A computational method for post-construction settlement of high-speed railway bridge pile foundation considering soil creep effect

Based on reasonable assumptions that simplified the calculational model,a simple and practical method was proposed to calculate the post-construction settlement of high-speed railway bridge pile foundation by using the Mesri creep model to describe the soil characteristics and the Mindlin-Geddes method considering pile diameter to calculate the vertical additional stress of pile bottom.A program named CPPS was designed for this method to calculate the post-construction settlement of a high-speed railway bridge pile foundation.The result indicates that the post-construction settlement in 100 years meets the requirements of the engineering specifications,and in the first two decades,the post-construction settlement is about 80% of its total settlement,while the settlement in the rest eighty years tends to be stable.Compared with the measured settlement after laying railway tracks,the calculational result is closed to that of the measured,and the results are conservative with a high computational accuracy.It is noted that the method can be used to calculate the post-construction settlement for the preliminary design of high-speed railway bridge pile foundation.     

Analysis of nonlinear settlement for an unsaturated soil under stage continuous loading

A new approach was proposed to describe settlement behavior of an unsaturated soil with subgrade filling for high-speed railway. Firstly, based on Terzaghi consolidation theory, equations considering the variation coefficient of consolidation with void ratio and saturation for consolidation of an unsaturated soil under stage continuous loading were derived, and according to analytical solutions of equations, a formula for settlement computation under stage continuous loading was obtained. Then, combined with the width-to-height ratio of subgrade to compute ground reaction, and by means of in-situ plate loading curves, a correctional approach was presented for the analysis of nonlinear settlement of foundation. Also, the comparison between calculated and measured loadsettlement behavior for an unsaturated soil in Qingdao-Ji＇nan high-speed railway was given to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed approach. It can be noted that the presented solution can be used to predict the settlement of an unsaturated soil foundation under stage continuous loading in engineering design.     

Settlement calculation for long-short composite piled raft foundation

The mechanism of long-short composite piled raft foundation was discussed. Assuming the relationship between shear stress and shear strain of the surrounding soil was elasto-plastic, shear displacement method was employed to establish the different explicit relational equations between the load and the displacement at the top of pile in either elastic or elasto-plastic period. Then Mylonakis ＆ Gazetas model was introduced to simulate the interaction between two piles or between piles and soil. Considering the effect of cushion, the flexible coefficients of interaction were provided, With the addition of a relevant program, the settlement calculation for long-short composite piled raft foundation was developed which could be used to account for the interaction of piles, soil and cushion. Finally, the calculation method was used to analyze an engineering example. The calculated value of settlement is 10.2 ram, which is close to the observed value 8.8 mm.     

Application of vulnerability analysis in structural capacity assessment and enhancement

This paper presents a structural vulnerability analysis method based on the theory of plastic limit analysis.By applying the mechanism generation method,the ultimate loading factor and the corresponding failure mode of a structural system can be obtained.The ultimate loading factor was then used to measure the performance of a structural system.The variation of this factor to different damage scenarios due to vehicle collision was investigated.To illustrate the proposed method,two cases study on statically determinate and statically indeterminate truss bridge were performed.The results of the case study showed that the susceptibility of structure performance to local damage scenarios not only depends on the location but also the severity of the damage scenarios.Based on this analysis,structural capacity can be evaluated and structural management and maintenance strategy can be made more efficiently.     

Effects of liquefaction-induced large lateral ground deformation on pile foundations

The pile-soil system interaction computational model in liquefaction-induced lateral spreading ground was established by the finite difference numerical method.Considering an elastic-plastic subgrade reaction method,numerical methods involving finite difference approach of pile in liquefaction-induced lateral spreading ground were derived and implemented into a finite difference program.Based on the monotonic loading tests on saturated sand after liquefaction,the liquefaction lateral deformation of the site where group piles are located was predicted.The effects of lateral ground deformation after liquefaction on a group of pile foundations were studied using the fmite difference program mentioned above,and the failure mechanism of group piles in liquefaction-induced lateral spreading ground was obtained.The applicability of the program was preliminarily verified.The results show that the bending moments at the interfaces between liquefied and non-liquefied soil layers are larger than those at the pile＇s top when the pile＇s top is embedded.The value of the additional static bending moment is larger than the peak dynamic bending moment during the earthquake,so in the pile foundation design,more than the superstructure＇s dynamics should be considered and the effect of lateral ground deformation on pile foundations cannot be neglected.     

