Risk assessment of a vertical breakwater using possibility and evidence theories

This paper proposes a preliminary investigation of possibility and evidence theories in a risk analysis of a vertical breakwater. The results obtained from both theories are presented and compared to the Monte Carlo simulations. This study indicates that the evidence theory approach is more flexible than the possibility theory approach and may provide a useful tool for a joint handling of variability and imprecision in the computation of risk. On the other hand, the possibility theory approach may have a good potential to be used for risk assessment of coastal structures, when sufficient data are not available.     

Assessment of predictions of the response of the Hualien containment model during forced vibration tests

Blind predictions for the response of the 1/4-scale reinforced concrete Hualien (Taiwan) containment model during forced vibration tests are compared with the observed data. The predictions obtained by the CLASSI approach reflect the experimental conditions prior to and after backfill of the soil surrounding the embedded foundation. The experimental data show a strong and unexpected coupling between the response in the NS and EW directions which is not present in the results for the axisymmetric theoretical models. Also, significant differences can be seen between the experimental responses in the two orthogonal horizontal directions which minimize cross-axis coupling. Although these differences are not accounted for in the theoretical models, the discrepancies between predictions and observations are within the uncertainty of the structural and geotechnical data. The obtained differences between predictions and observations give an excellent measure of the prediction error that can be expected in this type of analysis from uncertainty in the data. A detailed assessment of the initial structural and geotechnical data based on extensive comparisons with the results of previous identification studies is also presented. Finally, comparisons between the observed response and calculations based on revised models for the structure and the soil show that current methods of analysis can account accurately for the observed response.     

Very high resolution Earth Observation features for testing the direct and indirect effects of landscape structure on local habitat quality

Modelling the empirical relationships between habitat quality and species distribution patterns is the first step to understanding human impacts on biodiversity. It is important to build on this understanding to develop a broader conceptual appreciation of the influence of surrounding landscape structure on local habitat quality, across multiple spatial scales. Traditional models which report that ‘habitat amount’ in the landscape is sufficient to explain patterns of biodiversity, irrespective of habitat configuration or spatial variation in habitat quality at edges, implicitly treat each unit of habitat as interchangeable and ignore the high degree of interdependence between spatial components of land-use change. Here, we test the contrasting hypothesis, that local habitat units are not interchangeable in their habitat attributes, but are instead dependent on variation in surrounding habitat structure at both patch- and landscape levels. As the statistical approaches needed to implement such hierarchical causal models are observation-intensive, we utilise very high resolution (VHR) Earth Observation (EO) images to rapidly generate fine-grained measures of habitat patch internal heterogeneities over large spatial extents. We use linear mixed-effects models to test whether these remotely-sensed proxies for habitat quality were influenced by surrounding patch or landscape structure. The results demonstrate the significant influence of surrounding patch and landscape context on local habitat quality. They further indicate that such an influence can be direct, when a landscape variable alone influences the habitat structure variable, and/or indirect when the landscape and patch attributes have a conjoined effect on the response variable. We conclude that a substantial degree of interaction among spatial configuration effects is likely to be the norm in determining the ecological consequences of habitat fragmentation, thus corroborating the notion of the spatial context dependence of habitat quality.     

Damping coefficients for soil–structure systems and evaluation of FEMA 440 subjected to pulse-like near-fault earthquakes

In this study, attempts are made to investigate the effects of inertial soil–structure interaction (SSI) on damping coefficients subjected to pulse-like near-fault ground motions. To this end, a suit of 91 pulse-like near-fault ground motions is adopted. The soil and superstructure are idealized employing cone model and single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) oscillator, respectively. The results demonstrate that soil flexibility reduces and amplifies the damping coefficients for structural viscous damping levels higher and lower than 5%, respectively. The coefficients reach one for both acceleration and displacement responses in cases of dominant SSI effects. The effect of structure dimensions on damping confidents are found insignificant. Moreover, damping coefficients of displacement responses are higher than those of acceleration responses for both fixed-base and flexible-base systems. Evaluation of damping correction factor introduced by FEMA 440 shows its inefficiency to predict acceleration response of soil–structure systems under pulse-like near-fault ground motions. Soil flexibility makes the damping correction factor of moderate earthquakes more pronounced and a distinctive peak value is reported for cases with dominant SSI effects.     

