls tested in a 1-g shaking table. Displacement measured at the top of the model walls and input base acceleration time histories are used to produce equivalent hysteretic responses of the model walls. Equivalent hysteretic loops at different strain amplitudes are developed and used to calculate normalised modulus degradation curves and damping ratio for the tested model walls. Model wall responses are also analysed using the single degree of freedom (SDOF) model to determine damping ratio and phase difference, and to verify the validity of SDOF model for application with reinforced soil walls.

Results indicate that the normalised shear modulus significantly decreased at the early stage of the base shaking (i.e. γ_s < 0.03%). For example, about 68% and 80% reductions in shear modulus occurred at γ_s = 0.005% and 0.01% respectively. In addition, a 90% reduction in the normalised shear modulus realised at relatively strong input base acceleration (i.e. for γ_s > 0.03%). Minimum damping ratio of 5% to 10% for both model walls was obtained, increased to 15% to 20% at strain amplitude γ_s = 0.3%, and reached higher values thereafter. Finally, dynamic properties determined from the proposed method are compared with experimental and empirical relationships proposed in literature as well as resonant column test results.     

Dynamic interaction between the soil and an anchored sheet pile during seismic excitation

A subdomain approach for dynamic soil–structure interaction is proposed for the linear elastic seismic analysis of an anchored sheet pile, retaining a horizontally layered soil on rigid bedrock. A hybrid solution technique is used, employing a finite element formulation for the generalized sheet pile, a thin layer formulation for the soil and a direct stiffness formulation for the tieback; the displacement vectors of the sheet pile and the soil are decomposed, using the eigenmodes of the sheet pile and the propagating or decaying modes in the soil. The discretization can be limited to the interface(s), where pointwise continuity of the displacements is enforced, whereas a weak variational formulation is used for the stress equilibrium. The solution technique is illustrated by means of a numerical example, where the harmonic response of a flexible anchored sheet pile is considered and compared to the case where no tieback is present. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic responses of two blocks under dynamic loading using experimental and numerical studies

Block type quay walls are one of the most generally used type of gravity quay walls however seismic risks of this kind of structures have not already received the proper amount of attention. In this study, stability of block type quay wall which consists of two concrete blocks is investigated experimentally and numerically. 1 g shaking table tests are used for experimental study. Model scale is 1/10 and model is placed on rigid bed to ignore damage due to foundation deformation. Two different granular materials (Soil 1 and Soil 2) which have different nominal diameters are used as backfill materials to understand the effect of nominal diameters on structure's stability. During the experiments accelerations, pore pressures, soil pressures and displacements are measured for two blocks under different cycling loadings. Soil pressure test results are presented in non-fluctuating and fluctuating components to determine the distribution and application point of the fluctuating component on two blocks. By using experiment results, the friction coefficients between the rubble-block and block-block are determined and compared with recommended friction coefficients in standards. PLAXIS V8.2 software program is used for numerical study to determine the material properties.