Analytical solution to one-dimensional consolidation in unsaturated soils under sinusoidal cyclic loading

An analytical solution was presented to the unsaturated soil with a finite thickness under confinement in the lateral direction and sinusoidal cyclic loading in the vertical direction based on Fredlund’s one-dimensional consolidation equation for unsaturated soil. The transfer relationship between the state vectors at the top surface and any depth was gained by applying the Laplace transform and Cayley-Hamilton mathematical methods to the governing equations of water and air, Darcy’s law and Fick’s law. The excess pore-air and pore-water pressures and settlement in the Laplace-transformed domain were obtained by using the Laplace transform with the initial and boundary conditions. The analytical solutions of the excess pore-air and pore-water pressures at any depth and settlement were obtained in the time domain by performing the inverse Laplace transforms. A typical example illustrates the consolidation characteristics of unsaturated soil under sinusoidal loading from analytical results. Finally, comparisons between the analytical solutions and results of the numerical method indicate that the analytical solution is correct.     

Buckling analysis of super-long rock-socketed filling piles in soft soil area by element free Galerkin method

In order to discuss the buckling stability of super-long rock-socketed filling piles widely used in bridge engineering in soft soil area such as Dongting Lake, the second stability type was adopted instead of traditional first type, and a newly invented numerical analysis method, i.e. the element-free Galerkin method (EFGM), was introduced to consider the non-concordant deformation and nonlinearity of the pile-soil interface. Then, based on the nonlinear elastic-ideal plastic pile-soil interface model, a nonlinear iterative algorithm was given to analyze the pile-soil interaction, and a program for buckling analysis of piles by the EFGM (PBAP-EFGM) and arc length method was worked out as well. The application results in an engineering example show that, the shape of pile top load-settlement curve obtained by the program agrees well with the measured one, of which the difference may be caused mainly by those uncertain factors such as possible initial defects of pile shaft and the eccentric loading during the test process. However, the calculated critical load is very close with the measured ultimate load of the test pile, and the corresponding relative error is only 5.6%, far better than the calculated values by linear and nonlinear incremental buckling analysis (with a greater relative error of 37.0% and 15.4% respectively), which also verifies the rationality and feasibility of the present method.     

Displacement and deformation analysis for uplift piles

On the assumptions that the shear resistance increases linearly with increasing shear displacement between the uplift pile and surrounding soil, that the axis force is distributed as parabola along the pile length, that elastic distortion occurs when the pile is loaded, that the displacement of pile is in accord with that of the soil, and that the uplift pile failure is regarded as the soil failure, a rational calculation method was proposed for calculating the deformation, ultimate displacement and shear resistance of piles. The distributions of frictional resistance and the shear displacement along the pile length were obtained with the method. The comparisons were made between the measurement results and the present results. The present theoretical results agree well with the measurement results, with the average difference being less than 12% before failure. The comparisons show that the proposed method is reasonable for uplift design and engineering construction of piles.     

Fluid-solid coupling model based on endochronic damage for roller compacted concrete dam

According to the characteristics of thin-layer rolling and pouting construction technology and the complicated mechanical behavior of the roller compacted concrete dam （RCCD） construction interface, a constitutive model of endochronic damage was established based on the endochronic theory and damage mechanics. The proposed model abandons the traditional concept of elastic-plastic yield surface and can better reflect the real behavior of rolled control concrete. Basic equations were proposed for the fluid-solid coupling analysis, and the relationships among the corresponding key physical parameters were also put forward. One three-dimensional finite element method （FEM） program was obtained by studying the FEM type of the seepage-stress coupling intersection of the RCCD. The method was applied to an actual project, and the results show that the fluid-solid interaction influences dam deformation and dam abutment stability, which is in accordance with practice. Therefore, this model provides a new method for revealing the mechanical behavior of RCCD under the coupling field.     

Optimal Design of Materials for DJMP Based on Genetic Algorithm

The genetic algorithm was used in optimal design of deep jet method pile. The cost of deep jet method pile in one unit area of foundation was taken as the objective function . All tire restrains were listed following the corresponding specification. Suggestions were proposed and the modified. The real-coded Genetic Algorithm was given to deal with the problems of excessive computational cost and premature convergence. Software system of optimal design of deep jet method pile was developed.     

