Determination of silica sand stiffness

Site investigation and evaluation of properties of soil or rock are important aspects of geotechnical design. Determination of the ground stiffness is one of the important parameters in geotechnical engineering. Since the measurement of shear modulus is very sensitive to soil disturbance, especially for sand, determination of the stiffness of soil in the field is more reliable than in laboratory tests on sampled specimens. Measurement of shear modulus is one of the most common applications of self-boring pressuremeter testing. As an in situ device, the pressuremeter provides a unique method for assessing directly the in situ shear modulus of a soil. This paper describes a laboratory study of silica sand stiffness, which varies with stress level and strain amplitude. The results show that the elastic shear modulus value is mainly dependent on the value of the mean effective stress and relative density.     

Geomechanical Properties of Shear Zones in the Eastern Aar Massif,Switzerland and their Implication on Tunnelling

Summary ¶Rock zones containing a high fracture density and/or soft, low cohesion materials can be highly problematic when encountered during tunnel excavation. For example in the eastern Aar massif of central Switzerland, experiences during the construction of the Gotthard highway tunnel showed that heavily fractured areas within shear zones were responsible for overbreaks in the form of chimneys several metres in height. To understand and estimate the impact of the shear zones on rock mass behaviour, knowledge concerning the rock mass strength and deformation characteristics is fundamental. A series of laboratory triaxial tests, performed on samples from granite- and gneiss-hosted shear zones revealed that with increasing degree of tectonic overprint, sample strength decreases and rock behaviour shows a transition from brittle to ductile deformation. These trends may be explained by increasing fracture densities, increasing foliation intensity, increasing thickness of fine-grained, low cohesion fracture infill, and increasing mica content associated with the increasing degree of tectonic overprint. As fracture density increases and the influence of discrete, persistent discontinuities on rock mass strength decreases, behaviour of the test samples becomes more and more representative of rock mass behaviour, i.e. that of a densely fractured continuum. For the purpose of numerical modeling calculations, the shear zones may be subdivided with respect to an increasing fracture density, foliation intensity and mica content into a strongly foliated zone, a fractured zone and a cohesionless zone, which in turn exhibit brittle, brittle-ductile and ductile rock mass constitutive behaviour, respectively.Received December 17, 2001; accepted January 9, 2003 Published online April 29, 2003     

论环境流场切应变率对台风移动的作用

利用浅水波正压环境流场切应变率对台风移动的影响，得到的结果是：在环境流场切应变率空间不均匀条件下，正切应变率引起的台风偏差路径比负切应变率引起的偏差路径要长，特别在正切应变率的区域，正切应变率要比相对涡度梯度对台风移动有更大的影响。     

东北输油管道锦县,盖县,海城段地基土抗液化强度研究

对东北输油管道锦县，盖县，海城段的粉土细砂，中砂，粉砂进行了振动液化试验，取得了和类土的τｄ－ｌｏｇＮｆ曲线，τｄ／σ′－ｌｏｇＮｆ曲线，为在以上地区进行液化判别提供了重要的基础资料，同时也为研究其它的地区相同土质的振动性能提供借鉴。     

Observation of gravity waves in a boreal forest

In this paper we report the results of the analysis of two 60-min wave events that occurred in a boreal aspen forest during the 1994 BOREAS (Boreal Ecosystems-Atmosphere Study) field experiment. High frequency wind and temperature data were provided by three 3-D sonic anemometer/thermometers and fourteen fine-wire thermocouples positioned within and above the forest. Wave phase speeds, estimated from information revealed by spectral analysis and linear plane wave equations, are 2.2 and 1.3 m s^-1 for the two events. The wavelengths are 130 m and 65 m respectively and are much larger than the vertical wave displacements. There is strong evidence from the present analysis and from the literature supporting our postulate that these waves are generated by shear instability. We propose that wind shear near the top of the stand is often large enough to reduce the gradient Richardson number below the critical value of 0.25 and thus is able to trigger the instability. When external conditions are favorable, the instability will grow into waves.     

