Strain localization in sand: an overview of the experimental results obtained in Grenoble using stereophotogrammetry

Experimental results are presented from the extensive program of drained plane strain compression tests on sand carried out in Grenoble over the last two decades. Systematic analysis of photographs of the deforming specimen allowed for measuring deformations and determining strain fields throughout the test, that is: prior to, at, and after the onset of strain localization. The principles, details and accuracy of the procedure are described, as well as its suitability to properly depict the patterns of deformation. Findings concerning the occurrence and progression of strain localization are discussed. The issues of shear band orientation and thickness are addressed, as well as temporary and persistent complex localization patterns, and the volumetric behaviour inside a band after its formation. The influence of such variables as initial state of the sand (effective stress and relative density), specimen size and slenderness, as well as grain size, is discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

Bond rolling resistance and its effect on yielding of bonded granulates by DEM analyses

A discrete element modelling of bonded granulates and investigation on the bond effect on their behaviour are very important to geomechanics. This paper presents a two‐dimensional (2‐D) discrete element theory for bonded granulates with bond rolling resistance and provides a numerical investigation into the effect of bond rolling resistance on the yielding of bonded granulates. The model consists of mechanical contact models and equations governing the motion of bonded particles. The key point of the theory is that the assumption in the original bond contact model previously proposed by the authors (55th CSCE‐ASCE Conference, Hamilton, Ont., Canada, 2002; 313–320; J. Eng. Mech. (ASCE) 2005; 131 (11):1209–1213) that bonded particles are in contact at discrete points, is here replaced by a more reliable assumption that bonded particles are in contact over a width. By making the idealization that the bond contact width is continuously distributed with the normal/tangential basic elements (BE) (each BE is composed of spring, dashpot, bond, slider or divider), we establish a bond rolling contact model together with bond normal/tangential contact models, and also relate the governing equations to local equilibrium. Only one physical parameter β needs to be introduced in the theory in comparison to the original bond discrete element model. The model has been implemented into a 2‐D distinct element method code, NS2D. Using the NS2D, a total of 86 1‐D, constant stress ratio, and biaxial compressions tests have been carried out on the bonded granular samples of different densities, bonding strengths and rolling resistances. The numerical results show that: (i) the new theory predicts a larger internal friction angle, a larger yielding stress, more brittle behaviour and larger final broken contact ratio than the original bond model; (ii) the yielding stress increases nonlinearly with the increasing value of β, and (iii) the first‐yield curve (initiation of bond breakage), which define a zone of none bond breakage and which shape and size are affected by the material density, is amplified by the bond rolling resistance in analogous to that predicted by the original bond model. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studying Hydrodynamic Instability Using Shock-Tube Experiments

The hydrodynamic instability, which develops on the contact surface between two fluids, has great importance in astrophysical phenomena such as the inhomogeneous density distribution following a supernova event. In this event acceleration waves pass across a material interface and initiate and enhance unstable conditions in which small perturbations grow dramatically. In the present study, an experimental technique aimed at investigating the above-mentioned hydrodynamic instability is presented. The experimental investigation is based on a shock-tube apparatus by which a shock wave is generated and initiates the instability that develops on the contact surface between two gases. The flexibility of the system enables one to vary the initial shape of the contact surface, the shock-wave Mach number, and the density ratio across the contact surface. Three selected sets of shock-tube experiments are presented in order to demonstrate the system capabilities: (1) large-initial amplitudes with low-Mach-number incident shock waves; (2) small-initial amplitudes with moderate-Mach-number incident shock waves; and (3) shock bubble interaction. In the large-amplitude experiments a reduction of the initial velocity with respect to the linear growth prediction was measured. The results were compared to those predicted by a vorticity-deposition model and to previous experiments with moderate- and high-Mach number incident shock waves that were conducted by others. In this case, a reduction of the initial velocity was noted. However, at late times the growth rate had a 1/t behavior as in the small-amplitude low-Mach number case. In the small-amplitude moderate-Mach number shock experiments a reduction from the impulsive theory was noted at the late stages. The passage of a shock wave through a spherical bubble results in the formation of a vortex ring. Simple dimensional analysis shows that the circulation depends linearly on the speed of sound of the surrounding material and on the initial bubble radius.     

Experimental solidification of anhydrous latitic and trachytic melts at different cooling rates: The role of nucleation kinetics

Two sets of cooling experiments were run at atmospheric conditions for two anhydrous starting latitic and trachytic melts: 1) five cooling rates (25, 12.5, 3, 0.5, and 0.125 °C/min) between 1300° and 800 °C, and 2) a 0.5 °C/min cooling rate from 1300 °C with quench temperatures at 1200°, 1100°, 1000° and 900 °C. Trachytic run-products are invariably glassy. Nucleation is also suppressed in the latitic run-products at the three highest cooling rates. Conversely, in the 0.5 and 0.125 °C/min runs, latites have a crystal content of  90 vol.%. The phases are: plagioclase, clinopyroxene, glass and iron-bearing oxide (in order of abundance). The variable quench temperatures, investigated by coupling experiments with Pt wire and Pt capsule sample containers in set 2, again did not produce crystallization of trachyte, whereas latitic samples are characterized by  10 vol.% of oxides, pyroxenes and plagioclase (in order of appearance), at temperature < 1000 °C. Effects of (preferential) heterogeneous nucleation on sample holders, of superheating degree, and chemical species loss during cooling are absent for both melt compositions. The difference of solidification paths between these two silicate melts can be ascribed only to their small chemical differences. In comparison with calculated equilibrium conditions all the experimental latitic and trachytic run-products revealed strong kinetic effects, interpretable in the light of the nucleation theory. The glass-forming ability (GFA) of trachyte is higher, whereas their critical cooling rate (Rc) is lower (< 0.125 °C/min), in comparison to latitic melts (Rc > 0.5 °C/min). The experimental results carried out in this study can be applied to lava flows and domes; trachytic lavas are able to flow for longer period with respect to latitic ones in a metastable condition. Glass-rich terrestrial lavas, i.e. obsidians, can be the result of sluggish nucleation kinetics due to the relative high polymerisation of evolved silicate melts.     

