Masonry response to tunnelling: a sensitivity study on the effect of cracking and building weight

Predicting damage to masonry structures due to tunnelling-induced ground movements remains a challenge for practising design engineers. Useful simplified procedures exist, but more detailed analysis has the potential to improve these procedures. This paper considers the use of finite element modelling, including non-linear constitutive laws for the soil and the structure, to simulate damage to a simple masonry structure subjected to tunnelling in sand. The numerical model is validated through comparison with the results of a series of centrifuge tests and used to perform a sensitivity study on the effect of building weight and masonry damage on the structural response. Results show a direct correlation between the weight of the structure, normalised to the relative stiffness between the structure and the soil, and the modification of the settlement profile. By including a cracking model for the masonry, the reduction in structural stiffness caused by progressive masonry damage is also proven to affect the building deflection.

3D numerical analysis of tunnelling induced damage: the influence of the alignment of a masonry building with the tunnel axis.

The development of infrastructure in major cities often involves tunnelling, which can cause damage to existing structures. Therefore, these projects require a careful prediction of the risk of settlement induced damage. The simplified approach of current methods cannot account for three-dimensional structural aspects of buildings, which can result in an inaccurate evaluation of damage. This paper investigates the effect of the building alignment with the tunnel axis on structural damage. A three-dimensional, phased, fully coupled finite element model with non-linear material properties is used as a tool to perform a parametric study. The model includes the simulation of the tunnel construction process, with the tunnel located adjacent to a masonry building. Three different type of settlements are included (sagging, hogging and a combination of them), with seven different increasing angles of the building with respect to the tunnel axis. The alignment parameter is assessed, based on the maximum occurring crack width, measured in the building. Results show a significant dependency of the final damage on the building and tunnel alignment.

Assessment of the settlement vulnerability of masonry buildings

Excavation works in urban areas require a preliminary risk damage assessment. In historical cities, the prediction of building response to settlements is necessary to reduce the risk of damage of the architectural heritage. The current method used to predict the building damage due to ground deformations is the Limiting Tensile Strain Method (LTSM). In this approach the building is modelled as an elastic beam subjected to imposed Greenfield settlements and the induced tensile strains are compared with a limit value for the material. These assumptions can lead to a non realistic evaluation of the damage. In this paper, the possibility to apply a settlement risk assessment derived from the seismic vulnerability approach is considered. The parameters that influence the structural response to settlements can be defined through numerical analyses which take into account the nonlinear behaviour of masonry and the soil-structure interaction. The effects of factors like material quality, geometry of the structure, amount of openings, type of foundation or the actual state of preservation can be included in a global vulnerability index, which should indicate the building susceptibility to damage by differential settlements of a given magnitude. Vulnerability curves will represent the expected damage of each vulnerability class of building as a function of the settlement.

Numerical analyses of tunnel-induced settlement damage to a masonry wall

Settlements due to underground construction represent a risk for the architectural heritage, especially in The Netherlands, because of the combination of soft soil, fragile pile foundation and brittle, un-reinforced masonry façade. Modelling of soil-structure interaction is fundamental to assess the risk of building damage due to tunnelling. This paper presents results of finite element analyses carried out with different models for a simple masonry wall. Focus is paid on the comparison between coupled, uncoupled and semi-coupled analyses, in which the soil-structure interaction is represented in different ways. In particular, the implementation of a soil-structure interface model in the numerical analyses is analysed, in order to asses its validity. The aim of the research project is the development of a damage classification system for different building typologies.

Effects of techniques of implanting nitrogen into buried oxide on the characteristics of partially depleted SOIPMOSFET

Effects of techniques of implanting nitrogen into buried oxide on the characteristics of the partially depleted silicon-on-insulator (SOI) p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (PMOSFETs) have been studied with three different nitrogen implantation doses, 8 x 10(15), 2 x 10(16), and 1 x 10(17) cm(-2). The experimental results show that this technology can affect the threshold voltage, channel hole mobility and output characteristics of the partially depleted SOI PMOSFETs fabricated with the given material and process. For each type of the partially depleted SOI PMOSFET with nitrided buried oxide, the absolute value of the average threshold voltage increases due to the nitrogen implantation. At the same time, the average channel hole mobility decreases because of the nitrogen implantation. In particular, with the high nitrogen implantation doses, the output characteristic curves of the tested transistors present a distinct kink effect, which normally exists in the characteristic output curves of only partially depleted SOI NMOSFETs.

Effect of the technology of implanting nitrogen into buried oxide on the radiation hardness of the top gate oxide for partially depleted SOIPMOSFET

The effect of implanting nitrogen into buried oxide on the top gate oxide hardness against total irradiation does has been investigated with three nitrogen implantation doses (8 x 10(15), 2 x 10(16) and 1 x 10(17) cm(-2)) for partially depleted SOI PMOSFET. The experimental results reveal the trend of negative shift of the threshold voltages of the studied transistors with the increase of nitrogen implantation dose before irradiation. After the irradiation with a total dose of 5 x 10(5) rad(Si) under a positive gate voltage of 2V, the threshold voltage shift of the transistors corresponding to the nitrogen implantation dose 8 x 10(15) cm(-2) is smaller than that of the transistors without implantation. However, when the implantation dose reaches 2 x 10(16) and 1 x 10(17) cm(-2), for the majority of the tested transistors, their top gate oxide was badly damaged due to irradiation. In addition, the radiation also causes damage to the body-drain junctions of the transistors with the gate oxide damaged. All the results can be interpreted by tracing back to the nitrogen implantation damage to the crystal lattices in the top silicon.

