Analysis of simple shear tests with cell pressure confinement

The high cost of offshore infrastructure provides continuous encouragement for optimisation of design practices. Development of a more rational method to interpret results from simple shear tests with cell pressure confinement can reduce costs and improve reliability of offshore infrastructure. This paper addresses a commonly overlooked issue affecting design parameter selection: specimen shape varies from right cylinder to oblique cylinder after loading along a single shearing direction. Thus, horizontal stresses are not always equal to the cell pressure and their magnitude varies throughout the specimen’s lateral surface. An analysis is proposed that accounts for changing specimen geometry and lateral surface area during shearing and for the actual effect of cell pressure during testing. The analysis also describes how the intermediate principal stress can be assessed. Test results for medium dense silica sand are interpreted following de Josselin de Jong’s alternative shearing mechanism hypothesis. Conventional interpretation methods yield conservative design parameters for this soil. Failure states develop when the intermediate principal effective stress is halfway between major and minor principal effective stresses. Typical results for the soil tested show equipment performance meets standard direct simple shear requirements for shear strain rate, vertical stress and specimen height control.     

Effects of rainfall,geomorphological and geometrical variables on vulnerability of the lower Mississippi River levee system to slump slides

This study investigated the importance of rainfall and various geomorphological and geometrical factors to the vulnerability of earthen levees to slump slides. The study was performed using a database including 34 slump slides that occurred in the lower Mississippi River levee system from 2008 to 2009. The impact of rainfall within the six months prior to slide occurrence was studied for 23 slides for which an accurate occurrence date was available. Several variables were used to develop a logistic regression model to predict the probability of slump slide occurrence. The proposed model was verified for both slide and non-slide cases. The regression analysis depicts the impact of channel width, river sinuosity index, riverbank erosion, channel shape condition and distance to river. Excluding the sinuosity index, the impact of the other independent variables examined was found to be significant. Occurrence of riverbank erosion around the slide locations was the most significant predictor factor. A channel width of less than 1000?m was ranked as the second most significant variable. The proposed model can aid in locating high-risk areas on levees in order to take prompt protective measures, increase monitoring efforts and enable early response under emergency conditions.     

Seismic performance of masonry walls retrofitted with steel reinforced grout

An innovative solution for the seismic protection of existing masonry structures is proposed and investigated through shake table tests on a natural scale wall assemblage. After a former test series carried out without reinforcement, the specimen was retrofitted using Steel Reinforced Grout. The strengthening system comprises horizontal strips of ultra‐high strength steel cords, externally bonded to the masonry with hydraulic lime mortar, and connectors to transversal walls, applied within the thickness of the plaster layer. In order to assess the seismic performance of the retrofitted wall, natural accelerograms were applied with increasing intensity up to failure. Test results provide a deep understanding of the effectiveness of mortar‐based composites for improving the out‐of‐plane seismic capacity of masonry walls, in comparison with traditional reinforcements with steel tie‐bars. The structural implications of the proposed solution in terms of dynamic properties and damage development under earthquake loads are also discussed.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

考虑挤土效应时楔形桩纵向振动阻抗研究

基于复刚度传递多圈层平面应变模型,研究考虑桩周土挤土效应时成层地基中楔形桩的纵向振动问题。首先根据桩周土体的纵向成层情况并考虑楔形桩的变截面特性,将桩土系统沿纵向划分为有限个微元段,对每个微元段的桩周土体建立复刚度传递多圈层平面应变模型,并通过剪切复刚度递推方法求得桩周土作用在桩身的剪切复刚度;然后将求得的剪切复刚度代入桩身纵向振动控制方程,运用Laplace变换技术和阻抗函数递推方法,推导得到考虑桩周土挤土效应时成层地基中楔形桩纵向振动时桩顶复阻抗的解析解;最后,采用参数研究方法在低频范围内分析挤土效应对桩顶复阻抗的影响及其规律。     

新型卧式土工平面应变仪研制

平面应变仪是一种开发较早但至今尚不完善的一种土工试验仪器,随着国家基础设施建设的发展,平面应变试验及试验方法在许多领域得以应用,显示出了平面应变试验在工程设计和研究中的重要性。通过回顾国内外平面应变仪的发展,提出了开发一种新型的土工平面应变三轴仪的思路,以实现更科学、更精确地进行复杂应力加载条件下土平面应变试验的研究。以此为目的,从压力室结构、加载系统及控制量测系统等方面提出了相应的改善措施,开发了一种新型的土工平面三轴仪。并通过重塑黄土的平面应变试验及改进的真三轴仪平面应变试验对比、以及平面应变试验强度参数与常规三轴试验强度参数对比分析,验证了所研制的新型卧式土工平面应变仪的合理性和研制思路的正确性。最后,通过对该平面应变仪应变试验的黄土破坏特性与改进真三轴平面应变试验的黄土破坏特征的对比分析,验证了本文所开发的平面应变仪在描述土体应变局部化问题的合理性。     