The Ca-Eskola component in eclogitic clinopyroxene as a function of pressure, temperature and bulk composition: an experimental study to 15 GPa with possible implications for the formation of oriented SiO2-inclusions in omphacite

Experiments have been conducted in the P-T range 2.5–15 GPa and 850–1,500°C using bulk compositions in the systems SiO₂–TiO₂–Al₂O₃–Fe₂O₃–FeO–MnO–MgO–CaO–Na₂O–K₂O–P₂O₅ and SiO₂–TiO₂–Al₂O₃–MgO–CaO–Na₂O to investigate the Ca-Eskola (CaEs Ca_0.5□_0.5AlSi₂O₆) content of clinopyroxene in eclogitic assemblages containing garnet + clinopyroxene + SiO₂ ± TiO₂ ± kyanite as a function of P, T, and bulk composition. The results show that CaEs_ss in clinopyroxene increases with increasing T and is strongly bulk composition dependent whereby high CaEs-contents are favoured by bulk compositions with high normative anorthite and low diopside contents. In this study, a maximum of 18 mol% CaEs_ss was found at 6 GPa and 1,350°C in a kyanite-eclogite assemblage garnet + clinopyroxene + kyanite + rutile + coesite. By comparison, no significant increase in CaEs_ss with increasing P could be observed. If the formation of oriented SiO₂-rods frequently observed in eclogititc clinopyroxenes is due to the retrogressive breakdown of a CaEs-component then these textures are a cooling rather than a decompression phenomenon and are most likely to be found in kyanite-bearing eclogites cooled from temperatures ≥750°C. The presence of clinopyroxene with approx. 4 mol% CaEs_ss in an experiment conducted at 2.5 GPa/850°C confirms earlier suggestions based on field data that vacancy-rich clinopyroxenes are not necessarily restricted to ultrahigh pressure metamorphic conditions. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

基于Poulos弹性理论的被动桩改进算法

传统的Poulos弹性理论仅适合于均质土中土体侧向位移时桩的性状分析,无法考虑土的层状特性。通过引入层状地基中作用一水平集中力的广义Mindlin解和地面作用有竖向荷载时的应力和位移通解,对Poulos方法进行了改进,使之扩展到多层土中,还用于研究堆载条件下的被动桩变形和受力响应。算例分析表明,改进弹性理论要比Poulos方法更为严密、合理,提高了计算精度,应用范围也更广。     

流变学:构造地质学和地球动力学的支柱学科

地球是一动态系统,其各层圈的构造运动归根到底就是多矿物复合岩石在各种物理条件(例如,温度、围压、差应力、应变速率、应变方式等)下和化学环境(例如,氧逸度和水含量)中的形变。流变学作为研究岩石力学性质和变形行为的科学,现已成为地球动力学和构造地质学的支柱学科。本文对国际上近年来岩石流变学的最新进展做些扼要的介绍,呼吁中国固体地学界加强流变学的研究,做出经得起时间淘洗、实践检验的原创性成果来,使中国的构造地质学研究迈进国际先进的行列。     

Efficient GOCE satellite gravity field recovery based on least-squares using QR decomposition

We develop and apply an efficient strategy for Earth gravity field recovery from satellite gravity gradiometry data. Our approach is based upon the Paige-Saunders iterative least-squares method using QR decomposition (LSQR). We modify the original algorithm for space-geodetic applications: firstly, we investigate how convergence can be accelerated by means of both subspace and block-diagonal preconditioning. The efficiency of the latter dominates if the design matrix exhibits block-dominant structure. Secondly, we address Tikhonov-Phillips regularization in general. Thirdly, we demonstrate an effective implementation of the algorithm in a high-performance computing environment. In this context, an important issue is to avoid the twofold computation of the design matrix in each iteration. The computational platform is a 64-processor shared-memory supercomputer. The runtime results prove the successful parallelization of the LSQR solver. The numerical examples are chosen in view of the forthcoming satellite mission GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer). The closed-loop scenario covers 1 month of simulated data with 5 s sampling. We focus exclusively on the analysis of radial components of satellite accelerations and gravity gradients. Our extensions to the basic algorithm enable the method to be competitive with well-established inversion strategies in satellite geodesy, such as conjugate gradient methods or the brute-force approach. In its current development stage, the LSQR method appears ready to deal with real-data applications.     

夹层厚度对瑞利面波频散曲线的影响

文章以弹性波横波速度为参数,利用瑞利面波频散曲线的快速标量传递算法进行正演模拟计算,系统研究软弱层厚度对瑞利面波基阶模频散曲线的影响,分析和总结了频率与相速度（f-c）、频率与波数（f-k）、深度与相速度（h-c）等瑞利面波基阶模曲线随软弱层厚度变化的规律。     

An approach to aid INS using time-differenced GPS carrier phase (TDCP) measurements

This paper presents a simple and effective approach that incorporates single-frequency, L1 time-differenced GPS carrier phase (TDCP) measurements without the need of ambiguity resolution techniques and the complexity to accommodate the delayed-state terms. Static trial results are included to illustrate the stochastic characteristics and effectiveness of the TDCP measurements in controlling position error growth. The formulation of the TDCP observation model is also described in a 17-state tightly-coupled GPS/INS iterative, extended Kalman filter (IEKF) approach. Preliminary land vehicle trial results are also presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the TDCP which provides sub-meter positional accuracies when operating for more than 10 min.