Dynamic modelling of retrogressive landslides with emphasis on the role of clay sensitivity

This paper presents a detailed numerical study of the retrogressive failure of landslides in sensitive clays. The dynamic modelling of the landslides is carried out using a novel continuum approach, the particle finite element method, complemented with an elastoviscoplastic constitutive model. The multiwedge failure mode in the collapse is captured successfully, and the multiple retrogressive failures that have been widely observed in landslides in sensitive clays are reproduced with the failure mechanism, the kinematics, and the deposition being discussed in detail. Special attention has been paid to the role of the clay sensitivity on each retrogressive failure as well as on the final retrogression distance and the final run‐out distance via parametric studies. Moreover, the effects of the viscosity of sensitive clays on the failure are also investigated for different clay sensitivities.     

Smeared crack approach: back to the original track

This paper briefly reviews the formulations used over the last 40 years for the solution of problems involving tensile cracking, with both the discrete and the smeared crack approaches. The paper focuses on the smeared approach, identifying as its main drawbacks the observed mesh‐size and mesh‐bias spurious dependence when the method is applied ‘straightly’. A simple isotropic local damage constitutive model is considered, and the (exponential) softening modulus is regularized according to the material fracture energy and the element size. The continuum and discrete mechanical problems corresponding to both the weak discontinuity (smeared cracks) and the strong discontinuity (discrete cracks) approaches are analysed and the question of propagation of the strain localization band (crack) is identified as the main difficulty to be overcome in the numerical procedure. A tracking technique is used to ensure stability of the solution, attaining the necessary convergence properties of the corresponding discrete finite element formulation. Numerical examples show that the formulation derived is stable and remarkably robust. As a consequence, the results obtained do not suffer from spurious mesh‐size or mesh‐bias dependence, comparing very favourably with those obtained with other fracture and continuum mechanics approaches. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strain softening of K0-consolidated Changi sand under plane-strain conditions

Experimental results are presented in this paper to study the strain softening behaviour of a marine dredged sand under plane-strain conditions. K₀ consolidated drained and undrained tests were conducted using a new plane-strain apparatus to characterize the strain softening behaviour of the sand under plane-strain conditions. For medium dense specimens, strain softening and shear bands were observed to occur under both drained and undrained conditions. For very loose specimens, no shear bands were observed and critical states were reached within the homogeneous deformation region in both drained and undrained tests. Strain softening was observed to occur at small strain for very loose specimens under undrained conditions. Two types of strain softening, the homogenous softening and banding softening, were identified and the conditions for strain softening were established. The results obtained from this study were compared with the studies by Han and Vardoulakis (Géotechnique 41(1):49–78, 1991), Finno et al. (J Geotech Eng ASCE 122(6):462–473, 1996, Géotechnique 47(1):149–165, 1997) and Mokni and Desrues (Mech Cohes-Frict Mat 4:419–441, 1998).     

应变软化在甘肃红柳河辉长质糜棱岩形成中的作用

本文论述的辉长质糜棱岩发现于甘肃北山红柳河蛇绿岩套中。在简单说明了糜棱岩的地质背景及特征、描述了变形岩石的显微构造特征之后，重点对糜棱岩形成过程中的应变软化机制作了论述。探讨了软化岩的存在、组构调整、粒度缩小，长石的动态重结晶，水以及主导变形机制的不断调整与转化等应变软化机制，在应力作用下使岩石逐步软化过程中所起的作用，得出这种糜棱岩是在拆离剪切作用下，应力在蛇绿岩中的软化岩石辉长岩中集中，从而形     

火山岩坡残积土地区暴雨滑坡泥石流的形成机理

暴雨条件诱发的浅层坡残积土质斜坡破坏的机理受控于土体在低有效围压条件下的应力应变特性。1993年11月4～5日,香港大屿山地区特大局部性暴雨导致在120km2范围内产生自然滑坡泥石流800余处,且绝大多数发生于火山岩风化坡残积土地区。本文对火山岩风化坡残积土开展了室内偏压固结不排水剪和偏压固结常剪应力排水剪试验,揭示了该类土的应力应变特性;在此基础上,分析了暴雨滑坡泥石流的形成机理和过程。     