The Darwin Rise demise: the western Pacific guyot heights trace the trans-Pacific Mendocino fracture zone

The Darwin Rise has been proposed so many times and in so many forms and places that the time has come to make a more comprehensive examination of the region. Lying on the NW Pacific Plate between the Geisha Guyots, the Mid-Pacific Mountains, the equator, and the trenches, the region is roughly bounded by magnetic anomaly M20 (147 Ma). It was subjected to a massive outpouring of lava about 105 to 120 Ma, which created the guyots and seamounts in that region. Guyots are excellent tools for studying events of long ago because they eroded in the same lowstand in the Cretaceous and guyot relief, therefore, is a surrogate for paleo-sealevel. The relief is derived by subtracting the break depth of the summit plateau of a guyot from the regional depth. Guyot relief would necessarily be less in the center than to the periphery if the feature formed on a pre-existing rise, as has been postulated. The existence of a paleo-Darwin Rise would give concentric contours for the region in question. Of the sixty guyots used in this study, thirty-seven of these guyots were surveyed using SASS multibeam in the Marcus-Wake seamount group. Twenty-three guyots were surveyed using random track single-beam sonar surveys. An entirely different scenario is shown. Data revealed a major fracture passing through the area coevally or after the guyots formed. Because the depths to the summit are not the same now, vertical tectonics occurred after subaerial erosion. This means the fracture formed during and after the erosion (roughly 105 Ma) and influenced the normal sequence of events in guyot formation. Depending on how one deciphers trends through the Hess Rise morass, SASS bathymetry shows a continuation of the Surveyor/Mendocino fracture zone swarm inside the M20 region to the NE of these data. The fracture swarm continues to the western Pacific trench system. Based on this information, if the Darwin Rise ever existed, it had to have done so elsewhere.     

Large-Eddy Simulations of the Baroclinic Mixed Layer

The effects of baroclinicity, imposed on the dry mixed layer by the presenceof large-scale, horizontal temperature gradients, have been investigated basedon a large-eddy simulation model. The purpose of this investigation is to examinesimultaneous impacts of thermal stratification and shear in the atmospheric boundarylayer. For this purpose, five cases are considered – one barotropic, and four baroclinic.Based on the performed simulations, a new parametrization of the interfacial layer isproposed. The parameterization employs new interfacial scaling, which is valid at thetop of the mixed layer. In terms of new scales, dimensionless moments characterizingturbulence at the top of the shearless mixed layer are universal constants. In the shearedcase, dimensionless statistics of turbulence are shown to be functions of the interfacialRichardson number.     

Determination of S-wave velocity structure using microtremors and spac method applied in Thessaloniki (Greece)

Array measurements of microtremors at 16 sites in the city of Thessaloniki were performed to estimate the V_s velocity of soil formations for site effect analysis. The spatial autocorrelation method was used to determine phase velocity dispersion curves in the frequency range from 0.8–1.5 to 6–7 Hz. A Rayleigh wave inversion technique (stochastic method) was subsequently applied to determine the Vs profiles at all the examined sites. The determination of V_s profiles reached a depth of 320 m. Comparisons with V_s values from cross-hole tests at the same sites proved the reliability of the SPAC method. The accuracy of the V_s profiles, the ability to reach large penetration depths in densely populated urban areas and its low cost compared to conventional geophysical prospecting, make Mictrotremor Exploration Method very attractive and useful for microzonation and site effects studies. An example of its application for the site characterization in Thessaloniki is presented herein.     

Evaluation of soil liquefaction in the Chi-Chi, Taiwan earthquake using CPT

During the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan earthquake, many sand boiling phenomena were observed in central Taiwan, which caused severe ground settlement and structure damages. According to the installed accelerograms, the peak ground surface horizontal accelerations in the liquefaction-affected areas range from 774.42 to 121.3 gal. The writers carried out an extensive investigation of soil liquefaction in this earthquake. In this paper, we present results of the CPT exploration and post-earthquake liquefaction analysis. Two hundred and seventy five (275) cone penetration test data were collected from the liquefaction-affected areas, and 46 liquefaction case histories and 88 non-liquefaction case histories were derived that can be used to evaluate the accuracy of existing liquefaction evaluation models. In addition, the strength of the liquefied soils after earthquake and the implication of its liquefaction potential in the future event are discussed.