Bidirectional behavior of unreinforced masonry walls

Most of the studies related to the modeling of masonry structures have by far investigated either the in‐plane (IP) or the out‐of‐plane (OP) behavior of walls. However, seismic loads mostly impose simultaneous IP and OP demands on load‐bearing or shear masonry walls. Thus, there is a need to reconsider design equations of unreinforced masonry walls by taking into account bidirectional effects. The intent of this study is to investigate the bidirectional behavior of an unreinforced masonry wall with a typical aspect ratio under different displacement‐controlled loading directions making use of finite element analysis. For this purpose, the numerical procedure is first validated against the results of the tests on walls with different failure modes conducted by the authors. Afterward, the response of the wall systems is evaluated with increasing top displacement having different orientations. A set of 19 monotonic and three cyclic loading analyses are performed, and the results are discussed in terms of the variation of failure modes and load–displacement diagrams. Moreover, the results of wall capacity in each loading condition are compared with those of the ASCE41‐06 formulations. The results indicate that the direction of the resultant force, vectorial summation of IP and OP forces, of the wall is initially proportional to the ratio of stiffness in the IP and the OP directions. However, with the increase of damage, the resultant force direction inclines towards the wall's longitudinal direction regardless of the direction of the imposed displacement. Finally, recommendations are made for applicability of ASCE41‐06 formulations under different bidirectional loading conditions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

芦山地震崩滑灾害空间分布及相关问题探讨

由于逆断层作用,2013年芦山M_S 7.0地震诱发的崩滑地质灾害分布表现出了明显的上盘效应与方向效应。在震后应急科考中未发现发震断层的地表破裂带,然而灾区大量出现的地震诱发滑坡、崩塌,加之密集的余震分布、地震烈度调查结果等,提供了确定芦山地震宏观震中、地震动错动方向以及研究地震发震构造等的诸多线索。 统计结果表明,芦山地震诱发的滑坡、崩塌具有明显的优势滑动方向（135°～144°）,该方向揭示了地震断层的错动方向,与震源机制解反映的一致,大体垂直于发震断层的走向;从地震诱发崩塌、滑坡灾害点的分布与密度判断,宏观震中位于宝盛乡北,在仪器记录震中东北约3.6km处;从余震群分布、地震诱发滑坡分布特点及地震等烈度线等,结合以往强震如汶川地震等的调查经验,推测当震级足够大时,发震断层地表破裂带可能通过地质灾害、余震密集区东侧的边缘地带,总体平行于双石-大川断裂。另外,通过分析地层岩性与崩滑地形条件之间的关联性,发现崩滑灾害在某些地层岩性中易发,灾害点呈线性排列的原因是不同地层岩性之间抗风化能力的差异性,造成在地层分界线上形成线性陡崖或高坡度地带,使之在强震作用下容易发生崩塌、滑坡。     

利用精确定位余震资料确定2014年云南鲁甸6.5级地震的断层面参数

运用双差定位法对2014年云南鲁甸6.5级地震序列余震进行重新定位,得到565次小震的精确定位结果.根据小震丛集性原则,求解发震断层参数的数学模型,运用模拟退火全局搜索和高斯牛顿局部搜索相结合的方法对地震发震断层面参数进行反演,得到鲁甸6.5级地震断层面的走向、倾角分别为160.8°和89.1°,并对其构造环境进行了分析.     

利用断层围陷波研究昆仑山口西8.1级地震破裂面

利用横跨地表破裂带的小点距的地震测线, 对2001年11月14日昆仑山口西8.1级地震进行了断层围陷波的观测实验. 经过数字滤波和频谱分析等技术, 由地震记录图中分离出了断层围陷波. 资料处理结果表明: ① 无论是人工地震震源还是天然地震震源, 只要位于断层带内或紧靠断层带, 均能激发断层围陷波; ② 断层围陷波的能量主要集中于断层带内, 其振幅随测点与断层带距离的增加而急剧衰减; ③ 断层围陷波的优势频率与断层的宽度及断层带内介质的速度有关, 断层带越宽, 或断层带内部介质速度越低, 则观测到的断层围陷波的优势频率越低; ④ 断层围陷波存在着频散现象; ⑤ 根据昆仑山口西地震测线断层围陷波的观测结果, 可推断该处破裂面宽度为300 m左右, 远远大于地表破裂带的宽度.      

Evolution of a debris-rock slide causing a natural dam: the flash flood of Río Santa Cruz,Province of San Juan—November 12, 2005

Between 2001 and 2005, a large debris rock slide occurred on the western slope of the Cordillera de Santa Cruz in the southeast Andean corner of the Province of San Juan (31°40′ S–70°16′ W). The landslide material accumulated in a downstream gorge as a natural dam of the Santa Cruz river, forming a large-volume lake. In November 2005, probably as a result of the increasing pressure of the water volume, this natural dam breached off with a violent and unexpected flash flood. In addition to life-threatening instances lived by some people downstream, this flood caused great economic loss to main localities of the Department of Calingasta, as well as considerable damage to one of the most relevant projects of the Province, the Caracoles Hydropower Project dam on the San Juan river. Considering the high costs of any physical remediation for a natural dam located in this high, remote, and inaccessible mountain area with no reliable road access, the main protective measures left to be pondered are the installation of a flash-flood early-warning system connected to downstream localities, along with a program of hydrological monitoring at the dam-forming area and annual satellital monitoring to verify the evolution of accumulated mass movements.