Efficient analysis of pile-group effect on seismic stiffness and strength design of buildings

A new efficient method is developed for the analysis of pile-group effects on the seismic stiffness and strength design of buildings with pile foundations. An efficient continuum model consisting of a dynamic Winkler-type soil element and a pile is used to express the dynamic behavior of the structure-pile-soil system with only a small numerical error. The pile-group effect is taken into account through the influence coefficients among piles which are defined for interstory drifts and pile-head bending moments. It is shown that, while the pile-group effect reduces the interstory drift of buildings in general, it may increase the bending moment of piles at the head. This means that the treatment without the pile-group effect results in the conservative design for super-structures and requires a revised member design for piles.     

Using CRD method for quantification of groundwater recharge in the Gaza Strip, Palestine

Rainfall is the main source of groundwater recharge in the Gaza Strip area in Palestine. The area is located in the semi-arid zone and there is no source of recharge other than rainfall. Estimation of groundwater recharge from rainfall is not an easy task since it depends on many uncertain parameters. The cumulative rainfall departure (CRD) method, which depends on the water balance principle, was used in this study to estimate the net groundwater recharge from rainfall. This method does not require much data as is the case with other classical recharge estimation methods. The CRD method was carried out using optimisation approach to minimise the root mean square error (RMSE) between the measured and the simulated groundwater head. The results of this method were compared with the results of other recharge estimation methods from literature. It was found that the results of the CRD method are very close to the results of the other methods, but with less data requirements and greater ease of application. Based on the CRD method, the annual amount of groundwater recharge from rainfall in the Gaza Strip is about 43 million m³. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Polymorphic phase transition in Superhydrous Phase B

We synthesized superhydrous phase B (shy-B) at 22 GPa and two different temperatures: 1200°C (LT) and 1400°C (HT) using a multi-anvil apparatus. The samples were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), single crystal X-ray diffraction, Raman and IR spectroscopy. The IR spectra were collected on polycrystalline thin-films and single crystals using synchrotron radiation, as well as a conventional IR source at ambient conditions and in situ at various pressures (up to 15 GPa) and temperatures (down to −180°C). Our studies show that shy-B exists in two polymorphic forms. As expected from crystal chemistry, the LT polymorph crystallizes in a lower symmetry space group (Pnn2), whereas the HT polymorph assumes a higher symmetry space group (Pnnm). TEM shows that both modifications consist of nearly perfect crystals with almost no lattice defects or inclusions of additional phases. IR spectra taken on polycrystalline thin films exhibit just one symmetric OH band and 29 lattice modes for the HT polymorph in contrast to two intense but asymmetric OH stretching bands and at least 48 lattice modes for the LT sample. The IR spectra differ not only in the number of bands, but also in the response of the bands to changes in pressure. The pressure derivatives for the IR bands are higher for the HT polymorph indicating that the high symmetry form is more compressible than the low symmetry form. Polarized, low-temperature single-crystal IR spectra indicate that in the LT-polymorph extensive ordering occurs not only at the Mg sites but also at the hydrogen sites.     

Three dimensional numerical simulation of residential building on shrink–swell soils in response to climatic conditions

Shrink–swell soils can cause distresses in buildings, and every year, the economic loss associated with this problem is huge. This paper presents a comprehensive system for simulating the soil–foundation–building system and its response to daily weather conditions. Weather data include rainfall, solar radiation, air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed, all of which are readily available from a local weather station or the Internet. These data are used to determine simulation flux boundary conditions. Different methods are proposed to simulate different boundary conditions: bare soil, trees, and vegetation. A coupled hydro‐mechanical stress analysis is used to simulate the volume change of shrink–swell soils due to both mechanical stress and water content variations. Coupled hydro‐mechanical stress‐jointed elements are used to simulate the interaction between the soil and the slab, and general shell elements are used to simulate structural behavior. All the models are combined into one finite element program to predict the entire system's behavior. This paper first described the theory for the simulations. A site in Arlington, Texas, is then selected to demonstrate the application of the proposed system. Simulation results are shown, and a comparison between measured and predicted movements for four footings in Arlington, Texas, over a 2‐year period is presented. Finally, a three‐dimensional simulation is made for a virtual residential building on shrink–swell soils to identify the influence of various factors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are peatlands in different states with respect to their thermodynamic behaviour? A simple test of peatland energy and entropy budgets

