Simulation of large-scale numerical substructure in real-time dynamic hybrid testing

A solution scheme is proposed in this paper for an existing RTDHT system to simulate large-scale finite element(FE) numerical substructures. The analysis of the FE numerical substructure is split into response analysis and signal generation tasks, and executed in two different target computers in real-time. One target computer implements the response analysis task, wherein a large time-step is used to solve the FE substructure, and another target computer implements the signal generation task, wherein an interpolation program is used to generate control signals in a small time-step to meet the input demand of the controller. By using this strategy, the scale of the FE numerical substructure simulation may be increased significantly. The proposed scheme is initially verified by two FE numerical substructure models with 98 and 1240 degrees of freedom(DOFs). Thereafter, RTDHTs of a single frame-foundation structure are implemented where the foundation, considered as the numerical substructure, is simulated by the FE model with 1240 DOFs. Good agreements between the results of the RTDHT and those from the FE analysis in ABAQUS are obtained.     

核电站地震监测系统及其开发进展

介绍核电站地震监测系统在核电站安全监测中的作用,并依据中国核电站地震监测系统所依从的标准,对其硬件、软件等进行设计。武汉地震科学仪器研究院有限公司据此进行样机制造,并成功应用于实践。结合当前核电的发展趋势,提出核电地震监测系统的发展要求。     

南阿拉斯加地壳及上地幔结构成像研究

通过反演562891个纵波和156321个横波走时数据,第一次同时获得了阿拉斯加地区地壳及上地幔的纵波与横波速度以及泊松比图像,为更好地认识阿拉斯加地区的深部地震结构、太平洋板块与亚库塔特板块的俯冲几何形态提供了科学依据.成像结果表明P波和S波速度图像与泊松比结构具有很好的一致性,强的高速度和低泊松比异常沿着阿拉斯加俯冲带延伸至200 km深度,该高速度和低泊松比异常体与俯冲带的地震空间分布吻合,因此,我们认为该高速体为俯冲的太平洋板块和亚库塔特板块.从地震空间分布发现,大部分大地震（M>6.5）发生在高速度与低速度异常交界处,可能反映了俯冲板块之间强耦合作用.在俯冲带的地幔楔显示出广泛的低速度和高泊松比异常,并且这些异常与岛弧火山的位置相对应,这与大洋板块俯冲所形成的岩浆入侵作用有关.研究结果表明在南阿拉斯加俯冲带,俯冲板块的俯冲角度从兰格尔块体下方的平坦变成在布里斯托尔湾下方的陡峭,这与亚库塔特板块俯冲在兰格尔块体下方和太平洋板块俯冲在布里斯托尔湾下方有关.在基奈半岛和科迪亚克岛连接处的上地幔位置存在强烈的低速与高泊松比异常体,使该处的大洋俯冲板块变薄.这一现象可能与亚库塔特板块和太平洋板块相互碰撞作用以及软流圈强烈的上升流入侵有关.     

Implications of next generation attenuation ground motion prediction equations for site coefficients used in earthquake resistant design

Proposals are developed to update Tables 11.4‐1 and 11.4‐2 of Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures published as American Society of Civil Engineers Structural Engineering Institute standard 7‐10 (ASCE/SEI 7–10). The updates are mean next generation attenuation (NGA) site coefficients inferred directly from the four NGA ground motion prediction equations used to derive the maximum considered earthquake response maps adopted in ASCE/SEI 7–10. Proposals include the recommendation to use straight‐line interpolation to infer site coefficients at intermediate values of (average shear velocity to 30‐m depth). The NGA coefficients are shown to agree well with adopted site coefficients at low levels of input motion (0.1 g) and those observed from the Loma Prieta earthquake. For higher levels of input motion, the majority of the adopted values are within the 95% epistemic‐uncertainty limits implied by the NGA estimates with the exceptions being the mid‐period site coefficient, F_v, for site class D and the short‐period coefficient, F_a, for site class C, both of which are slightly less than the corresponding 95% limit. The NGA data base shows that the median value of 913 m/s for site class B is more typical than 760 m/s as a value to characterize firm to hard rock sites as the uniform ground condition for future maximum considered earthquake response ground motion estimates. Future updates of NGA ground motion prediction equations can be incorporated easily into future adjustments of adopted site coefficients using procedures presented herein. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