无线电波透视快速勘探技术及其应用

无线电波透视技术作为探测煤层工作面内地质构造的一种较为成熟方法,具有快速、轻便、透距大、成本低等优点,但也存在现场观测系统单一、耗时长、接收操作员劳动强度大等缺点。通过对无线电波透视技术现场观测系统的改进,提出"一发双收"数据采集方法及数据校正处理技术。由于"一发双收"的数据是由两个接收机同时接收,因此其数据必须经过校正才能使用。在数据采集中:一是要求两台接收机在一条测线同一地点的场强值差别很小;二是要求做到数据采集中至少存在一个重合接收点,且其重合点数据比值应在0.98～1.02范围内。"一发双收"数据使用无线电波透视CT软件系统处理软件进行拼接,若数据曲线出现阶梯跳跃,则应把低值(或者高值)乘以该重合点数据的比值以保证曲线平滑。在张集煤矿1114(3)工作面探测实践中,使用该技术探测画出其工作面存在三个主要异常区:1#异常区在退尺20~100m处为断层影响区;2#异常区退尺480~560m处为断层影响区;3#异常区在退尺1200~1300m处为断层和薄煤影响区。目前该工作面探测区已经回采,探测结果与实际回采验证结果比较吻合,说明一发双收的探测方式可行。     

辽东湾葵花岛构造区浅层气分布特征、成因探讨及工程影响

揭示了葵花岛构造区浅层气规模小、埋藏浅、分布散、压力低、储层松散等分布特点,根据沉积环境和地质特征,推测浅层气为生物甲烷气,但并不完全排除是热生甲烷次生气藏的可能性,探讨了浅层气潜在的工程危害并提出相应防治措施,为今后海洋工程建设提供科学依据。     

联合结构减震控制的研究与应用

简要概述了联合结构实际应用的意义,对联合结构减震控制的国内外研究和应用作了综合论述,并提出多结构联合减震体系领域尚需要进一步探讨和解决的几个问题。     

四川芦山7.0级强震及其余震序列重定位

本研究采用双差定位法对2013年4月20日发生在龙门山断裂带上的四川芦山7.0级强震及主震后48小时内504次余震序列进行重新定位,最终得到328个精定位地震事件.结果表明,余震在水平方向上主要沿龙门山断裂带的山前断裂西南段的大川—双石断裂发生,扩展模式以西南向为主(约23 km)兼有弱东北向(约12 km),并非简单的单侧扩展.在深度方向上,余震主要以铲状结构分布在18～22 km之间.通过拟合精定位后的小震空间分布特征,显示本次地震断层面倾角在15～25 km深度范围内由主震处约44°逐渐向西南向扩展增大至约73°,可能表明断层往西南破裂过程中走滑分量逐渐增强,与2008年汶川地震引起中央断裂倾角由西南向东北变化相类似.     

The low-excitation structures of planetary nebulae

The low excitation properties of the planetary nebula (PN) NGC 6720 are known to be unusual, and to imply large ring/core emission ratios. We point out that such characteristics are by no means confined to this source alone, and that high ratios may occur in a large fraction of elliptical and circular PNe. Such trends may arise because of the presence of thin low-excitation emission sheets 'wrapped' within and around the primary outflows. The widths of such shells are required to be exceedingly small, and may (for certain cases) be of order ≪10⁻² pc. Such a mechanism appears capable of explaining most of the observed emission properties, and may arise through shock interaction between differing envelopes. Alternative explanations in terms of bipolar or cylindrical outflows are shown to be implausible.     

深地震测深在国内的发展与应用现状研究

通过关键词共现分析方法,对深地震测深技术在国内的发展及其应用现状进行研究。结果表明,深地震测深资料处理以二维动力学射线追踪的正反演方法为主,三维地壳结构模型的构建方法则以改进的克里金插值方法为主;深地震测深可用于揭示孕震构造环境,但对区域地壳结构与地震发生规律和活动性的总结较少;在地震测深成果方面,包括地壳结构类型和地壳厚度等,与地热、金属以及油气矿产资源的形成密切相关,但是目前尚未形成能够服务于矿产资源勘查的成果库和数据产品;海洋深部探测是目前深地震测深方法应用的热点,应当加强海陆联合地震观测,充分发挥两种观测模式的优势。