Whilst all ecosystems must obey the second law of thermodynamics, these physical bounds and controls on ecosystem evolution and development are largely ignored across the ecohydrological literature. To unravel the importance of these underlying restraints on ecosystem form and function, and their power to inform our scientific understanding, we have calculated the entropy budget of a range of peat ecosystems. We hypothesize that less disturbed peatlands are ‘near equilibrium’ with respect to the second law of thermodynamics and thus respond to change by minimizing entropy production. This ‘near equilibrium’ state is best achieved by limiting evaporative losses. Alternatively, peatlands ‘far-from-equilibrium’ respond to a change in energy inputs by maximizing entropy production which is best achieved by increasing evapotranspiration. To test these alternatives this study examined the energy balance time series from seven peatlands across a disturbance gradient. We estimate the entropy budgets for each and determine how a change in net radiation (ΔR_n) was transferred to a change in latent heat flux (ΔλE). The study showed that: (i) The transfer of net radiation to latent heat differed significantly between peatlands. One group transferred up to 64% of the change in net radiation to a change in latent heat flux, while the second transferred as little as 27%. (ii) Sites that transferred the most energy to latent heat flux were those that produced the greatest entropy. The study shows that an ecosystem could be ‘near equilibrium’ rather than ‘far from equilibrium’.     

Prediction of river water temperature: a comparison between a new family of hybrid models and statistical approaches

River water temperature is a key physical variable controlling several chemical, biological and ecological processes. Its reliable prediction is a main issue in many environmental applications, which however is hampered by data scarcity, when using data‐demanding deterministic models, and modelling limitations, when using simpler statistical models. In this work we test a suite of models belonging to air2stream family, which are characterized by a hybrid formulation that combines a physical derivation of the key equation with a stochastic calibration of parameters. The air2stream models rely solely on air temperature and streamflow, and are of similar complexity as standard statistical models. The performances of the different versions of air2stream in predicting river water temperature are compared with those of the most common statistical models typically used in the literature. To this aim, a dataset of 38 Swiss rivers is used, which includes rivers classified into four different categories according to their hydrological characteristics: low‐land natural rivers, lake outlets, snow‐fed rivers and regulated rivers. The results of the analysis provide practical indications regarding the type of model that is most suitable to simulate river water temperature across different time scales (from daily to seasonal) and for different hydrological regimes. A model intercomparison exercise suggests that the family of air2stream hybrid models generally outperforms statistical models, while cross‐validation conducted over a 30‐year period indicates that they can be suitably adopted for long‐term analyses. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国中东部冬季霾日的形成与东亚冬季风和大气湿度的关系

利用1961-2013年中国地面台站长期观测资料和同期NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,以华北、江淮和华南为研究区,分析了中国中东部冬季霾日的形成与东亚冬季风以及大气湿度的关系。结果表明:(1)冬季霾日与东亚冬季风强度成显著的负相关。首先,东亚冬季风强度的减弱使得地面风速减小,进而导致冬季霾日增多。其中,华北7-8 m/s最大风速日数和江淮6-8 m/s最大风速日数的减少,及华南≤2 m/s最大风速日数的增多对各区冬季霾日的增多作用较大。其次,东亚冬季风减弱引起冬季气温的持续升高,易导致冬季霾日的增多,这在华北地区较之在江淮和华南更为明显。(2)由于气候变暖,冬季气温升高,使得近地面相对湿度减小。在江淮和华南地区,冬季霾日的增多与近地面相对湿度的减小显著相关,而在华北地区这种相关较弱。(3)冬季气温升高也有利于大气层结稳定度的增强,3个区域冬季霾日的增多均与大气层结稳定度的增强显著相关,特别是与对流层中低层(850-500 hPa)大气饱和度的降低显著相关。(4)冬季霾日数变化与区域水汽输送关系密切。其中,华北地区的冬季霾日数与水汽总收入成显著正相关,江淮地区与纬向水汽收入成显著正相关,与经向水汽收入成显著负相关,华南地区与经向水汽收入成显著负相关。     