A Multivariate Empirical Orthogonal Function-Based Scheme for the Balanced Initial Ensemble Generation of an Ensemble Kalman Filter

The initial ensemble perturbations for an ensemble data assimilation system are expected to reasonably sample model uncertainty at the time of analysis to further reduce analysis uncertainty. Therefore, the careful choice of an initial ensemble perturbation method that dynamically cycles ensemble perturbations is required for the optimal performance of the system. Based on the multivariate empirical orthogonal function (MEOF) method, a new ensemble initialization scheme is developed to generate balanced initial perturbations for the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) data assimilation, with a reasonable consideration of the physical relationships between different model variables. The scheme is applied in assimilation experiments with a global spectral atmospheric model and with real observations. The proposed perturbation method is compared to the commonly used method of spatially-correlated random perturbations. The comparisons show that the model uncertainties prior to the first analysis time, which are forecasted from the balanced ensemble initial fields, maintain a much more reasonable spread and a more accurate forecast error covariance than those from the randomly perturbed initial fields. The analysis results are further improved by the balanced ensemble initialization scheme due to more accurate background information. Also, a 20-day continuous assimilation experiment shows that the ensemble spreads for each model variable are still retained in reasonable ranges without considering additional perturbations or inflations during the assimilation cycles, while the ensemble spreads from the randomly perturbed initialization scheme decrease and collapse rapidly.     

宁夏层状云降水指标分析

为更好地确定人工增雨作业的最佳(时段)方案,利用2004—2006年4—9月全区25个气象站观测到的层状云、(银川、固原)新一代天气雷达(CINRAD/CD)观测资料,结合天气形势、降水实况进行综合分析。结果表明:宁夏在"东高西低"和"西风气流"天气型下稳定性层状云降水概率为65%;中部干旱带层状云降水最大概率74%～85%;同时得出层状云降水指标,为宁夏人工增雨作业提供科学依据。     

海相碳酸盐岩烃源岩热解动力学研究:全岩和干酪根的对比

我国海相碳酸盐岩地层分布广泛,厚度巨大,经历的地质历史较长,特点是有机质丰度低,多处于高过成熟阶段.碳酸盐岩烃源岩评价对我国的油气资源评价与勘探至关重要.用生烃动力学方法来研究碳酸盐岩生油气过程是一个值得探索的研究方向.本文通过生烃动力学热模拟实验,求取了碳酸盐岩全岩和其干酪根不同烃类组分(甲烷、 C2～ C5气态烃)的生成动力学参数并进行对比.结果表明,在生烃动力学热解实验中,全岩和其干酪根具有相似的动力学参数,采用烃源岩应该比干酪根更符合实际,但是干酪根样品可以测得更为详细的实验数据,因此可以根据样品的情况,选择合理且易行的实验条件.在此基础上,以本文得到的参数作为参照指标,用动力学方法外推到地质实际中,可准确地提出适合我国的碳酸盐岩生烃定量模型,能为碳酸盐岩的资源评估等方面给出定量数值,从而为有效烃源岩的定量评价提供一种新的方法和途径.     

Parallel and scalable block system generation

Generating a realistic representation of a fractured rock mass is a first step in many different analyses. Field observations need to be translated into a 3-D model that will serve as the input for these analyses. The block systems can contain hundreds of thousands to millions of blocks of varying sizes and shapes; generating these large models is very computationally expensive and requires significant computing resources.By taking advantage of the advances made in big data analytics and Cloud Computing, we have a developed an open-source program—SparkRocks—that generates block systems in parallel. The application runs on Apache Spark which enables it to run locally, on a compute cluster or the Cloud. The block generation is based on a subdivision and linear programming optimization as introduced by Boon et al. (2015). SparkRocks automatically maintains load balance among parallel processes and can be scaled up on the Cloud without having to make any changes to the underlying implementation, enabling it to generate real-world scale block systems containing millions of blocks in minutes.     

