Seismic response of multi-tiered reinforced soil retaining walls

In this study, a validated Finite Element procedure was used to investigate the similarities and differences of seismic performances between single- and multi-tiered reinforced soil walls. Three-tiered walls at a total height of 9 m were analyzed together with vertical walls at the same height. It was found from the Finite Element analyses that the resonant frequency of reinforced soil walls might increase with an increase in the tier-offset. The multi-tiered configuration could considerably reduce the residual lateral facing displacement and the average reinforcement load, and the reinforcement load distribution with height was different from that in vertical walls. With the same reinforcement length and spacing, the multi-tiered walls resulted in smaller reinforcement connection loads with the facing blocks. The study filled the gap of seismic behavior of multi-tiered reinforced soil retaining walls and revealed a few unique dynamic properties of this type of earth structures.     

Mesh type tradeoffs in 2D hydrodynamic modeling of flooding with a Godunov-based flow solver

The effect of mesh type on the accuracy and computational demands of a two-dimensional Godunov-type flood inundation model is critically examined. Cartesian grids, constrained and unconstrained triangular grids, constrained quadrilateral grids, and mixed meshes are considered, with and without local time stepping (LTS), to determine the approach that maximizes computational efficiency defined as accuracy relative to computational effort. A mixed-mesh numerical scheme is introduced so all grids are processed by the same solver. Analysis focuses on a wide range of dam-break type test cases, where Godunov-type flood models have proven very successful. Results show that different mesh types excel under different circumstances. Cartesian grids are 2–3 times more efficient with relatively simple terrain features such as rectilinear channels that call for a uniform grid resolution, while unstructured grids are about twice as efficient in complex domains with irregular terrain features that call for localized refinements. The superior efficiency of locally refined, unstructured grids in complex terrain is attributable to LTS; the locally refined unstructured grid becomes less efficient using global time stepping. These results point to mesh-type tradeoffs that should be considered in flood modeling applications. A mixed mesh model formulation with LTS is recommended as a general purpose solver because the mesh type can be adapted to maximize computational efficiency.     

Fluid–particle interaction in turbulent open channel flow with fully-resolved mobile beds

The paper presents Direct Numerical Simulations of an open channel flow laden with spherical particles at a bulk Reynolds number of 2941. The transport of thousands of mobile particles is simulated propagating over a rough bed which consists of immobile particles of the same size in hexagonal ordering. An Immersed Boundary Method is used for the numerical representation of the particles. With 22 points per diameter even the viscous scales of the flow are resolved at this Reynolds number. The reference run contains just as many fixed as mobile particles with a relative density slightly above the nominal threshold of incipient motion. Further runs were conducted with decreased mass loading and decreased Shields number together with a simulation containing only immobile particles. The variation of the parameters defining the mobile sediment yields a strong modification of particle–fluid as well as particle–particle interactions yielding different structures in space and time. This is assessed by means of appropriate statistical quantities addressing the continuous and the disperse phase. The results are in qualitative agreement with experimental observations at higher Reynolds number.     

江宁台地电场地地铁干扰试验结果分析

城市地铁建设对周围电磁观测造成了很大的影响,地电阻率场地需要避让地铁的距离为25公里以上,给存在地铁干扰的场地搬迁选址造成了很大的困扰。本文针对南京地铁的影响进行了试验,分析试验结果对江宁台地电场地原址重建提出了新的布极方案,该方案采用缩短供电极距来抑制地铁干扰,采用深埋电极来保证探测深度和抑制表层影响。为受地铁影响而不采取避让措施下地电场地的选择提供了新的思路。     

