Calibration of the parameters for a hardening–softening constitutive model using genetic algorithms

The present paper introduces a genetic algorithm-based optimization technique to calibrate a nonlinear strain hardening–softening constitutive model for soils using five material parameters. The efficiency of the proposed technique is analyzed through the use of different GA techniques. The effects of elitism, crossover, and mutation, as well as population size, on the performance of the conventional GAs for this problem are investigated. Micro-genetic algorithms (mGAs) are chosen and tested for different population sizes. The mGAs with a population size of five yields the optimal parameter values after fewer function evaluations and capture the overall simulated or experimental behavior at every point in stress–strain and strain paths in triaxial compression. The proposed calibration technique is validated through comparison with the traditional calibration technique.     

煤岩体孔隙结构应力特征的数值模拟研究

为了探究不同加载方式下煤岩体孔隙周围的应力分布规律,通过CT三维重建技术构建含有不同孔隙形状的煤岩体骨架模型,并利用ABAQUS软件进行单轴、三轴压缩实验模拟。结果表明,球状孔隙结构在单轴压缩条件下,上下区域表现为拉应力集中,左右区域表现为压应力集中。不同倾角的椭球状孔隙结构其长短轴区域的应力集中类型不同。单轴压缩过程中,轴向加载速度影响球状孔隙周围的Mises应力峰值和σ₁应力的变化;三轴压缩过程中,孔隙结构依然经历了压密、弹性、塑性和破坏4个阶段,较低的围压条件使得弹性阶段“应力-应变”曲线与“应力-时间”曲线高度重合。从微观角度为煤岩体力学研究提供了一种新的方法和思路。     

花岗岩低温热力效应参数及强度规律研究

长期处于变低温环境中的岩石热力学效应主要表现为材料的力学特性参数、热力系数和饱和冻结状态孔隙冰胀系数等随温度改变而发生变化,这种变化对岩体的变形及强度特性均有显著影响。根据变物性参数的非线性热弹性理论,建立了考虑热力系数和冰胀力系数的本构方程,给出了单轴压缩条件下热力效应系数随温度变化的分析格式和确定方法;借助于花岗岩不同低温干燥和饱和冻结状态的单轴压缩试验资料,获得了花岗岩低温热力效应与温度的关系,并探讨了其对花岗岩抗压强度的影响特性。分析表明,在变低温环境下花岗岩热力系数和冰胀力系数均随相对温差的增大而逐渐减小,热力系数降低速率小于冰胀系数降低速率,在同一温差下热力系数大于冰胀系数;热应力和冰胀应力与温度改变量呈非线性增长关系;花岗岩抗压强度在两种状态下均呈增大趋势,但主要以热应力为主,热力系数引起的试样轴向应力增量总是大于冰胀力引起的轴向应力增量。所给方法及研究成果可用于长期处于变低温状态下材料的力学性能研究及其工程应用。     

Proterozoic fluvial styles: response to changes in accommodation space (Rivieradal sandstones, eastern North Greenland)