Effect of partition coefficient on microsegregation during solidification of aluminium alloys

In the modeling of microsegregation, the partition coefficient is usually calculated using data from the equilibrium phase diagrams. The aim of this study was to experimentally and theoretically analyze the partition coefficient in binary aluminum--copper alloys. The sam- ples were analyzed by differential thermal analysis （DTA）, which were melted and quenched from different temperatures during solidifica- tion. The mass fraction and composition of phases were measured by image processing and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDS） unit. These data were used to calculate as the experimental partition coefficients with four different methods. The experimental and equilibrium partition coefficients were used to model the concentration profile in the primary phase. The modeling results show that the profiles calculated by the experimental partition coefficients are more consistent with the experi- mental profiles, compared to those calculated using the equilibrium partition coefficients.     

Cracks coalescence mechanism and cracks propagation paths in rock-like specimens containing pre-existing random cracks under compression

The mechanism of cracks propagation and cracks coalescence due to compressive loading of the brittle substances containing pre-existing cracks （flaws） was modeled experimentally using specially made rock-like specimens from Portland Pozzolana Cement （PPC）. The breakage process of the specimens was studied by inserting single and double flaws with different inclination angles at the center and applying uniaxial compressive stress at both ends of the specimen. The first crack was oriented at 50＆#176; from the horizontal direction and kept constant throughout the analysis while the orientation of the second crack was changed. It is experimentally observed that the wing cracks are produced at the first stage of loading and start their propagation toward the direction of uniaxial compressive loading. The secondary cracks may also be produced in form of quasi-coplanar and/or oblique cracks in a stable manner. The secondary cracks may eventually continue their propagation in the direction of maximum principle stress. These experimental works were also simulated numerically by a modified higher order displacement discontinuity method and the cracks propagation and cracks coalescence were studied based on Mode I and Mode II stress intensity factors （SIFs）. It is concluded that the wing cracks initiation stresses for the specimens change from 11.3 to 14.1 MPain the case of numerical simulations and from 7.3 to 13.8 MPa in the case of experimental works. It is observed that cracks coalescence stresses change from 21.8 to 25.3 MPa and from 19.5 to 21.8 MPa in the numerical and experimental analyses, respectively. Comparing some of the numerical and experimental results with those recently cited in the literature validates the results obtained by the proposed study. Finally, a numerical simulation was accomplished to study the effect of confining pressure on the crack propagation process, showing that the SIFs increase and the crack initiation angles change in this case.     

Orthogonal design and numerical simulation of room and pillar configurations in fractured stopes

Room and pillar sizes are key factors for safe mining and ore recovery in open-stope mining. To investigate the influence of room and pillar configurations on stope stability in highly fractured and weakened areas, an orthogonal design with two factors, three levels and nine runs was proposed, followed by three-dimensional numerical simulation using ANSYS and FLAC3~. Results show that surface settlement after excavation is concentrically ringed, and increases with the decrease of pillar width and distances to stope gobs. In the meantime, the ore-control fault at the ore-rock boundary and the fractured argillaceous dolomite with intercalated slate at the hanging wall deteriorate the roof settlement. Additionally, stope stability is challenged due to pillar rheological yield and stress concentration, and both are induced by redistribution of stress and plastic zones after mining. Following an objective function and a constraint function, room and pillar configuration with widths of 14 m and 16 m, respectively, is presented as the optimization for improving the ore recovery rate while maintaining a safe working environment.     

Numerical investigation of water-entry of flatted-bottom seafloor mining tool in ocean waves

A numerical wave load model based on two-phase （water-air） Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes （RANS） type equations is used to evaluate hydrodynamic forces exerted on flatted-bottom seafloor mining tool during its entering ocean waves of deploying process. The discretization of the RANS equations is achieved by a finite volume approach （FV）. The volume of fluid method （VOF） is employed to track the complicated free surface. A numerical wave tank is built to generate the ocean waves which are suitable for deploying seafloor mining tool. A typical deploying condition is employed to reflect the process of flatted-bottom body impacting with waves, and the pressure distribution of bottom is also presented. Four different lowering velocities are applied to obtain the time histories of maximum pressure of bottom, and it can be concluded that the pressure coefficient decreases with water velocity increasing, which is similar with ordinary water entry case. The numerical results clearly demonstrate the characteristics of flatted-bottom body entering ocean waves.     

