Investigation of deposits for traditional extraction activities (metals and coal) has generally been based on determining grade, or content, of the required material. In order to apply the grade concept to an ornamental rock such as slate, it is first necessary to define the variables that determine both the geotechnical recovery rate for the rock mass — which conditions the size of the extracted blocks – and the aesthetic features of the slate — which define the quality of the slabs as potential roofing material.
For this research, geotechnical and aesthetic data for a slate deposit were collected from 16 continuous core borehole samples. A fuzzy expert system was then developed using this data, defining the rock mass recovery rate and slab quality in accordance with the criteria of a slate expert, producing as a final output a zonation of the deposit in terms of top quality slate, medium quality slate or waste.
A mathematical model based on fuzzy logic was chosen due to the fact that the boundaries between different quality groups in a deposit are not clearly distinguished. Moreover, quality also depends on a company's infrastructures for transformation of the blocks, and also on its commercial strategies. 相似文献
A decision support system (DSS) has been developed to assist expert and non-expert users in the evaluation and selection of
eco-engineering strategies for slope protection. This DSS combines a qualitative hazard assessment of erosion and mass movements
with a detailed catalogue of eco-engineering strategies for slope protection of which the suitability is evaluated in relation
to the data entered. The slope decision support system (SDSS) is a knowledge based DSS in which knowledge is stored in frames
containing rules that can evaluate the available information for a project, stored as project specific information (PSI) in
a data file. The advantages of such a system are that it accepts incomplete information and that the qualitative nature of
the information does not instil the user with a sense of unjustified exactitude. By its multidisciplinary and progressive
nature, the DSS will be of value during the initial stages of an eco-engineering project when data collection and the potential
of different eco-engineering strategies are considered. The accent of the output of the DSS is on the application of eco-engineering
strategies for slope protection as an environmentally-friendly solution aiding sustainable development. For its acceptance
within the engineering community, the DSS needs to prove its predictive capacity. Therefore, its performance has been benchmarked
against successful and unsuccessful cases of slope stabilisation using eco-engineering. The target audience and the areas
of application of this DSS are reviewed and the strategies for further development in this area suggested. 相似文献
A study has been done for analysing soil nailed cuts with circular type wedge failure by friction circle method. Various parameters
such as nail length, nail diameter, nail inclination, wall inclination and angle of internal friction of soil have been considered
to determine the factor of safety of nailed open cuts. The study shows that for cohesionless soil nailed cut, factor of safety
increase with increase of parameters like angle of internal friction of soil, length of nail (L) versus height of cut (H) ratio, cohesion of soil and nail inclination (upto 15°) with horizontal. The study revealed that nails grouted with cement
perform better than driven nails. A case study further confirms the analytical findings.
Received 7 October 相似文献
Porous fence is a kind of artificial windbreak that has many practical applications. The threshold wind velocities at different distances downwind from porous fences were measured and the corresponding characteristics of particle movement observed to assess their shelter effect. It is found that the fence’s porosity is the key factor that determines the resulting shelter effect. The area near a fence can be typically classified into five regions, each with a different mode of particle movement. Dense fences, and especially solid fences, favor the accumulation of sand upwind of the fences. Fences with porosities of 0.3–0.4 produce the maximum threshold wind velocity; those with porosities of 0.3–0.6 (depending on the fence height) provide the maximum effective shelter distance. It is confirmed that the fence porosities of 0.3–0.4 that have been proposed for practical application in previous research are the most effective for abating wind erosion. 相似文献
Land use change has been recognized throughout the Earth as one of the most important factors influencing the occurrence of rainfall-driven geomorphological processes. However, relating the occurrence of historical soil erosion rates is difficult because of the lack of long-term research projects in river basins. Also, complex models are not adequate to reconstruct erosion rate changes because they require significant input data not always available on long timescales. Given the problems with assessing sediment yield using complex erosion models, the objective of this study is to explore a parsimonious scale-adapted erosion model (ADT) from the original Thornes and Douglas algorithms, which aims at reconstruction of annual net erosion (ANE) upon multisecular timescales. As a test site, the Calore River basin (3015 km2 in southern Italy) provides a peculiar and unique opportunity for modelling erosion responses to climate and land cover changes, where input-data generation and interpretation results were also supported by documented hydrogeomorphological events that occurred before and after land deforestation. In this way, ANEADT-values were reconstructed for the period 1675–2004 by using precipitation indexes, complemented by recent instrumental records, and by using land cover statistics from documented agrarian sources. Pulses of natural sedimentation in the predeforestation period have been related to Vesuvius volcanic activity and changes in rainstorm frequency. After deforestation, the basin system became unstable with sudden fluctuations in the hydrogeomorphological regime contributing significantly to increased erosion and, in turn, sediment transport sequences via river drainage towards the Tyrrhenian coast. 相似文献