Fluvial styles recorded by the uppermost part of the Neoproterozoic ‘Rivieradal sandstones' succession of eastern North Greenland reflect variations in rate of generated accommodation space and possibly climatic changes. Three facies associations, arranged in two genetic sequences, are recognised within the succession. The lower sequence initially records little available accommodation space. A high degree of reworking results in sheet-like, high-energy, bed-load-dominated, braided river deposits lacking recurrent facies patterns. As accommodation space increases upwards through the sequence, reduction in reworking is recorded by the development of fining- and thickening-upward muddy fluvial cycles. Evidence of desiccation or prolonged periods of drought are absent within the deposits and climate was probably relatively humid. Channel deposits in the lower sequence reflect mixed-load, braided fluvial systems with stable channel banks and floodplains, and the gradient appears to have been low to moderate. These features are generally considered favourable for the establishment of meandering river systems, but channels, nevertheless, retained an overall braided character and their deposits show no evidence of meandering. Despite indications of a climatic setting without significant periods of drought sediments indicate that large fluctuations in discharge occurred within the mixed-load streams and this is suggested to be the main cause for the absence of meandering. The swift and rather dramatic response of the fluvial systems to changes in precipitation, probably resulted from rapid runoff rates caused by the absence of vegetation. The upper sequence shows an initial return to shallow, sandy braided river deposition recording little available accommodation space. A subsequent increase in the rate of generated accommodation space is indicated by the presence of alternating sheet sandstones and sand-streaked mudstones with abundant desiccation cracks. The sheet sandstones show evidence of high-energy, unconfined ephemeral fluvial flash-flood deposition, while the mudstones are interpreted to represent muddy floodplain deposits. The change in fluvial style, combined with the widespread evidence of desiccation, suggest an evolution towards a more semi-arid climate in the upper sequence. This climatic change could account for the reduced clastic input seen in the overlying marine succession which culminated in carbonate platform deposition. The present study suggests that even under conditions considered favourable for the formation of meandering streams, these will rarely occur in Proterozoic deposits due to the lacking influence of vegetation. Although meandering deposits cannot be ruled out as having formed in pre-vegetational times, the conditions for their formation appear to have been even more restricted than previously realised.     

Precambrian tidal and glacial clastic deposits: implications for Precambrian Earth–Moon dynamics and palaeoclimate

Over the past decade the study of Precambrian clastic tidal rhythmites — stacked laminae of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone that display periodic variations in thickness reflecting a strong tidal influence on sedimentation — has provided accurate palaeotidal and palaeorotational data. Palaeotidal records obtained from tidal rhythmites may be systematically abbreviated, however, and derived periods and frequencies can be misleading. The validity of such values, including past length of day, can be assessed by testing for internal self-consistency through application of the laws of celestial mechanics. Such a test supports the estimated length of day of h derived from the late Neoproterozoic (620 Ma) Elatina–Reynella rhythmites in South Australia, and the indicated mean rate of lunar retreat of cm/year since 620 Ma. The validity of estimated lengths of day obtained from other Precambrian tidal rhythmites remain unverified because the data sets contain only one primary value directly determined from the rhythmites. The Elatina–Reynella data militate against significant Earth expansion at least since 620 Ma, and suggest that the free nutation or ‘tipping' of the Earth's fluid core has undergone a resonance with the Earth's annual forced nutation since the Neoproterozoic. Glaciogenic deposits are readily distinguishable from ejecta resulting from impacts with Earth-crossing bodies. Palaeomagnetic data, based on the geocentric axial dipole model for the geomagnetic field, indicate that Neoproterozoic and Palaeoproterozoic glaciation and cold climate near sea level occurred in low palaeolatitudes. This enigmatic finding may imply global glaciation or an increased obliquity of the ecliptic, and is relevant to modelling the effect of ice sheet formation on the Earth's obliquity history by obliquity–oblateness feedback mechanisms. Through multidisciplinary studies, clastic sedimentology and geophysics together can make substantial contributions to understanding Precambrian Earth–Moon dynamics and global palaeoenvironments.     

Les manifestations tectoniques synsédimentaires associées à la compression éocène en Tunisie : implications paléogéographiques et structurales sur la marge Nord-Africaine

In central Tunisia, a synsedimentary tectonic episode has been pointed out through the tectonic movements affecting the Late Palaeocene–Early Eocene successions. This tectonic episode has controlled, to a large extent, the palaeogeographic setting of the area during that period and confirmed the important effect induced by the Pyrenean shortening phase on the edge of the African plate, which obviously has witnessed a common history with the southern part of the European plate. To cite this article: A. El Ghali et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

重塑非饱和粘土抗剪强度参数与饱和度的关系研究

土的饱和度是基于水分状态和密度状态的一个衍生变量。存在因应水分状态变化和因应密度状态变化的两类饱和度变化过程。根据23组不同水分状态和密度状态的UU三轴压缩试验结果,讨论了重塑非饱和粘性土抗剪强度参数与饱和度的关系。数据分析表明:粘聚力与水分状态相关的饱和度的关系是强非线性的,与密度状态相关的饱和度的关系是准线性的。内摩擦角与水分状态相关的饱和度的关系是强非线性的,与密度状态相关的饱和度的关系是弱非线性的。     