Numerical analysis of temperature rise within 70MPa composite hydrogen vehicle cylinder during fast refueling

The numerical simulation model for predicting fast filling process of 70 MPa type Ⅲ（with metal liner） hydrogen vehicle cylinder was presented,which has considered turbulence,real gas effect and solid heat transfer issues.Through the numerical analysis method,the temperature distributions of the gas within the solid walls were revealed; adiabatic filling was studied to evaluate the heat dissipation during the filling; the influences of various filling conditions on temperature rise were analyzed in detail.Finally,cold filling was proposed to evaluate the effect on temperature rise and SoC（state of charge） within the cylinder.The hydrogen pre-cooling was proved to be an effective solution to reduce maximum temperature and acquire higher SoC during the filling process.     

Analysis and optimization of variable depth increments in sheet metal incremental forming

A method utilizing variable depth increments during incremental forming was proposed and then optimized based on numerical simulation and intelligent algorithm.Initially,a finite element method（FEM） model was set up and then experimentally verified.And the relation between depth increment and the minimum thickness tmin as well as its location was analyzed through the FEM model.Afterwards,the variation of depth increments was defined.The designed part was divided into three areas according to the main deformation mechanism,with Di（i=1,2） representing the two dividing locations.And three different values of depth increment,Δzi（i=1,2,3） were utilized for the three areas,respectively.Additionally,an orthogonal test was established to research the relation between the five process parameters（D and Δz） and tmin as well as its location.The result shows that Δz2 has the most significant influence on the thickness distribution for the corresponding area is the largest one.Finally,a single evaluating indicator,taking into account of both tmin and its location,was formatted with a linear weighted model.And the process parameters were optimized through a genetic algorithm integrated with an artificial neural network based on the evaluating index.The result shows that the proposed algorithm is satisfactory for the optimization of variable depth increment.     

Numerical simulation of dynamic process for liquid film spreading by lattice Boltzmann method and its experimental verification

Combined with the kinetic model of liquid film spreading, a new numerical method of solid-liquid-gas three-phase flow was developed for the moving of contact line, which was a hybrid method of computational fluid dynamics and lattice Boltzmalm method （LBM）. By taking the effect of molecule force in droplet and the wall surface on liquid film into account, the changing law of contact angle with different surface tensions was analyzed on glass and aluminum foil surfaces. Compared with experimental results, the standard deviation by using LBM is less than 0.5°, which validates the feasibility of LBM simulation on the dynamic process of liquid film spreading. In addition, oscillations are discovered both at the initial and end phases. The phenomenon of retraction is also found and the maximum retraction angle is 7.58°. The obtained result shows that the retraction is proved to be correlative with precursor film by tracking the volume change of liquid film contour. Furthermore, non-dimensional coefficient 2 is introduced to measure the liquid film retraction capacity.     

Numerical simulation on effects of embedded crack on rock fragmentation by a tunnel boring machine cutter

Based on the simplification of cutting process, a series of numerical simulations were conducted using a 2-D discrete element method to explore the effects of embedded cracks with different dip angles on the rock fragmentation process, cutting characteristics and breaking efficiency. The results show that the simulated results are in a good agreement with previous theoretical study. The main crack propagates to the top tip of embedded crack, except when the dip angle is 90°. Side cracks which are more fully developed in the rocks containing embedded cracks tend to propagate towards the free surface. According to the history of vertical cutting force, it is shown that the peak force is decreased by embedded cracks. The study on cutting efficiency was conducted by combining the quantity of crack and cutting energy. And the results show that breaking efficiency can be treated as a decreasing or a increasing function when the dip angle is less or larger than 30°, respectively. Breaking efficiency is higher than that in intact rock when the dip angle is larger than 45°.     

Macro-micro investigation of granular materials in torsional shear test

A three-dimensional numerical torsion shear test is presented on hollow cylinder specimen which is performed on a spherical assemblage with fixed principal stress axes using the discrete element code PFC3D.Stack wall technique boundary conditions are employed and optimized to reasonably capture the microstructure evolution.Parametric studies are conducted in terms of the ratio κ,normal and shear stiffness of particles,wall stiffness and friction coefficients.Afterwards,in comparison with physical test,numerical results for a fixed principal stress angle（α=45°） are presented.The results show that the numerical test could capture the macro-micro mechanical behavior of the spherical particle assembly.The evolution of the coordination number demonstrates that particles in shear banding undergo remarkable decrease.The effects of localization on specimens illustrate that global stress and strain recorded from a hollow cylinder apparatus could not represent the localized response.The shearing band initiation and evolution from porosity and shear rate are visualized by contour lines in different shear strains.