Effects of the technology of implanting nitrogen into buried oxide layer on the characteristics of partially depleted SOI nMOSFET

The effects, caused by the process of the implantation of nitrogen in the buried oxide layer of SIMOX wafer, on the characteristics of partially depleted silicon-on-insulator nMOSFET have been studied. The experimental results show that the channel electron mobilities of the devices fabricated on the SIMON (separation by implanted oxygen and nitrogen) wafers are lower than those of the devices made on the SIMOX (separation by implanted oxygen) wafers. The devices corresponding to the lowest implantation dose have the lowest mobility within the range of the implantation dose given in this paper. The value of the channel electron mobility rises slightly and tends to a limit when the implantation dose becomes greater. This is explained in terms of the rough Si/SiO2 interface due to the process of implantation of nitrogen. The increasing negative shifts of the threshold voltages for the devices fabricated on the SIMON wafers are also observed with the increase of implanting dose of nitrogen. However, for the devices fabricated on the SIMON wafers with the lowest dose of implanted nitrogen in this paper, their threshold voltages are slightly larger on the average than those prepared on the SIMOX wafers. The shifts are considered to be due to the increment of the fixed oxide charge in SiO2 layer and the change of the density of the interface-trapped charge with the value and distribution included. In particular, the devices fabricated on the SIMON wafers show a weakened kink effect, compared to the ones made on the SIMOX wafers.

Effects of phase-breaking on long-range charge transfer in DNA: Partially-coherent-tunneling model study

The mechanism of hole charge transfer in DNA of various lengths and sequences is investigated based on a partially coherent tunneling theory (Zhang et al., J Chem Phys 117:4578, 2002), where the effects of phase-breaking in adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine base pairs are treated on equal foot. This work aims at providing a self-consistent microscopic interpretation for rate experiments on various DNA systems. We will also clarify the condition under which the simple superexchange-mediated-hopping picture is valid, and make some comments on the further development of present theory.

A partially incoherent rate theory of long-range charge transfer in deoxyribose nucleic acid

A quantum chemistry based Green's function formulation of long-range charge transfer in deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) double helix is proposed. The theory takes into account the effects of DNA's electronic structure and its incoherent interaction with aqueous surroundings. In the implementation, the electronic tight-binding parameters for unsolvated DNA molecules are determined at the HF/6-31G* level, while those for individual nucleobase-water couplings are at a semiempirical level by fitting with experimental redox potentials. Numerical results include that: (i) the oxidative charge initially at the donor guanine site does hop sequentially over all guanine sites; however, the revealed rates can be of a much weaker distance dependence than that described by the ordinary Ohm's law; (ii) the aqueous surroundings-induced partial incoherences in thymine/adenine bridge bases lead them to deviate substantially from the superexchange regime; (iii) the time scale of the partially incoherent hole transport through the thymine/adenine pi stack in DNA is about 5 ps. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Partially coherent tunneling through a series of barriers: Inelastic scattering versus pure dephasing

Within the Buttiker dephasing model, the backscattering in the dephasing process is eliminated by setting a proper boundary condition. Explicit expression is carried out for the effective total tunneling probability in the presence of multiple pure dephasing scatterers with partial coherence. The derived formula is illustrated analytically by various limiting cases, and numerically for its application in tunneling through multibarrier systems.

Fine structure of the plasmon resonance absorption peak of Ag nanoparticles embedded in partially oxidized Si matrix

Ag/Si nanocomposite films were prepared by the radio-frequency magnetron cosputtering method. The fine structure of the plasmon resonance absorption peak was found in film samples. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicated that the samples were composed of a two-layer structure, which accounted for the structure of the optical absorption spectra. The peak located near 445 nm is the plasmon resonance absorption peak of Ag nanoparticles embedded in a partially oxidized Si matrix. Its intensity decreases with decreasing film thickness and disappears in a very thin sample. The peak located near 380 nm originates from the plasmon resonance absorption of the thoroughly oxidized surface layer of the sample. Its intensity does not change with increasing thickness, but it cannot be observed in the very thick sample. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Effect of the implantation of fluorine on the mobility of channel electron for partially depleted SOI nMOSFET

The mobility of channel electron, for partially depleted Sol nMOSFET in this paper, decreases with the increase of implanted fluorine dose in buried oxide layer. But, the experimental results also show that it is larger for the transistor corresponding to the lowest implantation dose than no implanted fluorine in buried layer. It is explained in tern-is of a "lubricant" model. Mien fluorine atoms are implanted in the top silicon layer, the mobility is the largest. In addition, a positive shift of threshold voltage has also been observed for the transistors fabricated on the Sol wafers processed by the implantation of fluorine. The causes of all the above results are discussed.