Numerical modeling of deep soil mixing excavation support

The finite element method (FEM) is growing in popularity over the pressure diagram/hand calculation method for analysis of excavation systems in general and deep soil mixing excavations in particular. In this paper, a finite element analysis is used to study the behavior of a deep mixed excavation. Through the use of Plaxis (a FEM software program), the construction sequence is simulated by following the various construction phases allowing for deflections due to strut or anchor installation to be predicted. The numerical model used in this study simulates the soil cement columns as a continuous wall matching the bending stiffness of the actual wall. Input parameters based on laboratory tests and modeling assumptions are discussed. An example of the approach is illustrated using the Islais Creek Transport/Storage Project in San Francisco, California. Copyright ASCE 2006.

Remediation against floatation of underground structures

Underground structures located in liquefiable soil deposits are susceptible to floatation following an earthquake event due to their lower unit weight relative to the surrounding saturated soil. Centrifuge tests have been carried out to assess the effectiveness of existing remediation techniques in reducing the uplift of underground structures, namely in situ densification and the use of coarse sand backfill. The centrifuge test results showed that these methods do reduce the uplift displacement of buoyant structures. Their performance was thereafter linked to the theoretical mechanism of floatation of underground structures. Based on the understanding from preceding tests, a further improvement on the use of the coarse sand backfill was carried out, which produced a greater reduction in the uplift displacement of the structure. Each of these techniques, however, does pose issues when applied in the field, such as possible damage to surrounding structures, construction issues and maintenance problems.

Material point method for coupled hydromechanical problems

This paper describes a new formulation of the material point method (MPM) for solving coupled hydromechanical problems of fluid-saturated soil subjected to large deformation. A soil-pore fluid coupled MPM algorithm based on Biot's mixture theory is proposed for solving hydromechanical interaction problems that include changes in water table location with time. The accuracy of the proposed method is examined by comparing the results of the simulation of a one-dimensional consolidation test with the corresponding analytical solution. A sensitivity analysis of the MPM parameters used in the proposed method is carried out for examining the effect of the number of particles per mesh and mesh size on solution accuracy. For demonstrating the capability of the proposed method, a physical model experiment of a large-scale levee failure by seepage is simulated. The behavior of the levee model with time-dependent changes in water table matches well to the experimental observations. The mechanisms of seepage-induced failure are discussed by examining the pore-water pressures, as well as the effective stresses computed from the simulations © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Important aspects when modelling the interaction between surface structures and tunnelling in sand

Tunnelling in urban areas continues to increase and has highlighted the need for a better understanding of the impact of tunnel excavations on existing buildings. This paper considers the influence of surface structures on ground displacements caused by tunnelling in sand through finite element modelling and centrifuge testing. First, the importance of modelling assumptions is evaluated by comparing centrifuge modelling results to finite element modelling results for various soil constitutive models: both a Young's modulus that linearly increases with depth and a power law relation between the soil stiffness and stresses are considered. Second, the most effective soil constitutive model was used to perform a sensitivity study on the effect of different factors governing the structural response. In particular, the effect of the building stiffness and weight on the modification of soil displacements is investigated by introducing a simple surface structure. The use of a no-tension interface between the building and the soil was found to be essential to investigate the effect of weight on gap formation between the soil and the structure, as observed during the experimental tests. Results show the importance of considering the relation between the building weight and the relative stiffness between the building and the soil when assessing the structural response. © 2014 Korean Geotechnical Society.

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.

Enzymatic activities in constructed wetlands and di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) biodegradation

The bioaccumulation of phthalate acid esters (PAEs) from industrial products and their mutagenic action has been suggested to be a potential threat to human health. The effects of the most frequently identified PAE, Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), and its biodegradation, were examined by comparison of two small scale plots (SSP) of integrated vertical-flow constructed wetlands. The influent DBP concentration was 9.84 mg l(-1) in the treatment plot and the control plot received no DBP. Soil enzymatic activities of dehydrogenase, catalase, protease, phosphatase, urease, cellulase, beta-glucosidase, were measured in the two SSP after DBP application for 1 month and 2 months, and 1 month after the final application. Both treatment and control had significantly higher enzyme activity in the surface soil than in the subsurface soil (P < 0.001) and greater enzyme activity in the down-flow chamber than in the up-flow chamber (P < 0.05). In the constructed wetlands, DBP enhanced the activities of dehydrogenase, catalase, protease, phosphatase and inhibited the activities of urease, cellulase and beta-glucosidase. However, urease, cellulase, beta-glucosidase activities were restored 1 month following the final DBP addition. Degradation of DBP was greater in the surface soil and was reduced in sterile soil, indicating that this process may be mediated by aerobic microorgansims. DBP degradation fitted a first-order model, and the kinetic equation showed that the rate constant was 0.50 and 0.17 d(-1), the half-life was 1.39 and 4.02 d, and the r(2) was 0.99 and 0.98, in surface and subsurface soil, respectively. These results indicate that constructed wetlands are able to biodegrade organic PA-Es such as DBP. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Raman and infrared properties and layer dependence of the phonon dispersions in multilayered graphene

