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.     

Liquefaction behavior of fiber-reinforced calcareous sands in unidirectional and multidirectional simple shear tests

A study on the liquefaction resistance of calcareous sands reinforced with polypropylene fibers was reported. Stress-controlled cyclic simple shear tests were conducted on specimens prepared at a relative density of 50%, with and without fiber reinforcements. The liquefaction behavior was investigated by considering the effects of fiber contents ranging from 0% to 1%, fiber lengths varying from 3 mm to 12 mm and loading patterns. The results indicated that increasing fiber content and fiber length resulted in a decrease in the deformation, a reduction in pore pressure accumulation rate, and improved the liquefaction resistance of calcareous sands. Additionally, the risk of soil liquefaction could be significantly reduced when the fiber content was greater than 0.8%. The multidirectional loading had a considerable effect in reducing the liquefaction resistance compared to unidirectional loading. Further, the stiffness degradation of calcareous sands decreased with increasing fiber content and fiber length. The pore pressure generated in the cyclic tests was analyzed and was found to be affected by fiber content. A pore pressure prediction model was proposed to obtain the pore pressure characteristics of fiber-reinforced calcareous sands under various fiber content conditions.     

Simple Sequence Repeat Markers in Genetic Divergence and Marker-Assisted Selection of Rice Cultivars: A Review

Sequencing of rice genome has facilitated the understanding of rice evolution and has been utilized extensively for mining of DNA markers to facilitate marker-assisted breeding. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers that are tandemly repeated nucleotide sequence motifs flanked by unique sequences are presently the maker of choice in rice improvement due to their abundance, co-dominant inheritance, high levels of allelic diversity, and simple reproducible assay. The current level of genome coverage by SSR markers in rice is sufficient to employ them for genotype identification and marker-assisted selection in breeding for mapping of genes and quantitative trait loci analysis. This review provides comprehensive information on the mapping and applications of SSR markers in investigation of rice cultivars to study their genetic divergence and marker-assisted selection of important agronomic traits.     

A passivity‐based simple adaptive synergetic control for a class of nonlinear systems

For a class of nonlinear systems with the representation {A(x), B(x), C} and where the system parameters and dynamics are unknown, a simple adaptive synergetic controller ensuring the asymptotic convergence of the system to a desired manifold is proposed based on the technique of simple adaptive control (SAC). It is well known that the design of the synergetic control (SC) law requires a thorough knowledge of the system parameters and dynamics. Such problem obstructs the synthesis of the SC law and the designer is prompted to pass through the estimation methods, which, in turn, poses a problem of increasing the computation time of the control algorithm. To cope with this problem, a solution is proposed by modifying the original SC law to develop an SAC‐like adaptive SC law without the need of prior knowledge of the system. The stability of the proposed adaptive controller is formally proven via the Lyapunov approach. Experimental application to a quadrotor system is given to validate the theoretical results.     

Transient parametric pilot study on thermosyphon heat transport device: A computational fluid dynamics hypothesis and experimental exploration

This study aims to examine the practicality of a novel passive heat transport system “thermosyphon heat transport device” (THTD). It is a fluid-filled unit, with both source and sink amalgamated within it. A vertical tube-in-tube design has been incorporated, consisting of heat source, adiabatic height, and sink. To showcase the performance, a transient numerical analysis is performed using ANSYS Fluent, which is compared with the simple closed thermosiphon (SCT) for heat transport capability (1 kW) and different adiabatic heights (0.25, 1, and 1.5 m). Also, the influence of axial conduction is examined. The proposed Therminol VP1-based THTD has better heat transport capability over SCT due to a uniform flow pattern. Although the time response diminishes with adiabatic height, the novelty is justified as the heat gained by THTD (adiabatic height: 1.5 m) is 1.5 times more than SCT. Furthermore, the THTD performance is experimentally analyzed by varying the coolant flow rate (0.01, 0.02, and 0.03 kg/s), heat load (100−600 W), and transport distance (0.25 and 0.75 m), which yielded 80%−90% energy efficiency. As the THTD is crucial for a conceptual solar indoor cooker, the response under transient heating/cooling conditions is also investigated, which depicted 300 s for transient heating and 10−50 s for transient cooling.     

振动输送机运动学参数的半解析半数值方法

针对已往计算振动输送机运动学参数较繁杂的数值计算和解析方法,振动输送机机体振动是以简谐直线振动为主的,分析了双简谐振动槽面上的抛掷运动,对抛始角及抛止角进行了数值分析计算,给出了双简谐振动输送机理论平均输送速度的半解析半数值的简易计算方法,从而求出有关运动学参数,为设计该类振动形式的输送机提供了有效的简易计算方法。     

复杂地形下人工挖孔灌注桩施工工艺研究

从传统人工挖孔灌注桩施工工艺角度入手，结合工程地质条件的复杂因素和现场环境恶劣的情况，对作业条件、施工技术可行性、环境制约因素，进行了深度技术分析，提出了经济的施工方案，采用新技术和自制简易机具，有效地解决了施工中的难题。     

无砂混凝土灌注桩检测实例分析

近期青岛地区大量使用无砂混凝土灌注桩 ,通过检测发现 .些桩存在嵌固不良的现象 ,其单桩竖向承载力不能满足设计要求 ,选其中一实例对其缺陷的判定进行分析 .     

砾石垫层-混凝土接触面力学特性单剪试验研究

混凝土面板坝的安全与面板的受力状态密切相关。混凝土面板与砾石垫层料的特性有较大差异,两者之间接触面的力学特性,对于面板的应力与变形具有重要影响。结合国内在建的水布垭高面板堆石坝的设计科研需要,研制了一大型叠环式单剪仪,对面板与砾石垫层间接触面的力学特性进行了试验研究。为了对接触面的不同处理方式的效果进行对比,为设计方案的选择提供依据,分别进行了混凝土面无保护、砂浆保护和乳化沥青保护三种接触面的剪切试验。