An improved SPH method for saturated soils and its application to investigate the mechanisms of embankment failure: Case of hydrostatic pore‐water pressure

The method of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) has recently been applied to computational geomechanics and has been shown to be a powerful alternative to the standard numerical method, that is, the finite element method, for handling large deformation and post‐failure of geomaterials. However, very few studies apply the SPH method to model saturated or submerged soil problems. Our recent studies of this matter revealed that significant errors may be made if the gradient of the pore‐water pressure is handled using the standard SPH formulation. To overcome this problem and to enhance the SPH applications to computational geomechanics, this article proposes a general SPH formulation, which can be applied straightforwardly to dry and saturated soils. For simplicity, the current work assumes hydrostatic pore‐water pressure. It is shown that the proposed formulation can remove the numerical error mentioned earlier. Moreover, this formulation automatically satisfies the dynamic boundary conditions at a submerged ground surface, thereby saving computational cost. Discussions on the applications of the standard and new SPH formulations are also given through some numerical tests. Furthermore, techniques to obtain the correct SPH solution are also proposed and discussed throughout. As an application of the proposed method, the effect of the dilatancy angle on the failure mechanism of a two‐sided embankment subjected to a high groundwater table is presented and compared with that of other solutions. Finally, the proposed formulation can be considered a basic formulation for further developments of SPH for saturated soils. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

闽粤台沿海北西西向最新构造带与大震构造背景

闽粤台沿海自台湾运动以来逐渐形成了多条北西西向隆起—拗陷的最新活动构造带,与已知的北东—北北东向隆起、拗陷带构成了区域性镶嵌构造格局。 研究区内除板块相互碰撞、俯冲及上地幔物质上涌形成大震构造背景外,莫霍面隆起或隆起断距大、低速层厚、地壳变薄、近两、三千年地表抬升差异活动显著以及台东近海有北西西向构造活动等,也都是发生大震的重要构造背景     

磁偶源频率测深视电阻率曲线的正演计算

磁偶源频率测深法是一种有效的地球物理勘探方法。多年来,人们对这种方法的正演理论和反演解释进行了研究。文中利用快速汉克尔数值滤波算法计算了层状介质上直立磁偶极子的电磁场响应以及频率测深视电阻率的振幅响应,这种计算方法与常用的数值积分算法相比,具有计算速度快、精度高等特点。同时详细地讨论了磁偶源频率测深的特点及视电阻率理论曲线的特征。     

中国大陆8级巨震生成背景研究

中国大陆８级巨震群体活动的盛衰起伏，紧随全球整体活动的变化而变，并明显地受到太阳活动长期变化的调制。就个体巨震孕育而言，其供能机制可造成周围数千公里构造应力场持续多年的剧烈增强。因此，对于震级为８级的巨大地震的预测问题，必须在极为广阔的研究视野中探讨。     

Field survey of the East Java earthquake and tsunami of June 3, 1994

A field survey of the June 3, 1994 East Java earthquake tsunami was conducted within three weeks, and the distributions of the seismic intensities, tsunami heights, and human and house damages were surveyed. The seismic intensities on the south coasts of Java and Bali Islands were small for an earthquake with magnitudeM 7.6. The earthquake caused no land damage. About 40 minutes after the main shock, a huge tsunami attacked the coasts, several villages in East Java Province were damaged severely, and 223 persons perished. At Pancer Village about 70 percent of the houses were swept away and 121 persons were killed by the tsunami. The relationship between tsunami heights and distances from the source shows that the Hatori's tsunami magnitude wasm=3, which seems to be larger for the earthquake magnitude. But we should not consider this an extraordinary event because it was pointed out byHatori (1994) that the magnitudes of tsunamis in the Indonesia-Philippine region generally exceed 1–2 grade larger than those of other regions.     

长沙交警大楼复杂地层基坑护壁的“综合制导”

长沙市交警支队技术综合大楼地质条件复杂,水量丰富,流砂严重,基坑施工相当困难。经采用安全可靠的“综合制导”措施处理,成为地解决了坑壁坍塌等问题,获得了建设方、质监方、设计方的好评,交警大楼竣工后被评为优良工程。     

复合土钉支护结构中土钉设置的合理型式

采用非线性有限元方法,并借助正交试验原理,以支护最大水平位移为衡量目标,对复合土钉墙设计中的关键技术———土钉设置型式,包括倾角、间距、长度分布规律进行了合理性方面的研究。研究表明:将最长的土钉放于基坑中下部、保持较小的土钉间距和增大基坑中下部土钉倾角是复合土钉支护中土钉设置的最佳型式;在影响基坑变形敏感性程度上,土钉长度分布规律、间距、倾角依次降低。     

A contribution to seismic shear design of R/C walls in dual structures

The paper focuses on the seismic response of walls in dual (frame + wall) structures, with particular emphasis on shear behaviour. Although dual structures are widely used in earthquake-resistant medium-rise and high-rise buildings, the provisions of modern seismic codes regarding design of walls for shear are not fully satisfactory, particularly in the (common) case that walls of substantially different length form part of the same structure. Relevant provisions of the leading seismic codes are first summarised and their limitations discussed. Then an extensive parametric study is presented, involving two multistorey dual systems, one with identical walls, and one with walls with unequal length, designed to the provisions of Eurocode 8 for two different ductility classes (H and M). The walls of the same structures are also designed 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 strong ground motions, carrying out inelastic time history analysis, and comparing the results against design action effects. It is found that although modern code procedures generally lead to satisfactory performance (differences among them do exist), the design of walls seems to be less appropriate in the case of unequal length walls. For this case a modified procedure is proposed, consisting of an additional factor to account for the relative contribution of walls of the same length to the total base and an improved envelope of wall shears along the height; this improved method seems to work better than the other procedures evaluated herein, but further calibration is clearly required.     

Towards error‐free hybrid simulation using mixed variables

Two procedures are developed and implemented in a hybrid simulation system (HSS) with the aim of enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the online, i.e. pseudo‐dynamic, test results. The first procedure aims at correcting the experimental systematic error in executing the displacement command signal. The error is calculated as the difference between command and feedback signals and correlated to the actuator velocity using the least‐squares method. A feed‐forward error compensation scheme is devised leading to a more accurate execution of the test. The second procedure employs mixed variables with mode switching between displacement and force controls. The newly derived force control algorithm is evaluated using a parametric study to assess its stability and accuracy. The implementation of the mixed variables procedure is designed to adopt force control for high stiffness states of the structural response and displacement control otherwise, where the resolution of the involved instruments may favour this type of mixed control. A simple pseudo‐dynamic experiment of steel cantilever members is used to validate the HSS. Moreover, two experiments as application examples for the two developed procedures are presented. The two experiments focus on the seismic response of (a) timber shear walls and (b) reinforced concrete frames with and without unreinforced masonry infill wall. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.