A 3D BEM-FEM methodology for simulation of high speed train induced vibrations

This work presents an efficient methodology for the analysis of vibrations in a railroad track system, induced by the passage of conventional and high-speed trains. To this end the Boundary Element Method is used to model the soil-tie system within the framework of impulse response techniques. Conventional Finite Element Methods along with Newmark's integration is used for the modeling of the rail system. The two methods are coupled at the tie-rail interface and the solution is obtained following a staggered, time marching scheme in an efficient manner. The methodology accounts for Soil-Structure Interaction and traveling wave effects. In addition, this work identifies the parameters that affect the efficient modeling of railroad track systems as they pertain to the proposed solution methodology.     

Assessing the Comparability of Ammonium,Nitrate and Sulfate Concentrations Measured by Three Air Quality Monitoring Networks

Airborne fine particulate matter across the United States is monitored by different networks, the three prevalent ones presently being the Clean Air Status and Trend Network (CASTNet), the Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environment Network (IMPROVE) and the Speciation and Trend Network (STN). If combined, these three networks provide speciated fine particulate data at several hundred locations throughout the United States. Yet, differences in sampling protocols and samples handling may not allow their joint use. With these concerns in mind, the objective of this study is to assess the spatial and temporal comparability of the sulfate, nitrate and ammonium concentrations reported by each of these networks. One of the major differences between networks is the sampling frequency they adopted. While CASTNet measures pollution levels on seven-day integrated samples, STN and IMPROVE data pertain to 24-hour samples collected every three days. STN and IMPROVE data therefore exhibit considerably more short-term variability than their CASTNet counterpart. We show that, despite their apparent incongruity, averaging the data with a window size of four to six weeks is sufficient to remove the effects of differences in sampling frequency and duration and allow meaningful comparison of the signals reported by the three networks of concern. After averaging, all the sulfate and, to a lesser degree, ammonium concentrations reported are fairly similar. Nitrate concentrations, on the other hand, are still divergent. We speculate that this divergence originates from the different types of filters used to collect particulate nitrate. Finally, using a rotated principal component technique (RPCA), we determined the number and the geographical organization of the significant temporal modes of variation (clusters) detected by each network for the three pollutants of interest. For sulfate and ammonium, the clusters’ geographical boundaries established for each network and the modes of variations within each cluster seem to correspond. RPCA erformed on nitrate concentrations revealed that, for the CASTNet and IMPROVE networks, the modes of variation do not correspond to unified geographical regions but are found more sporadically. For STN, the clustered areas are unified and easily delineable. We conclude that the possibility of jointly using the data collected by CASTNet, IMPROVE and STN has to be weighed pollutant by pollutant. While sulfate and ammonium data show some potential for joint use, at this point, combining the nitrate data from these monitoring networks may not be a judicious choice.     

Chemical forms of heavy metal contaminants in sediments of Miyun reservoir

The chemical forms, spatial distribution and sources of As, Hg, Cd, Pb and Zn in sediments of the Miyun reservoir were studied. The results of sequential extraction demonstrate that most of As, Pb and Zn were bound to the residual fraction, Hg was associated with the sulfide fraction while Cd was associated with the carbonate fraction and the residual fraction. On the vertical profiles the concentrations of the heavy metals in total and each fractions mostly decreased with increasing depths in sediments, suggesting that the heavy metals input from the upstream watershed increases yearly. Summation of the residual fraction, the sulfide fraction and the carbonate fraction accounts for 60.03%―85.60% of the total heavy metal contents in the sediments, which represent the geochemical background values of the elements and relate closely to soil erosion. Results of the main factor analysis show that most sediments of the reservoir come from the upstream soil erosion, the point source pollution and domestic waste. Moreover, the microbial activities taking place on the sediment-water interface are also one of the major factors to cause the increasing content of the organic matter fraction and the iron-manganese oxide fraction. Environmental change of the reservoir water could make the removability of the heavy metals increase, leading to the increase of their concentrations in pore water in sediments, and imperiling water quality of the reservoir.     

The role of the seismic trigger in the Calitri landslide (Italy): historical reconstruction and dynamic analysis

The study covered by this paper was focused on the historical case of the Calitri landslide, which was repeatedly reactivated by earthquakes, as reported since 1694. The town of Calitri (Southern Italy) is located on a ridge whose southern slope, from its top to the Ofanto river valley floor, has been historically affected by major landsliding. The last record of recurrence of the Calitri landslide leads back to the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, which caused significant damage to the town and had pervasive and visible ground effects. Based on a detailed historical reconstruction of landsliding and seismicity at Calitri, the study analysed the current static and dynamic stability of the landsliding slope by means of a finite-difference numerical analysis, taking into account the various factors of landslide initiation and kinematics. The results of the numerical analysis: (i) were consistent with the roto-translational mechanism observed upon the latest reactivation of the landslide; (ii) demonstrated that excess pore pressure redistribution caused a lag between the seismic trigger and the initiation of landsliding; and (iii) showed the impact of seismic input frequency on propagation and depth of slope instability.     

Use of time series analysis for the identification of tidal effect on groundwater in the coastal area of Kimje, Korea

The purpose of this study is to apply time series analysis to investigate whether the groundwater quality in the coastal area is affected by the tide. Continuous and regular in situ monitoring data of electrical conductivity (EC) and groundwater level, and tidal level data measured by the National Oceanographic Research Institute were used for the time series analysis. Through the time series analysis, it is known that EC and groundwater level conspicuously fluctuate with two periodicities (15.4 and 0.52-day), which is very similar to those of the tide. Also the behaviors of their fluctuations vary in accordance with the tidal period. These indicate that the groundwater quality has been mainly controlled by the tidal level, and the strength of tidal effect on the groundwater quality is different according to the tidal period.     

Use of fallout 137Cs for documenting the chronology of overbank sediments from the river Sava, Croatia, and interpreting their geochemical patterns

This paper attempts to determine the impact of former Pb-Zn-Ba mining activities in Slovenian drainage basin on overbank sediments of the Sava river (West Croatia). Among the four studied sequences (S7, S8, S9, S10), the most upstream profile S7 showed the most pronounced impact of ore mining. Mercury was enriched more than 100-fold; Pb and Zn had a strong positive correlation (r > 0.99). Two factor models clearly revealed the Pb-Ba-Hg association in the lower-lying carbonate (CA) population of all four profiles, but only in the overlying silicate (SI) population of profile S7. Factor analysis confirmed this association in the total sediment (90 samples) as well as separately in the CA (33 samples) and SI (57 samples) populations. Based on a comparison with an undisturbed soil profile, the vertical distribution of ¹³⁷Cs in profile S7 was interpreted to be the combination of caesium deposition caused by a flood in 1964 and by post-depositional redistribution.     

Analysis on Bearing Capacity of Tunnel-Type Anchorage of a Long-Span Suspension Bridge

INTRODUCTION Tunnel typeanchoragehasobviousadvantages inbearingcapacityversusinvestment(LiuandHu,1996).However,itisrarelyusedinapracticalpro jectbecauseofitsrequirementofgoodrockcondi tions.Siduhebridge(Fig.1),whichliesintheBa dongmountainsinthewestplatea…