Cone penetration test in sand: A numerical-analytical approach

Separation of the effects of initial horizontal stress and relative density on cone tip resistance in sandy soils has been a complicated issue for many years. In order to overcome this problem, a numerical modeling of CPT which has been verified by calibration chamber tests, has been used in this paper to achieve a reliable analytical solution. The analytical solution has resulted in two relationships for sleeve friction and cone tip resistance in terms of the initial conditions of sandy soil. Based on the presented solution, the initial horizontal stress and relative density can be determined according to CPT measurements.     

Buckling failures of reserved thin pillars under the combined action of in-plane and lateral hydrostatic compressive forces

The reasons that pillars with small width-to-height ratios fail remain unclear. This study established a mechanical model for the buckling failure of a thin pillar subjected to compressive forces to investigate the stability of reserved thin pillars (RTPs) on both sides of mining units during barrier pillar recovery. The critical buckling stress of the thin pillar was obtained using the energy variational method, and its relationship to the aspect ratio (length-to-width ratio) was investigated. The buckling instability of RTPs can be determined by comparing the RTP stress obtained from numerical simulations with the buckling stress derived from the mechanical model.     

Numerical investigation of the opening effect on the mechanical behaviours in rocks under uniaxial loading using hybrid continuum-discrete element method

Openings including their size, shape and distribution in rock play a significant role in the performance of rock related structures. The well-established knowledge in this area can contribute to the engineering practices, for example, underground space design, planning and optimisation in Civil and Mining Engineering and wellbore stability in Drilling Engineering, among others. Thus, understanding the failure mechanism of rock with openings is theoretically and practically meaningful. Laboratory testing on rock or rock-like materials with openings have been studied extensively in the literature, which, however, primarily focuses on the cracks/fractures. In this paper, a comprehensive numerical study on the effect of non-banded openings, i.e., circular, rectangular, and triangular opening, on the rock mechanical behaviour is performed using a hybrid continuum-discrete element method. It is revealed that the proposed simulation method can reproduce reasonably the crack initiation and propagation, and predict well the change of the mechanical behaviour due to the openings. In addition, the influence of the opening shape and opening ratio (=area of opening/specimen area) on the mechanical behaviour is also investigated.     

A comprehensive study on the parameters setting in smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method applied to hydrodynamics problems

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshfree, Lagrangian particle method which has advantages in handling solids with extremely large deformation. Like any other numerical methods, cares must be taken to ensure its desirable accuracy and stability through considering several correction techniques in calculation. The selection of values for parameters in those correction approaches is a key step in SPH simulation, which is always difficult for new beginners to deal well with effectively. This paper examines the common inconsistency and instability problems in SPH method and studies its computational efficiency when applied to hydrodynamics problems with material strength like soil column collapse. We analyzed in detail how the correction techniques mitigate these inconsistency and instability problems. Also, the numerical testing results associate with different values for the parameters used in the correction techniques are provided for better understanding the influence of these parameters and for finding out the desirable values. It is found that (1) the SPH method is easily subjected to an inconsistency problem in the boundary area due to the boundary deficiency, and it can be treated well by adopting “virtual particles” contributing to the particle summations. (2) The numerical oscillation in SPH simulation can be mitigated effectively by artificial viscosity with the suggested parameter values. (3) The tension cracking treatment, artificial viscosity and artificial stress work well in removing the tensile instability problem in SPH method. In addition, the nearest neighboring particle searching (NNPS) algorithm, spacing ratio, smoothing length and time step influence the efficiency and accuracy of SPH method significantly. It is shown that SPH method with suggested parameters values can produce a very good result compared with the experimental result.     

A simple method to describe three-dimensional anisotropic failure of soils

In order to describe the anisotropic failure of soils caused by the internal fabric, isotropic failure criterion should be generalized to be anisotropic. This paper achieves the generalization by introducing a simple method, called anisotropic transformed stress method, which apparently differs from the common way. Physical interpretation of this method are analyzed further. Using this method, many existing isotropic criteria can become anisotropic in the same way, and will be expressed by a unified formula finally. To verify this method, anisotropic Unified Strength Criterion is used to predict the peak strength of anisotropic soils in different loading conditions.     