Longitudinal (linear) sand dunes of the Simpson and Strzelecki dunefields in eastern central Australia present a paradox. Low levels of activity today stand in contrast to luminescence dating which has repeatedly shown deep deposits of sand on dune crests dating to within the late Holocene. In order to investigate the nature of dune activity in the Simpson–Strzelecki dunefield, vegetation and sand mobility were investigated by detailed vegetation survey and measurement of rippled area and loose sand depth of dunes at three sites along a climatic gradient. The response of both vegetation and sand movement to inter-annual climate variability was examined by repeat surveys of two sites in drought and non-drought conditions. Projected plant cover and plant + crust cover were found to have inverse linear relationships with rippled area and the area of deep loose sand. No relationship was found between these measures of sand movement and the plant frontal area index. A negative exponential relationship between equivalent mobile sand depth on dune surfaces and both vascular plant cover and vascular + crust cover was also found. There is no simple threshold of vegetation cover below which sand transport begins. Dunes with low perennial plant cover may form small dunes with slip faces leading to a positive feedback inhibiting ephemeral plant growth in wet years and accelerating sand transport rates. The linear dunefields are largely within the zone in which plant cover is sufficient to enforce low sand transport rates, and in which there is a strong response of vegetation and sand transport to inter-annual variation in rainfall. Both ephemeral plants (mostly forbs) and crust were found to respond rapidly to large (> 20 mm/month) rainfall events. On millennial time-scales, the level of dune activity is controlled by vegetation cover and probably not by fluctuations of wind strength. Land use or extreme, decadal time-scale, drought may destabilise dunes by removing perennial plant cover, accelerating wind erosion. 相似文献
This paper updates a life-cycle net energy analysis and carbon dioxide emissions analysis of three Midwestern utility-scale
wind systems. Both the Energy Payback Ratio (EPR) and CO2 analysis results provide useful data for policy discussions regarding an efficient and low-carbon energy mix. The EPR is
the amount of electrical energy produced for the lifetime of the power plant divided by the total amount of energy required
to procure and transport the materials, build, operate, and decommission the power plants. The CO2 analysis for each power plant was calculated from the life-cycle energy input data.
A previous study also analyzed coal and nuclear fission power plants. At the time of that study, two of the three wind systems
had less than a full year of generation data to project the life-cycle energy production. This study updates the analysis
of three wind systems with an additional four to eight years of operating data.
The EPR for the utility-scale wind systems ranges from a low of 11 for a two-turbine system in Wisconsin to 28 for a 143-turbine
system in southwestern Minnesota. The EPR is 11 for coal, 25 for fission with gas centrifuge enriched uranium and 7 for gaseous
diffusion enriched uranium. The normalized CO2 emissions, in tonnes of CO2 per GWeh, ranges from 14 to 33 for the wind systems, 974 for coal, and 10 and 34 for nuclear fission using gas centrifuge and gaseous
diffusion enriched uranium, respectively. 相似文献
ABSTRACT. Mountain landscapes show rapid evolution, especially at high altitudes, in response to current climate changes. In addition, the greater number of routes and trails made available and the increase in tourism have caused some impacts on mountain areas. Gradual soil erosion has been observed along some hiking trails, with the latter tending to deepen, and with stronger erosion where the trail cuts the slope. Where trails cross forested areas, trees can suffer root damage from foot trampling as roots become exposed. A dendrogeomorphological study was conducted on trees along two hiking trails in upper Valtellina (Italian Alps). On the first trail, in Valle dei Forni, European larches and stone pines, mostly with exposed roots, were sampled. A mean erosion rate of 2.7 mm/a, related to deepening of the footpath, was obtained, and various degrees of root growth disturbance along the trail were observed. In particular, the growth of many sampled roots shows an increase in ring width corresponding with the moment when root exposure occurred, followed, after 3–5 years, by rapid growth suppression. The exposure of many roots has taken place since the 1980s. No significant variations in stem growth were observed, even when there were exposed and damaged roots. Along the second trail, in Valle Alpisella, exposed roots of mountain pines were analysed. A mean erosion rate of 3.2–3.7 mm/a, related to the escarpments bordering the footpath, was obtained, while no significant changes were detected in root growth. 相似文献