Radiation exposure and Mission Strategies for Interplanetary Manned Missions (REMSIM)

Cosmic radiation is an important problem for human interplanetary missions. The “Radiation Exposure and Mission Strategies for Interplanetary Manned Missions–REMSIM” study is summarised here. They are related to current strategies and countermeasures to ensure the protection of astronauts from radiation during interplanetary missions, with specific reference to: radiation environment and its variability; radiation effects on the crew; transfer trajectories and associated fluences; vehicle and surface habitat concepts; passive and active shielding concepts; space weather monitoring and warning systems.     

Evidence of recent climatic anomalies at Trieste (Italy)

A recent noticeable climatic anomaly in some meteomarine quantities is analysed based on observations during the period March 1, 1971-February 28, 1993 taken in Trieste (Italy). Marked deviations from the normal values of the coupled quantities atmospheric pressure-solar irradiance and atmospheric pressure-sea level elevation, during the last 22 years, are analysed. The procedures used bring out a clear and persistent configuration of high pressure, high irradiance and low sea level from 1989 on, previously unmatched.     

Comparison of Brewer spectrophotometer ultraviolet data from similar latitudes in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere

This paper presents UV data recorded over 12 months in 2000/2001 at a southern hemisphere (Toowoomba) and similar latitude northern hemisphere (BigBend and Everglades) sites using Brewer Spectrophotometers. The peak daily erythemally weighted UV (DUV) at the Toowoomba site was 8.8% and 25% higher compared to that at the BigBend and Everglades sites, respectively. The Everglades site exposures are lower than the BigBend site exposures in summer and spring. This may be due to the higher cloud cover for the Everglades site. The summer DUV values between Toowoomba and BigBend are similar. In spring, the average DUV value is the greatest at BigBend compared to the other two sites. Results indicate that variability between the measurement sites is due to varying cloud and ozone, and possibly due to aerosol and airmass differences of each region. Of these different site-specific local atmospheric conditions, cloud was the main contributor to the differences in UV between the sites.     

Degradation of rock fracture asperities in unloading,reloading, and reversal

Among the constitutive models for rock fractures developed over the years, Barton's empirical model has been widely used. Although Barton's failure criterion predicts peak shear strength of rock fractures with acceptable precision, it has some limitations in estimating the peak shear displacement, post‐peak shear strength, dilation, and surface degradation. The first author modified Barton's original model in order to address these limitations. Barton proposed his model for degradation of fracture asperities in unloading, reloading, and shear displacement reversal based on just one cyclic direct shear test. In this study, a database of results of 18 cyclic direct shear tests available in the literature was collected and analyzed. Modifications were made to Barton's original model (in terms of fracture cyclic shearing) to make it consistent with the modified model proposed by the first author. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The June 4th 1999 severe weather episode in San Quirino, Italy: a tornado event?

On the morning of June 4th 1999, a severe weather event took place in San Quirino, a small village of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the northeast of Italy. This village is located near the piedmont of the Alps, 40 km west from Udine and 60 km north from Venice.Around 0900 UTC (1100 local time), a thunderstorm with an intense hail fall affected the area of San Quirino. A few minutes later (around 0920 UTC, source: a farmer), a funnel cloud from a cumulonimbus touched the ground, producing damages to houses, trees and sheds. The damaged area was quite narrow (about 300 m) and short (less than 10 km). No injuries to people were reported.In spite of the smallness of the area interested by the phenomenon, this storm is studied here starting from the synoptic scale, moving to the mesoscale and finishing with the storm scale, trying to underline its characteristics. These analyses, especially those coming from the Doppler radar images, bring us to the conclusion that the San Quirino episode was produced by a supercell storm.     

Analytical formulas for the geometric and inertia quantities of the largest removable blocks around tunnels

This paper presents algorithms for determining the vertices of the maximum removable block (MB) created by a joint pyramid (JP) around a tunnel when discontinuities are fully persistent. It is shown that an MB cannot be formed by more than 4 discontinuities and this drastically limits the proliferation of rock blocks that need to be analysed. The non‐convex block obtained after the MB is tunnelled through (real maximum block, RMB) is partitioned into a set of tetrahedra, and procedures are given for determining the vertices of these tetrahedra. Geometric and inertia quantities needed for stability analysis and support/reinforcement design are determined as functions of the calculated vertices' co‐ordinates. These quantities are: RMB's volume, face areas, perimeter of the excavated surface, centroid and inertia tensor. The algorithms for their calculation are at least two times faster than other algorithms previously proposed in other applications. It is shown that the formulations presented by Goodman and Shi for translational analysis and by Tonon for rotatability analysis can be used to analyse the RMBs using the geometric quantities presented. A numerical example is presented among those used to verify these analytical procedures and their implementation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heterogeneous aquitard properties in sedimentary successions in the Apennine chain: case studies in southern Italy

The aim of this study was to analyse the hydrogeologic role of siliciclastic deposits and marly‐clayey‐calcareous successions within the carbonate Apennine chain (southern Italy). The study was carried out along the northern part of the Matese carbonate massif through (1) the hydraulic characterization of siliciclastic rocks in a test site, by means of Lugeon tests, and (2) the identification of the groundwater flow system discharging at an important spring located within a marly‐clayey‐calcareous succession in a second test site, by means of isotopic investigations. The results showed that the investigated siliciclastic deposits and marly‐clayey‐calcareous successions may allow significant groundwater discharge from carbonate aquifers. Thus, they do not everywhere behave as aquitard, contrary to the previous model. Instead, groundwater flows through the upper part of these successions, where stress release fracturing enhanced rock permeability in the near‐surface bedrock. Thus, these successions may locally be a new groundwater source within the southern Apennine chain. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical analysis on post-grouted drilled shafts: A case study at the Brazo River Bridge,TX

This paper investigates the effects of post-grouting on the behavior of drilled shafts using a case study carried out at the Brazo River, Texas. Commercial finite element software, PLAXIS, was used to quantify the improvement of the tip resistance and side shear resistance of post-grouted drilled shafts (PGDS). The input material parameters of PLAXIS were initially estimated using CPT sounding results, and then the parameters were updated by calibrating the numerical results against full-scale STATNAMIC load test results. Based on the numerical analysis, the authors concluded that (1) the increase in total resistance of PGDS resulted from soil improvement at the shaft tip, (2) the apparent increase in side shear resistance resulted from side shear reversal that occurred during post-grouting, and (3) the apparent increase in the tip resistance of PGDS may be caused by stress relief of the grout. In addition, two approaches to estimate the resistance of PGDS were compared against numerical results. In this case study, the Axial Capacity Multiplier (ACM) approach over-predicted the total resistance whereas the Tip Capacity Multiplier (TCM) approach reasonably predicted the increase in total resistance.     

Experimental Validation of Modified Barton’s Model for Rock Fractures

Among the constitutive models for rock fractures developed over the years, Barton’s empirical model has been widely used. Although Barton’s failure criterion predicts peak shear strength of rock fractures with acceptable precision, it has some limitations in estimating the peak shear displacement, post-peak shear strength, dilation, and surface degradation. The first author modified Barton’s original model in order to address these limitations. In this study, the modified Barton’s model (the peak shear displacement, the shear stress–displacement curve, and the dilation displacement) is validated by conducting a series of direct shear tests.