Numerical investigation of oscillations induced by submerged sliding masses within a harbor of constant slope

Oscillations within a rectangular harbor of constant slope induced by submerged sliding masses are investigated numerically based on Boussinesq-type equations and results are used to reveal the characteristics of the generated oscillations. The numerical result of each transverse eigenfrequency is very close to the theoretical prediction and the spatial structure of each mode of the oscillations may also be well captured by the existing analytical solutions based on shallow water equations. The investigation shows that relatively small-scale sliding masses whose width is small compared with the harbor width may induce obvious transverse oscillations. The predominant transverse components are those with small mode numbers when the solid slides start moving from the backwall. In comparing the oscillations induced by the slides of constant velocity and those accelerated by gravity force with bottom friction, it is observed that the movements accelerated by gravity force may facilitate the development of very low transverse oscillation modes while those with constant velocity may also be in favor of the higher ones. The augmentation of the sliding velocity along the constant slope may shift the amplitudes of the oscillation components to smaller values, which corresponds to the physical understandings of the waves generated by underwater sliding masses or landslides. While the sliding masses may not act on an isolated point of the bottom but follow a certain trajectory along the harbor, the transverse oscillations induced by them are sensitive to their position of departure in both the cross-harbor direction and the offshore direction. Longitudinal oscillations may be induced by relatively large sliding masses of harbor width on a constant slope within the harbor. Although the longitudinal oscillations may not reach a steady state without forcing terms at the entrance of the harbor, some patterns of several low-mode ones occur and wavelet spectra are used to analyze their evolutions and comparisons are made with theoretical predictions. It is revealed that the longitudinal oscillations are also sensitive to the moving velocity and initial location of the sliding masses.     

Potential for gas hydrate formation at the northwest New Zealand shelf margin - New insights from seismic reflection data and petroleum systems modelling

In this study we provide evidence for methane hydrates in the Taranaki Basin, occurring a considerable distance from New Zealand's convergent margins, where they are well documented. We describe and reconstruct a unique example of gas migration and leakage at the edge of the continental shelf, linking shallow gas hydrate occurrence to a deeper petroleum system. The Taranaki Basin is a well investigated petroleum province with numerous fields producing oil and gas. Industry standard seismic reflection data show amplitude anomalies that are here interpreted as discontinuous BSRs, locally mimicking the channelized sea-floor and pinching out up-slope. Strong reverse polarity anomalies indicate the presence of gas pockets and gas-charged sediments. PetroMod™ petroleum systems modelling predicts that the gas is sourced from elevated microbial gas generation in the thick slope sediment succession with additional migration of thermogenic gas from buried Cretaceous petroleum source rocks. Cretaceous–Paleogene extensional faults underneath the present-day slope are interpreted to provide pathways for focussed gas migration and leakage, which may explain two dry petroleum wells drilled at the Taranaki shelf margin. PetroMod™ modelling predicts concentrated gas hydrate formation on the Taranaki continental slope consistent with the anomalies observed in the seismic data. We propose that a semi-continuous hydrate layer is present in the down-dip wall of incised canyons. Canyon incision is interpreted to cause the base of gas hydrate stability to bulge downward and thereby trap gas migrating up-slope in permeable beds due to the permeability decrease caused by hydrate formation in the pore space. Elsewhere, hydrate occurrence is likely patchy and may be controlled by focussed leakage of thermogenic gas. The proposed presence of hydrates in slope sediments in Taranaki Basin likely affects the stability of the Taranaki shelf margin. While hydrate presence can be a drilling hazard for oil and gas exploration, the proposed presence of gas hydrates opens up a new frontier for exploration of hydrates as an energy source.