The symmetry group analysis is applied to classify the phonon modes of N-stacked graphene layers (NSGLs) with AB and AA stacking, particularly their infrared and Raman properties. The dispersions of various phonon modes are calculated in a multilayer vibrational model, which is generalized from the lattice vibrational potentials of graphene to including the interlayer interactions in NSGLs. The experimentally reported redshift phenomena in the layer-number dependence of the intralayer optical C-C stretching mode frequencies are interpreted. An interesting low-frequency interlayer optical mode is revealed to be Raman or infrared active in even or odd NSGLs, respectively. Its frequency shift is sensitive to the layer number and saturated at about 10 layers.

Specific Adsorption of Trace Amounts of Calcium and Strontium by Hydrous Oxides of Iron and Aluminum1

Freshly prepared Fe and Al hydrous oxide gels and the amorphous product of heating gibbsite selectively adsorbed traces of Ca and Sr from solutions containing a large excess (∼1M) of NaNO3. The fraction of the added Ca (Sr) adsorbed depended principally on the suspension pH, the amount of solid present, and to a lesser extent on the NaNO3 concentration. Significant Ca and Sr adsorption occurred on the Fe and Al gels, and heated gibbsite, at pH values below the points of zero charge (8.1, 9.4, and 8.3±0.1, respectively), indicating specific adsorption. The pH (± 0.10) at which 50% of the Ca was adsorbed (pH50) occurred at pH 7.15 for the Fe gel (0.093M Fe), 8.35 for the Al gel (0.093M Al), and 6.70 for the heated gibbsite (0.181M Al); for Sr, the pH50 values were 7.10, 9.00, and 6.45, respectively. For the Fe gel and heated gibbsite, an empirical model based on the law of mass action described the pH dependence of adsorption reasonably well and suggested that for each Ca or Sr fraction adsorbed, approximately one proton was released. Failure of the Al gel to fit this model may have resulted from its rapid aging.

陕北水蚀风蚀交错区两种生物结皮对土壤饱和导水率的影响

该文以陕北水蚀风蚀交错区普遍发育的地表和地上两种生物结皮为研究对象,分别以3种非生物结皮(无结皮、物理结皮、去除生物结皮)为对照,使用盘式入渗仪测定其饱和导水率。结果表明:与无结皮土壤相比,两种类型生物结皮均可极显著降低土壤饱和导水率;与去除生物结皮土壤相比,两种类型生物结皮对土壤饱和导水率的降低均不显著;与有物理结皮发育的土壤相比,地表生物结皮对土壤饱和导水率的降低不显著,而地上生物结皮对土壤饱和导水率的降低显著。一方面,两种生物结皮对土壤饱和导水率均有明显降低作用,预示生物结皮在降雨活动中可能会增加径流、降低入渗,阻碍研究区水分亏缺条件下的植被恢复和生态与环境建设。另一方面,与不同的对照相比,生物结皮对土壤饱和导水率的影响截然不同,该结论可在一定程度上解释当前有关生物结皮影响土壤水分入渗方面所存在的分歧。

陕北水蚀风蚀交错区两种生物结皮对土壤理化性质的影响

以黄土高原陕北水蚀风蚀交错区六道沟小流域为例,研究了该区以苔藓为主要成分的沙土和黄土两种生物结皮对土壤理化性质的影响。结果显示:(1)两种生物结皮均能显著增加土壤饱和含水量和田间持水量,降低容重和饱和导水率,其中沙土生物结皮还可明显粘化0～25cm土壤质地;(2)两种生物结皮均能不同程度的增加土壤全量养分、速效养分以及有机质含量,降低pH值,但其影响多数集中在表层或结皮层;(3)土壤化学性质中,全氮、速效磷和有机质受生物结皮影响程度较大,而全氮、速效钾和有机质受生物结皮影响土层较深;(4)沙土生物结皮对土壤理化性质的影响程度大于黄土生物结皮。两种类型生物结皮对所研究土壤理化性质的影响总体有利于该区生态环境的改善,且沙土生物结皮较黄土生物结皮具有更为重要的生态功能。

