Ground maritime structure interaction. Recent failures in inner gravity constructions on the Spanish Coastline

A maritime construction is usually a slender line in the ocean.It is usual to see just its narrow surface strip and not analyse the large amount of submerged material the latter is supporting.Without doubt,it is the ground to which a notable load is transmitted in an environment subjected to periodic,alternating stresses,dynamic forces which the sea's media constitute. Both an outer and inner maritime construction works in a complex fashion.A granular solid(breakwater)breathes with the incident wave flow,dissipating part of the wave energy between its gaps.The backflow tries to extract the different items from the solid block,setting a balance between effective and neutral tensions that follow Terzaghui's principle. On some occasions,fluidification of the armour layer has caused the breakwater to collapse(Sines,Portugal,February 1978).On others,siphoning or liquefaction of sand supporting monoliths(vertical breakwaters)lead them to destruction or collapse(New Barcelona Harbour Mouth,Spain,November 2001). This is why the ground-force-structure interaction is a complicated analysis with joint design tools still in an incipient state. The purpose of this article is to describe two singular failures in inner maritime constructions in Spain deriving from ground problems(Malaga,July 2004and Barcelona,January 2007).They occurred recently and the causes are the subject of reflection and analysis.

Optimización granulométrica de morteros de base cemento

En la práctica habitual, para la elaboración de morteros se recomienda la utilización de granulometrías continuas. El requisito de continuidad y que los tamaños de partícula se encuentren dentro de los límites establecidos por “husos granulométricos” surge de las teorías clásicas de Fuller – Thompson y se apoya en la necesidad de obtener mezclas con adecuada docilidad en el estado fresco. Sin embargo, las distribuciones continuas de árido no representan las únicas alternativas para obtener mezclas que tengan una adecuada docilidad en estado fresco y mediante nuevos criterios de interferencia de partículas es posible demostrar que las distribuciones discontinuas aun siendo más compactas y con menor requerimientos de volumen de pasta pueden ser igual de dóciles en estado fresco. Aunque el volumen mínimo de pasta está condicionado por su fluidez y viscosidad estos parámetros pueden modificarse mediante la incorporación de filler de distinta naturaleza y aditivos químicos de reciente desarrollo. En consecuencia, se propone analizar la posibilidad de minimizar el contenido de pasta de morteros de base cemento, manteniendo las prestaciones en el estado fresco, con el objetivo de obtener una mejor estabilidad volumétrica, posibilitando mejor control de la retracción y de la fisuración. Para ello se emplearán criterios de interferencia de partículas, combinados con el uso de filler de distinta naturaleza La reducción del contenido de pasta conducirá también a mejorar el perfil sostenible de los morteros. El proceso de optimización tiene una base racional y, por lo tanto, será aplicable a distintos tipos de mortero, y las proporciones óptimas podrán adecuarse según las prestaciones requeridas para el material. SUMMARY In common practice, continuous sand gradings are recommended to produce ordinary mortars. This requirement, along with grading limits are based on classical theories, such as Fuller, aimed at achieving a reasonable packing density without compromising workability at the fresh state. Nevertheless, there are other alternatives, such as discontinuous curves based on particle interference criteria, which are capable of having even higher packing density. The less the content of voids in the granular skeleton, the less the amount of cement paste required to fill in these voids and coating the particles. Yet, the minimum volume of paste in a mortar is determined by requirements associated to the fresh state and thus, fluidity and viscosity of the paste play a significant role on the matter. These two properties can be modified by the use of suitable fillers and by the use of last-generation chemical admixtures. As a result, it is proposed to analyse the possibility of combining current particle interference criteria with the use of different types of filler and chemical admixtures to optimise cement-based mortar formulations. This optimisation is aimed at reducing the paste content while maintaining a suitable performance at the fresh state. The reduction in paste content would lead to a better dimensional stability, with better control of shrinkage and cracking behaviour. The foreseen optimisation process will have a strong rational basis and thus, it should be potentially useful to optimise mortar proportions according to a performance-based approach.

Determination of the mechanical properties of corn grains and olive fruits required in DEM simulations

Discrete element method (DEM) is a numerical technique widely used for simulating the mechanical behavior of granular materials involved in many food and agricultural industry processes. Additionally, this technique is also a powerful tool to understand many complex phenomena related to the mechanics of granular materials. However, to make use of the potential of this technique it is necessary to develop DEM models capable of representing accurately the reality. For that, among some other questions, it is essential that the values of the microscopic material properties used to define the numerical model are accurately determined.

Determinación del coeficiente de rozamiento grano-pared en silos de pared corrugada mediante el método de los elementos discretos

El comportamiento de los materiales granulares almacenados en silos se ve afectado por varios parámetros, tanto aquellos característicos del material como de la geometría del silo. La determinación del coeficiente de rozamiento pared-partícula es uno de los parámetros de mayor importancia, siendo habituales en su determinación el uso de ensayos de corte directo. En el presente trabajo se estudia dicho coeficiente para el supuesto de una pared corrugada, el cual, teóricamente, debe representar a un valor efectivo que depende tanto del coeficiente de rozamiento grano-pared (para el caso de una pared lisa) y el ángulo de rozamiento interno del material. La determinación del rozamiento efectivo se ha realizado a través de la simulación por elementos discretos de un ensayo de corte sobre una pared corrugada. Los valores obtenidos han sido comparados con las prescripciones expuestas en la normativa vigente. La potencialidad del método de los elementos discretos permite el estudio de diversas configuraciones geométricas de la pared corrugada de los silos sin necesidad de realizar ensayos de laboratorio. Esto permitirá, en trabajos sucesivos, investigar la influencia de muy diversos factores en el valor del rozamiento efectivo grano-pared en este tipo de paredes. The mechanical behaviour of granular materials stored in silos is affected by numerous parameters, some of them being related to the characteristic of the stored materials and others to the geometry of the silo. The determination of the particle-wall friction coefficient (or wall friction) is of great importance and direct shear tests are usually conducted in order to obtain its value. In this work this variable is analysed for the case of a corrugated wall. This value is expected to be an effective value between the particle-wall friction coefficient (obtained for a flat wall) and the internal friction coefficient of the material under study. The effective wall friction determination has been carried out by using a discrete element model to simulate a direct shear test on a corrugated wall. The values obtained have been compared with prescriptions given in the current standards. The potential of the discrete element method allows different geometries of the silo corrugated wall to be considered without the necessity of developing laboratory tests. In future works it will allow the influence of numerous parameters on the effective wall friction in corrugated walls to be studied.

GLMP for automatic assessment of DFS algorithm learning

We describe how to use a Granular Linguistic Model of a Phenomenon (GLMP) to assess e-learning processes. We apply this technique to evaluate algorithm learning using the GRAPHs learning environment.