地电场对青藏高原东北部季节冻土的响应特性

地电场的变化与台址环境的水文、气象及地质背景等相关,在青藏高原东北部季节冻土区,11个地电场台站处于较高的海拔,据台址下覆场地属性分为A类（黄土型）和B类（高原草场型）台站。通过对青藏高原季节冻土区域的地电场和大地电流场的计算和分析,联系区域构造活动和地质环境得出以下认识：青藏高原东北部季节冻土区地电场变化对水热环境响应明显,冬、夏两季测值可能发生跃变;长周期的地电场变化曲线可能与台址附近气温变化相关;台站大地电流矢量在冻土部分冻融交替过程中发生方向和幅度值的改变。A类和B类台址显示出不同的季节变化规律,地电场曲线上升和下降的时间节点各异,这种现象可应用于监测该区域冻土冻融情况和冻土的时空演变。     

磨刀门河口洪季波生流及其泄洪影响

磨刀门已由"径流型"向"径流-波浪型"河口转变,波浪已是该河口主要动力之一,但波浪对河口洪季水流及泄洪的影响缺少研究。在2-D潮流数学模型中添加随潮位实时变化的波浪辐射应力,建立波浪潮流耦合数学模型;波浪求解采用缓坡方程,背景水深由潮流模型实时提供,可通过比较考虑和未考虑波浪影响的河口流场来分析波浪对泄洪的影响。在年均常浪作用下,磨刀门河口洪季涨落潮阶段均有明显的波生环流结构。由于波浪作用方向向陆,波生流减弱了浅滩区的向海余流,增大了浅滩向陆余流;受浅滩向海余流减弱影响,河口动力自调整后形成归槽水流,促使深槽内向海余流增大。波浪有顶托河口泄洪之势,可改变滩槽泄洪分配比例;年均常浪的波高较小,其对潮流及泄洪的影响区域限制在浅水区,故对泄洪的负面影响有限。     

数值模拟探讨青藏高原东部应力应变场及断裂活动性

青藏高原东部是我国活动构造非常强烈的区域,现今的应力应变状态对活动构造研究有重要参考意义。本文依据地质资料和岩石力学性质构建相应的有限元数值模型,以GPS观测为边界约束,计算得到了青藏高原东部应力应变场,在此基础上探讨了主要断裂的活动特征。结果显示,距离印度板块和欧亚大陆板块碰撞带较近的青藏高原,汇聚速度、最大压应变率和最大压应力均较高,而随着远离碰撞带各个数值相应降低;在青藏高原东部,以喜马拉雅东构造结为旋转中心的一系列弧形断裂滑动速率相对较高,如玉树—鲜水河—小江断裂带,巴塘—金沙江断裂带,嘉黎断裂带等,这些走滑断裂带控制着青藏高原东南缘物质旋转挤出的特征,而其它断裂带滑动速率则相对较低,在块体内部则更低;结果同时表明应变速率分配高的断裂达到屈服的时间短,对应的地震复发周期短。     

基于改进Kriging插值模型的城市地面沉降变形趋势面模拟

从建筑物荷载引发地面沉降的机理模型出发,综合考虑建筑物产生的附加应力以及地基土壤压缩性质对沉降量的影响,构建了改进克里金插值模型。通过实际应用证明,使用改进克里金插值模型进行城市地面沉降空间趋势面模拟和计算,能够准确清晰地反映沉降变形的大小和趋势,从而为地面沉降的空间建模与可视化分析、总结建筑物荷载作用下城市地面沉降的变形规律奠定基础。     

2008年汶川MS8.0地震对周边断层地震活动的影响

为分析2008年5月12日四川汶川M_S8.0级地震对周边断层地震活动的影响,本文首先基于Burgers体黏滞松弛模型计算汶川M_S8.0级地震引起的库仑应力动态演化,分析认为2008年汶川M_S8.0级地震在周边断层上引起的库仑应力显著增加的主要有四个断层段,分别为鲜水河断裂道孚-康定段、东昆仑断裂东段玛曲段、青川断裂和龙门山断裂南段.而且震后4年内黏滞松弛引起的库仑应力变化量可能与同震变化相当,相当于再发生一次汶川地震所造成的影响,因此震后效应在分析强震影响时不应忽略.本文基于强震引起的库仑应力变化动态演化,结合背景地震发生率、由Dieterich(1994)模型给出地震发生概率,结合相关构造地质、历史地震、余震活动等方面资料的综合分析认为,上述4个断裂段地震危险性由高到低依次为鲜水河断裂道孚-康定段、龙门山断裂南段、东昆仑断裂东段玛曲段和青川断裂.