黄土塬区不同地形部位和土地利用方式对土壤物理性质的影响

在黄土塬区王东沟流域采集不同地形部位和不同土地利用方式下土壤样品,测定其颗粒组成、容重和饱和导水率,借助变异系数、非参数检验等方法研究了不同地形部位和不同利用方式对土壤物理性质的影响.结果表明:土壤物理性质在水平方向和沿垂直剖面都存在变异,但在同一地形部位或同一土地利用类型内,容重和颗粒组成基本相似.水平方向,饱和导水率属强变异,粘粒和砂粒含量属中等变异,粉粒含量和容重属弱变异;沿垂直剖面,土壤的粒级分布具有连续性,但0~25cm的土壤容重和饱和导水率与下层土壤差异显著.沿坡面从上向下,土壤趋向粘重,但饱和导水率增大;其中上坡位和中坡位的土壤性质相似,在相关研究中可以进行合并.草地与其他利用方式下的土壤性质差异显著,主要受地形部位的影响;耕地和果园的土壤性质相似且不同于其他利用类型,表明人为干扰对土壤物理性质有重要影响.

推求土壤水分运动参数的简单入渗法 I.理论分析

预报非饱和土壤水分运动必须首先获得土壤水分运动参数。土壤水分运动参数包括土壤水分特征曲线和导水率。本文使用积分方法求解了一维水平非饱和土壤水分运动问题，根据其解建立了推求非饱和土壤水分运动参数的简单入渗法，用以推求ｖａｎ Ｇｅｎｕｃｈｔｅｎ特征曲线模型中的参数α和ｎ。α和ｎ是根据湿润区的特征长度、吸渗率和土壤的饱和导水率（ｋｓ）来确定的，而非饱和导水率可由α、ｎ和Ｋｓ确定。这一新的简单入渗法是基于Ｒｉｃｈａｒｄｓ方程和土壤导水特征的闭合型方程。简单入渗法提供了利用瞬态水流方法来确定土壤水分特征曲线而替代通常的平衡法。简单入渗法是一个全新的、简捷的确定土壤导水特性的方法。

Modelling raindrop impact and splash erosion processes within a spatial cell: a stochastic approach

A new approach is proposed to simulate splash erosion on local soil surfaces. Without the effect of wind and other raindrops, the impact of free-falling raindrops was considered as an independent event from the stochastic viewpoint. The erosivity of a single raindrop depending on its kinetic energy was computed by an empirical relationship in which the kinetic energy was expressed as a power function of the equivalent diameter of the raindrop. An empirical linear function combining the kinetic energy and soil shear strength was used to estimate the impacted amount of soil particles by a single raindrop. Considering an ideal local soil surface with size of I m x I m, the expected number of received free-failing raindrops with different diameters per unit time was described by the combination of the raindrop size distribution function and the terminal velocity of raindrops. The total splash amount was seen as the sum of the impact amount by all raindrops in the rainfall event. The total splash amount per unit time was subdivided into three different components, including net splash amount, single impact amount and re-detachment amount. The re-detachment amount was obtained by a spatial geometric probability derived using the Poisson function in which overlapped impacted areas were considered. The net splash amount was defined as the mass of soil particles collected outside the splash dish. It was estimated by another spatial geometric probability in which the average splashed distance related to the median grain size of soil and effects of other impacted soil particles and other free-falling raindrops were considered. Splash experiments in artificial rainfall were carried out to validate the availability and accuracy of the model. Our simulated results suggested that the net splash amount and re-detachment amount were small parts of the total splash amount. Their proportions were 0.15% and 2.6%, respectively. The comparison of simulated data with measured data showed that this model could be applied to simulate the soil-splash process successfully and needed information of the rainfall intensity and original soil properties including initial bulk intensity, water content, median grain size and some empirical constants related to the soil surface shear strength, the raindrop size distribution function and the average splashed distance. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.