Evaluating the influence of mixture composition on the kinetics of salt damage in wall paintings using time lapse video imaging with direct data annotation

This paper presents an examination of the timescale of phase transition behaviour of a series of salts known to cause damage to wall paintings and other cultural property. The rate of deliquescence and crystallisation of single salts (nitromagnesite and halite) under different RH regimes, and the extent to which this was affected when mixed with other salts (niter, nitratite and gypsum), was investigated. The study was conducted using simple conventional techniques (mass measurements over time) and also using an innovative new method: timelapse video imaging with online data annotation. The results demonstrate the synergy gained from combining video imaging with environmental data in reference to time in the study of salt phase changes: where it revealed new information concerning the kinetics of deliquescence and crystallisation. The implications of these results for the implementation of environmental control measures within historic buildings are discussed.

胶结充填体三轴压缩变形破坏及能量耗散特征分析

充填体的变形破坏、能量耗散与围压的变化密切相关,通过开展不同灰砂配比、浓度的充填体单轴、三轴压缩试验,基于系列试验结果,研究了不同围压加载阶段充填体的变形特征、破坏模式及能量耗散与围压的内在关系。结果表明,随着围压的增加,充填体的峰值应变随之增大,且两者呈线性相关;低围压时充填体呈现脆性破坏,表现为应变软化特征,随着围压增大,充填体由脆性向应变硬化转化,灰砂比越大、浓度越高,充填体发生脆-延性的临界围压值越大。充填体的破坏裂纹发展形式各异,大致可分为单一、平行、交叉和复合4种类型;宏观破坏表现主要呈“X”状、“Y”状剪切模式,破坏面的类型主要分为：直线式光滑摩擦面、圆弧式破碎摩擦面、直线式破碎摩擦面以及台阶式破碎摩擦面。充填体的峰值强度与围压也呈正线性相关,内摩擦角对灰砂比的敏感性要高于浓度。围压的增大能够相当程度上提高充填体各阶段的应变能,峰前、峰后能耗量、单位体积变形能以及总能耗与围压皆呈正相关性。     

Depth dependency of stress ratios during the sedimentation of NW Gyeongsang Basin (Cretaceous), southeast Korea: Estimate of stress parameters and timing of tectonic episodes

The natural stress state in the lithosphere consists of the vertical load and Poisson ratio, and then additional horizontal compression and extension (denoted by Δσ_H and Δσ_T, respectively) are assumed to be superimposed upon this gravitational stress field. The resulting stress state is composed of the maximum, medium and minimum stresses denoted by σ₁, σ₂, and σ₃, respectively. The stress ratio is given as Φ = (σ₂ − σ₃)/(σ₁ − σ₃). A linear relation is found between Φ or 1/Φ and the vertical load in wrench-faulting and extensional stress regimes, respectively. The slope and intercept of the linear relation result in the additional horizontal stresses and level of (average) paleo-surface, respectively. Stress ratio is also determinable by the stress tensor inversion of fault-slip data. The earliest tectonic event (T_1 Event) in the Cretaceous Gyeongsang Basin consists of coexisting E–W compression and N–S extensional faulting episodes. Plots of Φ or 1/Φ against the burial depth (or vertical load) display several linear trends: two clusters in extensional episodes, and two or three clusters in wrench-faulting episodes. Because Δσ_H is assumed to be null or negligible in the extensional regime, Δσ_T is determinable from the slopes of two linear clusters as being −2.5 to −4.0 MPa. In wrench-faulting episodes, the values of Δσ_H are given to be 61.6–101.4 MPa by applying determined additional horizontal extensions. Determined levels of average paleo-surfaces and those of syndepostional structures illustrate that more than five wrench-faulting or extensional episodes have occurred during the T_1 Event, whose active age, consequently, ranges from the Barremian to the Coniacian. This supports that the coexisting coaxial faulting episodes with the same extension may correspond to the alternation of wrench-faulting and extensional episodes.