Post-erosion mechanical responses of internally unstable gap-graded soil under drained torsional simple shear and triaxial compression

Internal erosion is a major threat to hydraulic earth structures, such as river levees and dams. This paper focuses on suffusion and suffosion phenomena which are caused by the movement of fine particles in the granular skeleton due to seepage flow. The present study investigates the impact of internal erosion on the dynamic response under cyclic torsional shear and monotonic responses under triaxial compression and torsional simple shear. A series of experiments, using a gap-graded silica mixture with a fines content of 20%, is performed under loose, medium, and dense conditions using a novel erosion hollow cylindrical torsional shear apparatus. The erosion test results indicate that the critical hydraulic gradient and the rate of erosion are density-dependent, where a transition from suffosion to suffusion is observed as the seepage continues. Regardless of the sample density, variations in the radial strain and particle size distribution, along the specimen height after erosion, are no longer uniform. Furthermore, the dynamic shearing results show that the small-strain shear modulus increases, but the initial damping ratio decreases after internal erosion, probably due to the removal of free fines. In addition, the elastic threshold strain and reference shear strain values are found to be higher for the eroded and non-eroded specimens, respectively. Finally, based on drained monotonic loading, the post-erosion peak stress ratio increases remarkably under triaxial compression, while that under torsional simple shear depends on the relative density where the direction of loading is normal to the direction of seepage. These observations indicate that the horizontal bedding plane becomes weaker, while the vertical one becomes stronger after downward erosion.     

Stability assessment of 3D reinforced soil structures under steady unsaturated infiltration

Internal stability assessment of geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures (GRSSs) has been commonly carried out assuming plane-strain conditions and dry backfills. However, failures of GRSSs usually show three-dimensional (3D) features and occur under unsaturated conditions. A procedure based on the kinematic limit-analysis method is proposed herein to assess 3D effects and the role of steady unsaturated infiltration on the required geosynthetic strength for GRSSs. A suction stress-based framework is used to describe the soil stress behavior under steady unsaturated infiltration. Based on the principle of energy-work balance, the required geosynthetic strength is determined. A comparison analysis with the prior research is conducted to verify the developed method. Two kinds of backfills, i.e., high-quality backfill and marginal backfill, are considered for comparison in this work. It is shown that accounting for 3D effects and the role of unsaturated infiltration considerably reduces the required geosynthetic strength. The 3D effects are primarily affected by the width-to-height ratio of GRSSs, and the contribution of unsaturated infiltration is mainly influenced by the soil type, flow rate, GRSS's height, and location of the water table.     

Consolidation considering increasing soil column radius for dredged slurries improved by vacuum preloading method

Soil column is often investigated in the improvement of dredged slurries. Different from the smear zone, the soil column forms gradually and has extremely low permeability. This study presents an analytical solution for soil consolidation considering the increasing radius of the soil column and time-dependent discharge capacity. Based on the solution, the influence of the radius' increase on the consolidation behavior is found significant when the soil column has low permeability and large final radius, and the increase of formation time can lead to the increase of consolidation speed and final consolidation degree.     

Experimental study on the load bearing behavior of geosynthetic reinforced soil bridge abutments with different facing conditions

This paper presents an experimental study on reduced-scale model tests of geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutments with modular block facing, full-height panel facing, and geosynthetic wrapped facing to investigate the influence of facing conditions on the load bearing behavior. The GRS abutment models were constructed using sand backfill and geogrid reinforcement. Test results indicate that footing settlements and facing displacements under the same applied vertical stress generally increase from full-height panel facing abutment, to modular block facing abutment, to geosynthetic wrapped facing abutment. Measured incremental vertical and lateral soil stresses for the two GRS abutments with flexible facing are generally similar, while the GRS abutment with rigid facing has larger stresses. For the GRS abutments with flexible facing, maximum reinforcement tensile strain in each layer typically occurs under the footing for the upper reinforcement layers and near the facing connections for the lower layers. For the full-height panel facing abutment, maximum reinforcement tensile strains generally occur near the facing connections.     

Effect of the particle size ratio on macro- and mesoscopic shear characteristics of the geogrid-reinforced rubber and sand mixture interface

As a new type of material for civil engineering projects, the rubber and sand mixture is widely used in roadbed fillers, offering environmental benefits over traditional tyre disposal methods. This study uses a large-scale direct shear apparatus to examine the interface shear properties of the geogrid-reinforced rubber and sand mixture, considering different particle size ratios (r), rubber contents, and normal stresses. Based on indoor tests, direct shear models of the mixture with different values of r are established in PFC^3D, revealing the meso-mechanical mechanism of the mixture in the direct shear process. The results show that when r is greater than 1, incorporating a certain amount of rubber particles can increase the shear strength of the mixture. The r values of 15.78, 7.63, and 3.98 correspond to an optimal rubber content of 30%, 10%, and 20%, respectively. When r is less than 1, mixing rubber particles can only reduce the shear strength of the mixture. When the rubber content is low, the smaller the value of r, the greater is the thickness of the shear band. Furthermore, the normal and tangential contact forces are greater. The fabric anisotropy evolution law of the mixture is consistent with the change in the contact force distribution.     

