A Practical Procedure for the Measurement of Fragmentation by Blasting by Image Analysis

Summary. The operation of a digital image analysis system in a limestone quarry is described. The calibration of the system, required in order to obtain moderately reliable fragmentation values, is done from muckpile sieving data by tuning the image analysis software settings so that the fragmentation curve obtained matches as close as possible the sieving. The sieving data have also been used to extend the fragment size distribution curves measured to sizes below the system’s optical resolution and to process the results in terms of fragmented rock, discounting the material coming from a loose overburden (natural fines) that is cast together with the fragmented rock. Automatic and manual operation modes of the image analysis are compared. The total fragmentation of a blast is obtained from the analysis of twenty photographs; a criterion for the elimination of outlier photographs has been adopted using a robust statistic. The limitations of the measurement system due to sampling, image processing and fines corrections are discussed and the errors estimated whenever possible. An analysis of consistency of the results based on the known amount of natural fines is made. Blasts with large differences in the amount of fines require a differentiated treatment, as the fine sizes tend to be the more underestimated in the image analysis as they become more abundant; this has been accomplished by means of a variable fines adjustment factor. Despite of the unavoidable errors and the large dispersion always associated with large-scale rock blasting data, the system is sensitive to relative changes in fragmentation.     

Influence of fines content on the anti-frost properties of coarse-grained soil

This paper aims to determine the optimal fines content of coarse-grained soil required to simultaneously achieve weaker frost susceptibility and better bearing capacity. We studied the frost susceptibility and strength properties of coarse-grained soil by means of frost heaving tests and static triaxial tests, and the results are as follows:(1) the freezing temperature of coarse-grained soil decreased gradually and then leveled off with incremental increases in the percent content of fines; (2) the fines content proved to be an important factor influencing the frost heave susceptibility and strength properties of coarse-grained soil. With incremental increases in the percent content of fines, the frost heave ratio increased gradually and the cohesion function of fines effectively enhanced the shear strength of coarse-grained soil before freeze-thaw, but the frost susceptibility of fines weakened the shear strength of coarse-grained soil after freeze-thaw; (3) with increasing numbers of freeze-thaw cycles,the shear strength of coarse-grained soil decreased and then stabilized after the ninth freeze-thaw cycle, and therefore the mechanical indexes of the ninth freeze-thaw cycle are recommended for the engineering design values; and (4) considering frost susceptibility and strength properties as a whole, the optimal fines content of 5% is recommended for railway subgrade coarse-grained soil fillings in frozen regions.     

A semi-empirical dilatancy model for ballast fouled with plastic fines

In the era of high speed trains, it is very important to ensure the stability of rail tracks under adverse conditions including the fouling of ballast. Fouling of ballast from unstable and saturated soft subgrade soil is one of the major reasons for track deterioration. The reported results of a number of large-scale laboratory experiments on the shear behaviour of ballast and fouled ballast are analysed, herein. It was observed that fines have a significant influence on the shear behaviour of ballast. Shear strength increases and dilatancy decreases with the addition of fines. In this paper, a semi-empirical mathematical model has been proposed to capture the dilatancy of ballast fouled with fines during shearing. The empirical constants a, b and c proposed in the model are a function of the fines content Void Contamination Index (VCI). The results of the model have been compared with the laboratory experiments and are found to be in good agreement.     

Laboratory Study on the Hydraulic Conductivity and Pore Pressure of Sand-Silt Mixtures

The hydraulic conductivity plays a major role on the excess pore pressure generation during monotonic and cyclic loading of granular soils with fines. This paper aims to determine how much the hydraulic conductivity and pore pressure response of the sand-silt mixtures are affected by the percentage of fines and void ratio of the soil. The results of flexible wall permeameter and undrained monotonic triaxial tests performed on samples reconstituted from Chlef River sand with 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% nonplastic silt at an effective confining stress of 100 kPa and two relative densities (D_r = 20, and 91%) are presented and discussed. It was found that the pore pressure increases linearly with the increase of the fines content and logarithmically with the increase of the intergranular void ratio. The results obtained from this study reveal that the saturated hydraulic conductivity (k) of the sand mixed with 50% low plastic fines can be, on average, four orders of magnitude smaller than that of the clean sand. The results show also that the hydraulic conductivity decreases hyperbolically with the increase of the fines content and the intergranular void ratio.     

