An examination of the validation of a model of the hydro/thermo/mechanical behaviour of engineered clay barriers

This paper focuses attention on the development of a numerical model of the hydro/thermo/mechanical behaviour of unsaturated clay and its consequent verification and validation. The work presented describes on-going collaboration between the Cardiff School of Engineering and Atomic Energy of Canada. The model development, which was carried out at Cardiff, can be described as being based on a mechanistic approach to coupled heat, moisture and air flow. This is then linked to a deformation analysis of the material within a ‘consolidation’ type of model. The whole is solved via the finite element method to yield a computer software code named COMPASS (COde for Modelling PArtly Saturated Soil). Some aspects of verification and validation of the model have been addressed in-house. However, the purpose of current AECL work is to provide an independent, rigorous, structured programme of validation and the paper will also explore the further validation of COMPASS within this context. © 1998 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A study on relation between acoustic emission and characteristic displacement field on the sample with multi en echelon structures — The theoretic and experimental explorations of strain gap

Based on the phenomena that the deformation gap was observed before the great Tangshang earthquake, this paper discusses the strain gap according to test and theory. The (strain) patterns were recorded photographically by realtime holographic interferometry and shadow optical method of caustics, as soon as the loading process started. In the meantime, the AE (acoustic emission) signals were recorded by a micro crack information storage-analysis system. According to damage theory and location of micro fracture, we have studied the stain gap and gained: a) It is necessary that strain gap appears under the condition of linear elasticity theory, and its situation is relatively stable, corresponding to stress concentration. b) Micro fractures, which appear initially at area of high stress, occur rarely at the strain gap, and their locations are finally in the zone between the stress concentration area and the strain gap, which indicate the clusters or groups. However, the major macro fracture (final rupture) started from the shadow areas, and then grew quickly towards the strain gaps, which resulted in failure of sample. Foundation item: The Dual Project of China Seismological Bureau (9691309020301), the Specialized Funds for National Key Basic Study (G1998040704), the project for the MOST under contract (2001BA601B02) and Youth Funds for applied basic study of the Science and Technology Bureau of Yunnan Province (98D019Q).     

REPRESENTATIONS OF COULOMB FRICTION FOR DYNAMIC ANALYSIS

In many engineering problems involving friction, the friction is treated as Coulomb friction, where the magnitude of the friction force is constant but its direction is always opposite to that of the sliding velocity. In dynamic problems, the direction of the sliding velocity can change quite often. The many changes of the velocity direction cause many discontinuities in the friction force, complicating the process of evaluating the response of systems involving friction. In this paper, it is shown that the discontinuous Coulomb friction force can be represented by at least four different continuous functions. Each of these functions involves one constant that controls the level of accuracy of that function's representation of the friction force. The accuracy of the various representations is verified by comparing the response of a single degree freedom system, obtained through numerical solutions utilizing these representations, with an exact analytical solution. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE SEISMIC RETROFIT OF A MID-RISE STEEL BUILDING: STEEL BRACING VS ENERGY DISSIPATION

The paper presents a comparative study of an existing retrofit for a mid-rise steel building using additional stiff steel braced-frames against an alternate retrofit using ADAS (Added Damping and Stiffness) passive energy dissipation devices. The subject building, located near Alameda Park in downtown Mexico City, is a ten-storey office building that was built in the 1950s. The structure was damaged during the 1985 Michoacán Earthquake because of resonant response with the site. The building was later retrofitted using additional braced frames according to the seismic provisions of Mexico's 1987 Federal District Code. The retrofit scheme was planned to take the structure away from resonant responses and to inhibit structural damage. A proposed upgrade using ADAS energy dissipation devices was studied to compare energy dissipation against traditional stiffening using steel braces as retrofit options for mid-rise buildings in Mexico City's lake-bed zone. Different sets of analyses were carried out to compare both alternatives: (a) three-dimensional elastic analyses; (b) limit analyses and; (c) nonlinear dynamic analyses for postulated site ground motions for a M_s=8.1 earthquake. Initial costs of the retrofit schemes were also studied. The comparative studies suggest that a retrofit using ADAS devices would have a better dynamic performance than the one using steel braces. However, the steel bracing retrofit provides more strength and its initial cost of retrofit is less than that of the ADAS retrofit. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

RESPONSE ANALYSIS FOR FUZZY STOCHASTIC DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS WITH MULTIPLE DEGREES OF FREEDOM

Most real-life structural/mechanical systems have complex geometrical and material properties and operate under complex fuzzy environmental conditions. These systems are certainly subjected to fuzzy random excitations induced by the environment. For an analytical treatment of such a system subjected to fuzzy random excitations, it becomes necessary to establish the general theory of dynamic response of a system to fuzzy random excitations. In this paper, we extend the work published in Reference [1], and discuss the case of Multi-Degree-of-Freedom (MDF) fuzzy stochastic dynamical systems. The theory of the response, fuzzy mean response and fuzzy covariance response of multi-degree-of-freedom system to fuzzy random excitations in the time domain and frequency domain is put forward. Two cases to determine the fuzzy response statistics of the fuzzy stochastic dynamical system with multiple degrees of freedom are discussed. Two examples are considered in order to demonstrate the rationality and validity of the theory. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CALCULATING THE DYNAMIC STIFFNESS MATRIX OF 2-D FOUNDATIONS BY DISCRETE WAVE NUMBER INDIRECT BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHODS

Apart from some special cases, calculating the dynamic stiffness matrix of foundations on a layered half-space, especially for embedded foundations, is computationally expensive. An efficient method for two-dimensional foundations in a horizontally layered soil media is presented in this paper. This method is based on indirect boundary element methods and uses discrete wave number solution methods for calculating Green's functions for displacements and analytical methods for the integrations over the boundary. For surface foundations, the present method applies at all frequencies. For embedded foundations or for constructing energy transmitting boundaries, because the free-field part is modelled by boundary elements and the excavated part is modelled by finite elements, the present method applies only at low frequencies for the spring coefficients (the real parts of the dynamic stiffness matrix) but applies at all frequencies for the damping coefficients (the imaginary part of the dynamic stiffness matrix) for undamped sites. The novelty of the method can be used for three-dimensional foundations. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spring-dashpot-mass models for foundation vibrations

The foundation on deformable soil, which, in general, radiates energy, can be represented in structural dynamics as a simple spring-dashpot-mass model with frequency-independent coefficients. For the two limiting cases of a site, the homogeneous half-space and the homogeneous layer fixed at its base, the coefficients are specified in tables for varying parameters such as ratios of dimensions and Poisson's ratio. Rigid foundations on the surface and with embedment are considered for all translational and rotational motions. In a practical analysis of soil–structure interaction this dynamic model of the foundation is coupled directly to that of the structure, whereby a standard dynamics program is used. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

矿区地表沉陷D-InSAR监测分析与应用

针对常规矿区地表沉陷监测方法的缺点,基于D-InSAR技术,对2016年12月18日—2017年2月25日的两景RADARSAT-2雷达数据进行差分干涉处理,获取了研究区域监测时间段内的开采沉陷信息,监测到3处沉陷盆地分布,结合实际情况,对监测结果和精度进行了分析。结果表明,D-InSAR技术能够有效监测矿区的地表沉陷分布及特征,可为研究大范围矿区的地表沉陷动态监测提供技术参考。