Water Self-Softening Processes at Waterfall Sites

Many rivers in tropical and subtropical karst regions are supersaturated with respect to CaCO3 and have high water hardness. After flowing through waterfall sites, river water is usually softened, accompanied by tufa formation, which is simply described as a result of water turbulence in fast-flowing water. In this paper, a series of laboratory experiments are designed to simulate the hydrological conditions at waterfall sites. The influences of air-water interface, water flow velocity, aeration and solid-water interface on water softening are compared and evaluated on a quantitative basis. The results show that the enhanced inorganic CO2 outgassing due to sudden hydrological changes occurring at waterfall sites is the principal cause of water softening at waterfall sites. Both air-water interface area and water flow velocity increase as a result of the "aeration effect", "low pressure effect" and "jet-flow effect" at waterfall sites, which greatly accelerates CO2 outgassing and therefore makes natural w     

Reaction softening by dissolution–precipitation creep in a retrograde greenschist facies ductile shear zone,New Hampshire,USA

We describe strain localization by a mixed process of reaction and microstructural softening in a lower greenschist facies ductile fault zone that transposes and replaces middle to upper amphibolite facies fabrics and mineral assemblages in the host schist of the Littleton Formation near Claremont, New Hampshire. Here, Na‐poor muscovite and chlorite progressively replace first staurolite, then garnet, and finally biotite porphyroblasts as the core of the fault zone is approached. Across the transect, higher grade fabric‐forming Na‐rich muscovite is also progressively replaced by fabric‐forming Na‐poor muscovite. The mineralogy of the new phyllonitic fault‐rock produced is dominated by Na‐poor muscovite and chlorite together with late albite porphyroblasts. The replacement of the amphibolite facies porphyroblasts by muscovite and chlorite is pseudomorphic in some samples and shows that the chemical metastability of the porphyroblasts is sufficient to drive replacement. In contrast, element mapping shows that fabric‐forming Na‐rich muscovite is selectively replaced at high‐strain microstructural sites, indicating that strain energy played an important role in activating the dissolution of the compositionally metastable muscovite. The replacement of strong, high‐grade porphyroblasts by weaker Na‐poor muscovite and chlorite constitutes reaction softening. The crystallization of parallel and contiguous mica in the retrograde foliation at the expense of the earlier and locally crenulated Na‐rich muscovite‐defined foliation destroys not only the metastable high‐grade mineralogy, but also its stronger geometry. This process constitutes both reaction and microstructural softening. The deformation mechanism here was thus one of dissolution–precipitation creep, activated at considerably lower stresses than might be predicted in quartzofeldspathic rocks at the same lower greenschist facies conditions.     

热采条件下储集岩的软化及其防治

许多储集岩经蒸汽和热水处理后,可产生明显的软化作用。这种软化作用主要是由于白云石、高岭石和石英的部分破坏和生成蒙脱石。在这种情况下,软化作用是相当大的,直至足以引起储集岩中支撑裂隙的显著愈合,因而,能导致钻井产能的显著减少。已经发现把一些物质（ＲＡ） 添加到热液中,不仅能够防止岩石软化,而且能使岩石硬化。这一效果来源于岩石中原始粘土矿物的改变和新生矿物相的重结晶和重新取向     

A swallow-tail type catastrophic model of earthquake process

（殷有泉）（杜静）Ａｓｗａｌｌｏｗ－ｔａｉｌｔｙｐｅｃａｔａｓｔｒｏｐｈｉｃｍｏｄｅｌｏｆｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅｐｒｏｃｅｓｓ￥Ｙｏｕ－ＱｕａｎＹＩＮａｎｄＪｉｎｇＤＵ（ＰｅｋｉｎｇＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｄｙ，Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ１００８７１，Ｃｈｉｎａ）（Ｎｏｒｔ...     

造山带的网结状构造样式

网结状构造样式是造山带地壳结构的一个重要特征,表现为线状强应变带与夹持其间的透镜状弱应变域规律组合格式。这种网结状型式在几何学上具有尺度不变性,并具三维特征,理论分析和实际观察指出,这种网结状构造样式,是在应变软化作用及变形分解作用控制下递进发育而成的,而造山带地壳结构的不均一性、组成造山带岩石的流变学特征以及变形物理环境,又是控制应变软化及变形分解作用的主要因素。