Transformation of parabolic dunes into mobile barchans triggered by environmental change and anthropogenic disturbance

Parabolic dunes are widely distributed on coasts and margins of deserts and steppes where ecosystems are vulnerable and sensitive to environmental changes and human disturbances. Some studies have indicated that vegetated parabolic dunes can be activated into highly mobile barchan dunes and the catastrophic shift of eco‐geomorphic systems is detrimental to land management and social‐economic development; however, no detailed study has clarified the physical processes and eco‐geomorphic interactions that control the stability of a parabolic dune and its resistance to unfavorable environmental changes. This study utilizes the Extended‐DECAL (Discrete Eco‐geomorphic Aeolian Landscapes) model, parameterized by field measurements of dune topography and vegetation characteristics combined with remote sensing, to explore how increases in drought stress, wind strength, and grazing stress may lead to the activation of stabilizing parabolic dunes into highly mobile barchans. The modeling results suggest that the mobility of an initial parabolic dune at the onset of a perturbation determines the capacity of a system to absorb environmental change, and a slight increase in vegetation cover of an initial parabolic dune can increase the activation threshold significantly. The characteristics of four eco‐geomorphic interaction zones control the processes and resulting morphologies of the transformations. A higher deposition tolerance of vegetation increases the activation threshold of the dune transformation under both a negative climatic impact and an increased sand transport rate, whereas the erosion tolerance of vegetation influences the patterns of resulting barchans (a single barchan versus multiple barchans). The change in the characteristics of eco‐geomorphic interaction zones may indirectly reflect the dune stability and predict an ongoing transformation, whilst the activation angle may be potentially used as a proxy of environmental stresses. In contrast to the natural environmental changes that tend to affect relatively weak and young plants, grazing stress can exert a broader impact on any plant indistinctively. A small increase in grazing stress just above the activation threshold can accelerate dune activation significantly. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

估计辐射参数的井间电磁波层析成像技术

为了避免使用不合理初始辐射场强和方向性因子带来的误差,研究了估计辐射参数的井间电磁波层析成像技术.通过时域有限差分法模拟表明,天线长度与波长的比值、钻孔充填情况、钻孔周围介质的物性均会影响偶极天线的初始辐射场强或方向性因子;为此结合已知的分层资料,将它们设为未知参数,并设定初始辐射场强与发射点位置相关,方向性因子随射线角度而变化;采用正则化反演方法,由钻孔资料建立了模型方差目标函数,使得反演结果与钻遇的地质特征保持一致.通过理论模型试验和实例应用分析表明,相对于传统射线层析成像方法,估计辐射参数的正则化层析成像技术有助于提高反演的准确性.     

渤海海域黏性土剪切波速与抗剪强度统计关系的初步研究

剪切波速与地基土的抗剪强度、剪切模量和卓越周期等参数密切相关,是地震安全性评价中判定场地类别的一个主要指标和参数。鉴于海域工程中剪切波速往往难以直接由原位测得,而室内实验结果又常常与野外现场物探测试值存在较大差异,因此,如何通过其他途径有效获取满足工程需要的剪切波速参数在海域工程的地震安全性评价等方面具有迫切的实用需求。为此本文通过对渤海海域数十个石油平台项目中一系列饱和黏性土样品的剪切波速与抗剪强度实验数据的统计分析,尝试采用多种可能的函数来拟合确定二者之间的经验关系。结果表明:对于渤海海域黏性土剪切波速V_s与抗剪强度S_u之间的最佳统计经验关系为幂函数V_s=53.751S_u~(0.376)。此关系可为渤海海域工程中通过不排水抗剪强度估算剪切波速提供一种简便可行的实用性方法。     

氯氧镁水泥混凝土路面性能试验研究

氯氧镁水泥混凝土是由轻烧氧化镁、氯化镁溶液和一些砂石反应生成的一种气硬性胶凝材料。利用镁水泥混凝土修筑示范路面,通过回弹仪、X-Ray 衍射仪(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)检测路面的抗压强度、相组成和微观结构。结果表明：修筑示范路面早期抗压强度增加很快,三天就能通车,后期基本保持稳定。修筑路面的主要相组成为5.1.8相,不随路面使用时间的延长而变化且其具有针状结构。     

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF WATER ON THE STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION MECHANISM OF CARRARA MARBLE AT HIGH TEMPERATURE

We performed deformation experiments using Carrara marble in dry and wet conditions under temperature of 400~700℃ and confining pressure 300MPa with two different strain rates. Water contents of deformed samples were measured using FTIR spectroscopy. The microstructure and deformation mechanisms of samples were observed under optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy spectroscopy analysis. The mechanical data show that samples display strain hardening at 400℃, and transition to steady creep at temperature from 500~700℃. The strength of marble reduced gradually with elevated temperatures or decreased strain rate. However, water effect to the strength of the marble is significantly weak. Microstructures observed show that the deformation is cataclastic flow in dry samples, fracture and pressure solution in wet samples at 400℃. Samples underwent brittle-plastic transition at 500℃. Dislocation glide is major deformation mechanism for dry samples at 600℃. Dislocation climb and dynamic recrystallization are major deformation mechanism for wet samples at 600℃ and for all wet samples and dry samples at 700℃. Lower strain rate and higher water content could promote the process of pressure solution and diffusion as well as dynamic recrystallization.     