Structural damage and shear performance degradation of fiber–lime–soil under freeze–thaw cycling

The freeze–thaw cycling damages the soil structure, and the shear performance of soil are degraded. A series of tests on lime–soil(L–S) and fiber–lime–soil(F–L–S), including freeze–thaw test, the triaxial compression test, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) test and scanning electron microscope (SEM) test, were completed. The test results showed that fiber reinforcement changed the stress–strain behavior and failure pattern of soil. The cohesion and internal friction angle of soil gradually decreased with the increase of freeze–thaw cycles (F–T cycles). The pore radius and porosity of soil increased, while the micro pore volume decreased, and the small pore volume, medium pore volume and large pore volume increased, and the large pore volume had a little variation after 10 F–T cycles. The number of pores of F–L–S was less than L–S, demonstrating that the addition of fiber helped to reduce the pore volume. The interweaved fibers limited the development and the connection of cracks. By means of the spatial restraint effect of fiber on the soil and the friction action between fiber and soil, the shear performances and freeze–thaw durability of F–L–S better were than that of L–S.     

Quantification of Dendritic Spines Remodeling under Physiological Stimuli and in Pathological Conditions

Numerous brain diseases are associated with abnormalities in morphology and density of dendritic spines, small membranous protrusions whose structural geometry correlates with the strength of synaptic connections. Thus, the quantitative analysis of dendritic spines remodeling in microscopic images is one of the key elements towards understanding mechanisms of structural neuronal plasticity and bases of brain pathology. In the following article, we review experimental approaches designed to assess quantitative features of dendritic spines under physiological stimuli and in pathological conditions. We compare various methodological pipelines of biological models, sample preparation, data analysis, image acquisition, sample size, and statistical analysis. The methodology and results of relevant experiments are systematically summarized in a tabular form. In particular, we focus on quantitative data regarding the number of animals, cells, dendritic spines, types of studied parameters, size of observed changes, and their statistical significance.     

分散固相萃取-气相色谱-串联质谱法同时测定草莓及土壤中5种杀菌剂

目的 建立分散固相萃取-气相色谱-串联质谱分析法同时检测5种不同类型杀菌剂(五氯硝基苯、百菌清、氟吡菌酰胺、肟菌酯、咪鲜胺)的含量。方法 样品经10 mL乙酸乙酯提取, N-丙基乙二胺与C18(50 mg: 50 mg)分散固相萃取混合净化。采用多反应监测模式进行定性, 外标法进行定量分析。结果 5种杀菌剂在1~1000 μg/L浓度范围内呈线性, 相关系数为0.9802~0.9996。空白样品在10、100和200 μg/kg添加浓度下的回收率为84%~119%, 相对标准偏差为1%~17%(n=3), 方法定量限为最小添加浓度10 μg/kg。结论 该方法能够满足土壤和草莓样品中痕量杀菌剂检测的要求。     

华北土石山区典型小流域土壤水文特征与模拟研究

土壤水文特征是研究区域水土资源合理配置的基础支撑要素,根据华北土石山区土壤的地貌分异规律,综合考虑地质、植被、土地利用等因素,采用野外调查取样法、环刀法等,研究了易县崇陵流域5种典型植被(油松、侧柏、银杏、刺槐、荆条)条件下的土壤物理性质、土壤水分特征曲线、土壤入渗过程等土壤水文特征。结果表明,同一植被条件下,土壤容重随土壤深度增加逐渐增大,同一深度条件下,荆条覆盖下的土壤容重最小,其他植被覆盖条件下的土壤容重差别不显著;同一植被条件下,随深度增加,饱和含水率逐渐减小,同一植被不同深度条件下的土壤水吸力随土壤含水率的增加逐渐减小;对土壤水分特征曲线进行拟合时,发现Gardner模型适用于油松和银杏,而张景略模型适用于侧柏、刺槐和荆条;土壤入渗过程的渗润阶段发生在土壤入渗开始的前10min内,渗漏阶段持续100~120min;侧柏最佳入渗模型为Kostiakov模型,而油松、银杏、刺槐及荆条最佳入渗模型为蒋定生模型。