Inertial effects during irreversible meniscus reconfiguration in angular pores

In porous media, the dynamics of the invading front between two immiscible fluids is often characterized by abrupt reconfigurations caused by local instabilities of the interface. As a prototype of these phenomena we consider the dynamics of a meniscus in a corner as it can be encountered in angular pores. We investigate this process in detail by means of direct numerical simulations that solve the Navier–Stokes equations in the pore space and employ the Volume of Fluid method (VOF) to track the evolution of the interface. We show that for a quasi-static displacement, the numerically calculated surface energy agrees well with the analytical solutions that we have derived for pores with circular and square cross sections. However, the spontaneous reconfigurations are irreversible and cannot be controlled by the injection rate: they are characterized by the amount of surface energy that is spontaneously released and transformed into kinetic energy. The resulting local velocities can be orders of magnitude larger than the injection velocity and they induce damped oscillations of the interface that possess their own time scales and depend only on fluid properties and pore geometry. In complex media (we consider a network of cubic pores) reconfigurations are so frequent and oscillations last long enough that increasing inertial effects leads to a different fluid distribution by influencing the selection of the next pore to be invaded. This calls into question simple pore-filling rules based only on capillary forces. Also, we demonstrate that inertial effects during irreversible reconfigurations can influence the work done by the external forces that is related to the pressure drop in Darcy’s law. This suggests that these phenomena have to be considered when upscaling multiphase flow because local oscillations of the menisci affect macroscopic quantities and modify the constitutive relationships to be used in macro-scale models. These results can be extrapolated to other interface instabilities that are at the origin of fast pore-scale events, such as Haines jumps, snap-off and coalescence.     

2014年3月10日加州西北岸M_w6.9级地震震源破裂过程

2014年3月10日13时18分(北京时间)美国加利福尼亚州西北岸发生Mw6.9级地震,震中位于戈尔达板块内部.本文利用国际地震学研究联合会(IRIS)地震数据中心提供的远场体波数据,通过波形反演的方法来研究此次地震的震源破裂过程,并分析未造成重大人员伤亡及诱发海啸的原因,为该地区地球动力学的研究提供依据.选取19个方位角覆盖均匀的远场P波垂向波形记录和13个近场P波初动符号进行约束,基于剪切位错点源模型确定此次地震的震源机制解.结合地质构造背景资料,确定断层破裂面的走向.在考虑海水层多次反射效应的影响下,采用18个远场P波垂向波形数据和21个远场SH波切向波形数据,利用有限断层模型,将断层面剖分为17×9块子断层单元来模拟破裂面上滑动的时空分布,通过波形反演的方法获得此次地震的震源破裂过程.利用海水层地壳模型,剪切位错点源模型的反演结果为:走向323°,倾角86.1°,滑动角-180°,震源深度为10.6km.有限断层模型的反演结果表明,此次地震的破裂过程相对简单,主要滑动量集中于震源上方35km×9km的区域内,破裂时间持续19s左右,平均破裂传播速度约为2.7km·s-1,较大滑动量均沿着走向分布,最大滑动量为249cm.此次地震为发生在戈尔达板块内部的一次Mw6.9级的陡倾角走滑型地震.此次地震为单纯的走滑型地震,断层面接近竖直方向,且发生在洋壳底部,因此破坏力不大,不会对沿岸城市造成重大损失.陡倾角断层在走滑错动的过程中不会使海底地形发生大幅度变化,不会引起大面积水体的突然升降,因此不会诱发大规模海啸.     

基于BP-CCA法的福建春季降水因子分析

利用BP-CCA方法,分析了1961-2005年间500 hPa高度场和北太平洋海温场与福建春季降水量之间的关系,结果表明:这一方法为寻找降水预测的前兆信号提供了一条可行的途径,同时得出前兆因子对福建春雨都有不同程度的影响,其中以西太平洋副热带高压、ENSO现象以及太平洋西风漂流区影响最大.     

