Response and capacity of monopod caisson foundation under eccentric lateral loads

Monopod caisson foundation is a viable alternative for supporting offshore wind turbines located at shallow water depths. This foundation system has to resist overturning moment generated due to resultant lateral load, arising from wind and water wave action, that can act at any loading height above the seabed. This paper presents results of a numerical investigation performed to determine the influence of loading height, caisson geometry and superstructure load on the ultimate lateral capacity, initial stiffness, and soil failure zone of the foundation, when installed in very dense sand. Both the ultimate and serviceable states of the caisson foundation obtained from the analyses are represented in terms of envelopes plotted between lateral load and overturning moment. Simplified expressions, which take into account the influence of caisson geometry, loading height, and soil properties, are also presented to serve as a preliminary base for design of the monopod caisson foundation.     

Bearing capacity of offshore umbrella suction anchor foundation in silty soil under varying loading modes

Considering the current disadvantages of present offshore wind turbine foundations, a novel anchor foundation with skirt and branches is proposed, called offshore umbrella suction anchor foundation (USAF). A series of experiments and numerical simulations were performed to explore the bearing capacity of the USAF under various kinds of loading modes. The bearing characteristics and the anchor–soil interactions are described in detail for horizontal static loading, horizontal cyclic loading, and an antidrawing (pullout) test in silty soil. In the static loading test, the load–deflection of the anchor under step loading was analyzed and the normalized curve of the load–deflection was obtained to determine the ultimate horizontal bearing capacity of the anchor under normal working conditions. Under horizontal cyclic loading, the relationship between the plastic cumulative deformation and cyclic number was determined. In addition, the responses of USAF were investigated for a low wave frequency and storm surges. In the drawing test, it was found that a “segmentation phenomenon” occurred during the test. Moreover, a method to identify the maximum antidrawing load of USAF was provided based on dynamic mechanics. The numerical results show that the use of anchor branches and skirt can enhance the bearing performance of USAF to a certain degree. However, the anchor branch has a slight positive influence on the bearing performance improvement. The USAF is not only similar to a stiff short pile, but a rotation occurs. The failure envelope under composite loading (V-M) was obtained and the changes associated with changes in the aspect ratio of the internal compartment were clarified.     

HHT-EEMD用于IGS站高程时间序列分析

利用经验模态分解（EMD）和整体经验模态分解（EEMD）方法,将BJFS站2000~2015年高程时间序列进行分解,发现其不仅存在1 a、0.5 a、0.25 a、2个月、1个月以及长周期等周期项,还存在以往方法很难探测出来的近似2 a周期信号。与EMD分解结果对比,整体经验模态分解可以明显减弱模式混叠现象。对各分量进行Hilbert 变换（HHT）,得到时间-频率-能量的Hilbert 频谱图。结果表明,年周期和2 a周期变化是高程运动的主要贡献项。利用小波变换方法对比验证EEMD的分解结果表明,与小波分析相比,EEMD重构信号与高程序列差异的RMS更小,证明了HHT-EEMD方法在数据资料分析过程中的有效性。对环境负载及GRACE负载造成的测站位移进行功率谱分析得出,环境负载确实会造成IGS站高程时间序列的1 a、0.5 a以及季节性运动,GRACE负载还验证了2 a信号的存在。     

静海地震台地磁加卸载响应比与邻区地震关系研究

研究分析了静海地磁台2002～2006年观测资料的加卸载响应比异常与邻区ML 4.0以上地震之间的关系,提出了适用于静海地磁台的地震分析预报异常形态特征和阈值判据.     