贵州辐射雾的时空变化特征及其气象要素分析

选取2008—2012年贵州省3646站次的辐射雾天气过程,根据08时能见度大小将其划分为4级雾、3级雾、2级雾和1级雾四个等级,利用常规地面观测资料分析其时空变化特征,并根据辐射雾多发生区选取出修文、三穗和凤冈3个分布在贵州省高速干道上的站点,利用相应地面气象观测台站的逐日逐时实测气象要素资料,分析其不同等级的气象要素特征。结果表明:各等级辐射雾在10月—次年1月发生较多;空间分布呈"东多西少"格局,4级雾主要分布中心为修文和岑巩,其余等级辐射雾主要分布中心为三穗、凤冈、平塘、正安、松桃和锦屏;修文站的4级雾偏多与其平均相对湿度明显偏高、风速小于3 m/s和风向主要为偏东风相关性较高;三穗站和凤冈站的平均相对湿度与当日08时和前一日20时的气温差相对利于雾的生成,但其风速较小,垂直混合较弱,故其主要为较低等级雾。     

Comparative assessment of Japan's long-term carbon budget under different effort-sharing principles

This article assesses Japan's carbon budgets up to 2100 in the global efforts to achieve the 2?°C target under different effort-sharing approaches based on long-term GHG mitigation scenarios published in 13 studies. The article also presents exemplary emission trajectories for Japan to stay within the calculated budget.

The literature data allow for an in-depth analysis of four effort-sharing categories. For a 450?ppm CO₂e stabilization level, the remaining carbon budgets for 2014–2100 were negative for the effort-sharing category that emphasizes historical responsibility and capability. For the other three, including the reference ‘Cost-effectiveness’ category, which showed the highest budget range among all categories, the calculated remaining budgets (20th and 80th percentile ranges) would run out in 21–29 years if the current emission levels were to continue. A 550?ppm CO₂e stabilization level increases the budgets by 6–17 years-equivalent of the current emissions, depending on the effort-sharing category. Exemplary emissions trajectories staying within the calculated budgets were also analysed for ‘Equality’, ‘Staged’ and ‘Cost-effectiveness’ categories. For a 450?ppm CO₂e stabilization level, Japan's GHG emissions would need to phase out sometime between 2045 and 2080, and the emission reductions in 2030 would be at least 16–29% below 1990 levels even for the most lenient ‘Cost-effectiveness’ category, and 29–36% for the ‘Equality’ category. The start year for accelerated emissions reductions and the emissions convergence level in the long term have major impact on the emissions reduction rates that need to be achieved, particularly in the case of smaller budgets.

Policy relevance

In previous climate mitigation target formulation processes for 2020 and 2030 in Japan, neither equity principles nor long-term management of cumulative GHG emissions was at the centre of discussion. This article quantitatively assesses how much more GHGs Japan can emit by 2100 to achieve the 2?°C target in light of different effort-sharing approaches, and how Japan's GHG emissions can be managed up to 2100. The long-term implications of recent energy policy developments following the Fukushima nuclear disaster for the calculated carbon budgets are also discussed.     

海洋卡盾藻对青岛大扁藻的化感作用及其对UV-B辐射的响应

本研究以海洋微藻——赤潮藻海洋卡盾藻(Chattonella marina)与饵料藻青岛大扁藻(Platymonas helgolandica var.tsingtaoensis)为研究对象,采用单培养和共培养的方法,研究二者间的竞争关系,并在此基础上研究海洋卡盾藻去藻过滤液和藻细胞裂解液对青岛大扁藻的化感作用,同时进一步探讨两种海洋微藻间的化感作用对UV-B辐射增强的响应。结果显示:共培养条件下,海洋卡盾藻在2个高浓度下对青岛大扁藻的生长产生显著抑制(P0.05);海洋卡盾藻去藻过滤液和藻细胞裂解液对青岛大扁藻的生长也具有显著抑制作用(P0.05),且藻细胞裂解液的抑制作用更强,说明海洋卡盾藻对青岛大扁藻产生化感作用,且通过细胞间直接接触传递的化感物质多于通过介质传递的。不同密度比例的2种藻共培养组用UV-B辐射(2.16J/m2)处理后,海洋卡盾藻对青岛大扁藻生长的化感作用有所减弱。