Limited flow characteristics of sand with fines under cyclic loading

Experimental studies on a sand with a well-graded low plasticity fines were conducted to study a number of issues related to limited flow. Cyclic behaviour in relation to instability and limited flow are compared with corresponding monotonic behaviour. A single set of rules for a range of fines contents was proposed to correlate cyclic and monotonic behaviour.     

Three-dimensional hydromechanical modeling of internal erosion in dike-on-foundation

Currently, numerical studies at the real scale of an entire engineering structure considering internal erosion are still rare. This paper presents a three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulation of the effects of internal erosion within a linear dike located on a foundation. A two-dimensional (2D) finite element code has been extended to 3D in order to analyze the impact of internal erosion under more realistic hydromechanical conditions. The saturated soil has been considered as a mixture of four interacting constituents: soil skeleton, erodible fines, fluidized fine particles, and fluid. The detachment and transport of the fine particles have been modeled with a mass exchange model between the solid and the fluid phases. An elastoplastic constitutive model for sand-silt mixtures has been developed to monitor the effect of the evolution of both the porosity and the fines content induced by internal erosion upon the behavior of the soil skeleton. An unsaturated flow condition has been implemented into this coupled hydromechanical model to describe more accurately the seepage within the dike and the foundation. A stabilized finite element method was used to eliminate spurious numerical oscillations in solving the convection-dominated transport of fluidized particles. This numerical tool was then applied to a specific dike-on-foundation case subjected to internal erosion induced by a leakage located at the bottom of the foundation. Different failure modes were observed and analyzed for different boundary conditions, including the significant influence of the leakage cavity size and the elevation of the water level at the upstream and downstream sides of the dike.     

Discussion of “experiment and statistical assessment on piping failures in soils with different gradations”

Internal stability assessment methods, such as Kezdi and Kenney and Lau, have some degree of uncertainty and they do not take the effect of soil density in consideration. Analysis show that the internal stability of some granular soils could be stable, transition state, or unstable based on the relative density. All these factors could affect the accuracy of statistical analysis based on the assessment of these methods.     

Intergrain contact density indices for granular mixes-Ⅱ:Liquefaction resistance

Whether the presence of non-plastic silt in a granular mix soil impact its liquefaction potential and how to evaluate liquefaction resistance of sand containing different amounts of silt contents are both controversial issues. This paper presents the results of an experimental evaluation to address these issues. Two parameters, namely, equivalent intergranular void ratio (ec)eq and equivalent interfine void ratio (ef)eq, proposed in a companion paper (Thevanayagam, 2007) as indices of active grain contacts in a granular mix, are used to characterize liquefaction resistance of sands and silty sands. Results indicate that, at the same global void ratio (e), liquefaction resistance of silty sand decreases with an increase in fines content (CF) up to a threshold value (CFth). This is due to a reduction in intergrain contact density between the coarse grains. Beyond CFth, with further addition of fines, the interfine contacts become significant while the inter-coarse grain contacts diminish and coarse grains become dispersed. At the same e, the liquefaction resistance increases and the soil becomes stronger with a further increase in silt content. Beyond a limiting fines content (CFL), the liquefaction resistance is controlled by interfine contacts only. When CF＜CFth, at the same (ec)eq, the liquefaction resistance of silty sand is comparable to that of the host clean sand at a void ratio equal to (ec)eq. When CF＞CFth, at the same (ef)eq, the cyclic strength of a sandy silt is comparable to the host silt at a void ratio equal to (ef)eq.     

韩城区块构造煤类型及其产出煤粉特征分析

构造煤的发育是产生煤粉的关键,破碎后煤岩会产生固有煤粉,而疏松的结构会使得煤岩更容易受钻井、压裂和排采等工程扰动影响,进而产生更多的煤粉。韩城区块经历多期构造,断裂构造造成的煤岩脆性变形、褶皱拉伸与挤压造成的煤岩韧性变形导致构造煤发育。以采集煤样宏观特征差异划分煤体结构类型,运用测井解释识别不同煤体结构类型煤,从纵向和横向上总结区块煤体结构分布规律,并揭示不同煤体结构类型对产出煤粉形态、浓度、粒度特征的影响。