汶川M_S8.0地震河谷地形对汉源县城高烈度异常的影响

汉源县城位于汶川M_S8.0特大地震六度区内唯一的八度异常区,为典型且罕见的远震高烈度异常区.汉源县城处于流沙河的河流阶地之上,河谷地形对地震震害有显著的影响.为定量分析河谷地形对汶川大地震汉源县高烈度异常的影响,基于汉源县城震害科学考察和场地勘察获取的资料,根据震害分布特征和流沙河谷地形的特点,选取1条实测得到的横切汉源县城并垂直流沙河河谷方向的典型剖面作为计算模型,以脉冲作为基底输入,采用有限差分方法研究了该剖面的场地放大效应,分析了地形对高烈度异常的影响.计算结果表明:汉源县城场地对地震动放大效应的显著频段是1.0~10Hz,且这一频段老县城场地的放大效应比新县城场地显著;汉源老县城场地对汶川M_S8.0地震主震的地震动有显著的放大效应,地表峰值加速度大大超过了抗震设计规范的规定值;汉源场地地形放大效应显著频段与汶川M_S8.0地震的能量集中频段基本吻合,汉源老县城建筑物的自振频率恰恰位于该频段,产生共振效应,从而造成更显著的放大效应,这也是汉源震害异常的主要原因之一.由此可见,河谷地形对地表地震动有重要的影响,在工程选址和抗震设计时应考虑其影响.     

2008年汶川大地震单侧破裂过程的动力学机制研究

2008年汶川大地震的破裂过程极其发杂,向东北方向的破裂距离长达300 km,而向西南方向的破裂长度很小,呈现出单侧破裂的主要特征.尽管汶川地震破裂呈单侧传播的现象引起许多地震学家的关注,但其物理机制至今还不是十分清楚.本文利用有限单元计算方法,模拟了汶川地震的破裂过程.模型中根据龙门山断裂带两侧（东南侧为四川盆地,西北侧为川西高原）实际的地震波速度来确定模型的介质物性参数,利用目前观测的应力环境来选定初始应力条件.模拟结果表明：破裂在汶川地震的震中处成核后,先向断层两侧自发传播,但向东北方向的传播距离明显大于向西南方向;断层面上的正应力在东北方向（破裂的正方向）随着传播距离的增大而不断减小,位错速率随着破裂的传播距离而越来越大,其脉冲变得越来越尖锐,即产生了Weertman脉冲.研究结果显示：由于这种脉冲的出现,破裂在正方向上（东北方向）能够自己放大、自己愈合、自行维持,摩擦热极小,所以破裂能够沿着东北方向一直传播,直到应力场方位发生变化,不利于破裂时才最后终止.但在西南方向,破裂过程中断层面上的正应力增大,阻碍破裂继续扩展.最后就出现了汶川地震中破裂朝东北方向单侧优势传播的基本格局.模拟结果还表明：若断层面两侧介质均匀,则破裂向两侧是对称传播,且破裂距离很短,因此这种情况无法产生像汶川大地震那样的特大地震.因此,文中的模拟结果表明龙门山断裂带两侧的物性差异是造成汶川大地震单侧传播的决定性因素.断层两侧物性差异（bimaterial contrast）影响断层破裂过程的研究对于深入认识地震动力学过程、地震灾害预测及评估等有重要的科学意义.     

Ultimate lateral bearing capacity of tetrapod jacket foundation in clay

The tetrapod jacket foundations that are always used to support offshore wind turbines have been investigated primarily in laboratory experiments. In this study, the ultimate lateral soil resistance on this type of foundation was investigated using the finite element method and the analytical upper bound plasticity method. The numerical results show good agreement with the theoretical upper bound solutions under the same pile spacings (S) and soil-pile adhesion factors (α). Three distinct failure mechanisms (mechanisms A, B and C) were established in terms of different pile spacings. The ultimate lateral pressure was subsequently determined using numerical analyses with consideration of the loading direction. The most critical loading direction angles (θ) vary with the soil-pile adhesion factors, and are θ = 0 for α = 1 and θ = π/4 for α = 0. Selected empirical equations were proposed to predict the ultimate lateral bearing capacity for engineering practice, considering the pile spacing, soil-pile adhesion and loading direction.