台风“利奇马”对钻孔体应变的扰动分析——以浙江地区为例

利用台风“利奇马”过境浙江期间,岱山地震台、东阳地震台钻孔体应变数据,采用数据滤波和线性回归等方法,分析了这2个台站钻孔体应变对台风的响应特征。结果表明,东阳地震台受台风引起的低气压的影响,钻孔体应变与气压同步变化;而岱山地震台受低气压和降水的共同影响,钻孔体应变与气压在变化的相关性和同步性上均有差异。气压和降水导致钻孔体应变的变化量可以通过负载力学模型进行估算求解。     

A coupling method for soil structure interaction problems

This paper describes a soil‐structure coupling method to simulate blast loading in soil and structure response. For the last decade, simulation of soil behavior under blast loading and its interaction with semi buried structure in soil becomes the focus of computational engineering in civil and mechanical engineering communities. In current design practice, soil‐structure interaction analysis often assumes linear elastic properties of the soil and uses small displacement theory. However, there are numerous problems, which require a more advanced approach that account for soil‐structure interaction and appropriate constitutive models for soil. In simplified approaches, the effect of soil on structure is considered using spring‐dashpot‐mass system, and the blast loading is modeled using linearly decaying pressure–time history based on equivalent trinitrotoluene and standoff distance, using ConWep, a computer program based on semi‐empirical equations. This strategy is very efficient from a CPU time computing point of view but may not provide accurate results for the dynamic response of the structure, because of its significant limitations, mainly when soil behavior is strongly nonlinear and when the buried charge is close to the structure. In this paper, both soil and explosive are modeled using solid elements with a constitutive material law for soil, and a Jones–Wilkins–Lee equation of state for explosive. One of the problems we have encountered when solving fluid structure interaction problems is the high mesh distortion at the contact interface because of high fluid nodal displacements and velocities. Similar problems have been encountered in soil structure interaction problems. To prevent high mesh distortion for soil, a new coupling algorithm is performed at the soil structure interface for structure loading. The coupling method is commonly used for fluid structure interaction problems in automotive and aerospace industry for fuel sloshing tank, and bird impact problems, but rarely used for soil structure interaction problems, where Lagrangian contact type algorithms are still dominant. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elastic fields in two joined transversely isotropic media of infinite extent as a result of rectangular loading

This paper presents the closed‐form solutions for the elastic fields in two bonded rocks induced by rectangular loadings. Each of the two bonded rocks behaves as a transversely isotropic linear elastic solid of semi‐infinite extent. They are completely bonded together at a horizontal surface. The rectangular loadings are body forces along either vertical or horizontal directions and are uniformly applied on a rectangular area. The rectangular area is embedded in the two bonded rocks and is parallel to the horizontal interface. The classical integral transforms are used in the solution formulation, and the elastic solutions are expressed in the forms of elementary harmonic functions for the rectangular loadings. The stresses and displacements in the rocks induced by both the horizontal and vertical body forces are also presented. The numerical results illustrate the important effect of the anisotropic bimaterial properties on the stress and displacement fields. The solutions can be easily implemented for numerical calculations and applied to problems encountered in rock mechanics and engineering. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi‐proxy study of Holocene environmental change and human activity in the Central Apennine Mountains,Italy

This paper describes a multi‐proxy palaeoecological investigation undertaken in conjunction with an archaeological survey of the Upper Sangro Valley in the Abruzzo National Park, Central Italy. Despite being a biodiversity hotspot and regarded as a near‐pristine area, the pollen, spore and diatom data all show major changes in the vegetation extending to over 2000 m a.s.l. during the mid to late Holocene. Although there are changes in ecological composition earlier in the Holocene they are different in type and magnitude from the changes which began about 800 cal a BC. The pollen and diatom evidence do not correlate well with regional palaeoclimate data, or on‐site isotopic evidence, but do appear to be related to Samnite (later Iron Age) clearance and upland grazing associated with transhumance and later annexation (and centuriation) of the lower slopes by Roman surveyors. The greatest change in vegetation was during the period c. AD 500–600 and corresponds with the Byzantine–Gothic Wars, and Lombard–Carolingian settlement reorganization into nucleated hilltop settlements which managed upland grazing. This pattern of intensive land use at all altitudes persisted until the early 20th century and only changed following rural depopulation after World War II. These data illustrate how cultural factors had a profound effect on this mountainous region which, in this case, far outweighed the effects of climatic fluctuations which are known to have occurred from both this study area and the region. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.