Development of duration‐dependent damage‐based inelastic response spectra

A simple relationship is proposed in this paper to construct damage‐based inelastic response spectra including the effect of ground motion duration that it can be used for damage control in seismic design of structures. This relation is established for three groups of ground motions with short‐duration, moderate‐duration, and long‐duration ranges. To develop the model, the duration effect is included in the cyclic ductility of structures by an energy‐based method, and then strength reduction factors are computed based on this modified ductility (named ). The strength reduction factors were calculated for 44 stiffness‐degrading oscillators having vibration periods between 0.05 and 4.0 s, four ultimate ductility capacities, and five damage levels subjected to 296 earthquake records. The results showed that ductility capacity, damage level, and ground motion duration are effective parameters in the energy dissipation of structures, which affect the spectra. The values of short‐period oscillators (e.g., low‐rise structures) under short‐duration records are generally greater than those under moderate‐duration and long‐duration records. Residual analysis has been made in terms of magnitude and distance to examine the validity of the proposed simple expression. Finally, the introduced spectra were compared with three previously published proposals. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Probabilistic development of shear strength model for reinforced concrete squat walls

In order to reconcile the larger scatter and avoid the biased estimate from deterministic predictions for the shear strength of reinforced concrete (RC) squat structural walls, a probabilistic shear strength model is developed in this paper based on the strut‐and‐tie model and the generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE) method. The strut‐and‐tie model is used to derive an appropriate function form for the probabilistic shear strength model, where four unknown model parameters (e.g. k₁, k₂, k₃ and k₄) are defined carefully to guarantee them having a clear physical‐based meaning so that the corresponding prior distribution ranges can be specified reasonably. Then, the GLUE method is adopted to estimate the posterior cumulative distribution of k₁, k₂, k₃ and k₄ with an available experimental database. Furthermore, to demonstrate the stability of the estimated posterior cumulative distribution, the sensitivity of three major aspects in GLUE method is investigated. Finally, based on the estimated cumulative distribution of k₁, k₂, k₃ and k₄, the developed probabilistic shear strength model is simplified as a mean prediction model and a standard deviation prediction model for facilitate using in engineering practice. Therefore, with the developed probabilistic shear strength model, not only can the squat structural walls be designed in confidence, but the accuracy of those deterministic predictions can be evaluated in a probabilistic manner. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Species selection and assessment of eco-engineering effects of seedlings for biogeomorphological landscape experiments

Landscape experiments of fluvial environments such as rivers and deltas are often conducted with live seedlings to investigate effects of biogeomorphological interactions on morphology and stratigraphy. However, such experiments have been limited to a single species, usually alfalfa (Medicago sativa), whereas important environments in nature have many different vegetation types and eco-engineering effects. Landscape experimentation would therefore benefit from a larger choice of tested plant species. For the purpose of experimental design our objective was to identify fast-germinating and fast-growing species and determine their sensitivity to flow conditions during and after settling, their maximum growth, hydraulic resistance and added bank strength. We tested germination time and seedling growth rate of 18 candidate species with readily available seeds that are fast growing and occur at waterlines, plus Medicago sativa as a control. We selected five species that germinate and develop within days and measured properties and eco-engineering effects depending on plant age and density, targeting typical experimental conditions of 0–0.3 m/s flow velocity and 0–30 mm water depth. Tested eco-engineering effects include bank strength and flow resistance. We found that Rumex hydrolapathum can represent riparian trees. The much smaller Veronica beccabunga and Lotus pedunculatus can represent grass and saltmarsh species as they grow in dense patches with high flow resistance but are readily erodible. Sorghum bicolor grows into tall, straight shoots, which add significantly to bank strength, but adds little flow resistance and may represent sparse hardwood trees. Medicago sativa also grows densely under water, suggesting a use for mangroves and perhaps peat. In stronger and deeper flows the application of all species changes accordingly. These species can now be used in a range of landscape experiments to investigate combined effects on living landscape patterns and possible facilitation between species. The testing and treatment methodology can be applied to new species and other laboratory conditions. © 2019 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2019 The Authors Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd © 2019 The Authors Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

最小剪力系数及其调整方法对超高层建筑地震响应的影响

超高层结构地震剪力响应由振型分解反应谱法得到的结果经常不能满足规定的最小剪力系数要求。为此,文章简述剪力系数的概念和调整方法,以具有不同剪力系数的两个模型对比分析结构弹性、弹塑性地震响应差异,探讨剪力系数对超高层结构地震响应的影响。以通过强度和刚度调整使最小剪力系数满足规范要求的两个模型,分析不同调整方法引起的结构响应的合理性。结果表明:满足最小剪力系数的结构的弹性基底剪力大、层间位移角较小,结构的弹塑性位移响应也较小,受力状态优于不满足最小剪力系数的结构,安全性得到了提高。结构弹性倾覆力矩需求和弹塑性基底剪力按刚度调整大于按强度调整;结构弹塑性最大顶点位移和层间位移角响应相差不大,但出现刚度大\,层间位移角也大的与抗震理论相悖的情况;在满足抗震要求的情况下,构件的受力状态则是按强度调整更优,构件截面更加经济合理。     

某城市天桥减隔震设计研究

通过对某城市天桥进行非线性动力分析,计算结果表明固定墩墩底弯矩远大于自由墩墩底弯矩,且固定墩墩底弯矩已经超越桥墩结构抗力。针对这一问题,为了使桥墩均匀地承受地震作用,提高结构抗震性能,文章采取了将固定墩的固定支座改为减隔震支座的设计方案,并对不同减隔震支座的屈服力和屈服前刚度进行了计算,分析了各工况下的地震响应,最后建议了选用支座的型号。