Quantitative evaluation of rock brittleness based on crack initiation stress and complete stress–strain curves

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Brittleness is an important rock material property, and its accurate evaluation has guiding significance in construction as well as in disaster...     

Effects of principal stress rotation on stress–strain behaviors of saturated clay under traffic–load–induced stress path

A series of cyclic torsional shear tests using hollow cylinder apparatus (HCA) were performed to investigate the effect of principal stress rotation (PSR) on the stress–strain behaviors of saturated soft clay. The traffic–load–induced shear stress path was used in the cyclic test and the investigation mainly concerned the influence of PSR on the shear stiffness and non-coaxiality. It indicated that the effects of PSR substantially depends on the magnitude of deviatoric stress (q?=?{[(σ₁???σ₂)²?+?(σ₂???σ₃)²?+?(σ₁???σ₃)²]/2}^1/2) as well as the intermediate principal stress ratio (b?=?(σ₂???σ₃)/(σ₁???σ₃)). At low deviatoric stress, the trajectory envelope of deviatoric strain path translates with a nearly constant size, showing constant shear stiffness and strong non-coaxiality. However, at high deviatoric stress, the trajectory envelope of deviatoric strain rapidly expands towards instability, showing degenerating shear stiffness and weak non-coaxiality. Moreover, the excess pore water pressure increases and the shear stiffness decreases more rapidly as b value increases. The results can provide an experimental basis for constitutive modelling of clays under traffic–induced loadings.     

Design-oriented stress–strain model for FRP-confined concrete

External confinement by the wrapping of FRP sheets (or FRP jacketing) provides a very effective method for the retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) columns subject to either static or seismic loads. For the reliable and cost-effective design of FRP jackets, an accurate stress–strain model is required for FRP-confined concrete. In this paper, a new design-oriented stress–strain model is proposed for concrete confined by FRP wraps with fibres only or predominantly in the hoop direction based on a careful interpretation of existing test data and observations. This model is simple, so it is suitable for direct use in design, but in the meantime, it captures all the main characteristics of the stress–strain behavior of concrete confined by different types of FRP. In addition, for unconfined concrete, this model reduces directly to idealized stress–strain curves in existing design codes. In the development of this model, a number of important issues including the actual hoop strains in FRP jackets at rupture, the sufficiency of FRP confinement for a significant strength enhancement, and the effect of jacket stiffness on the ultimate axial strain, were all carefully examined and appropriately resolved. The predictions of the model are shown to agree well with test data.     

Stress–strain relations of cement-mixed gravelly soil from multiple-step triaxial compression test results

The peak compressive strengths at different confining pressures of cement-mixed gravel (CMG) that are very similar to those obtained by single-step loading (SL) drained triaxial compression (TC) tests using multiple specimens can be obtained by a multiple-step loading (ML) test using a single specimen. However, only the unload/reload stress–strain relations at different confining pressures (except for the primary loading pressure at the first step) can be obtained from an ML test, and the reloading relations become softer with the increases in negative irreversible axial strain increments that have taken place during the respective immediately preceding unloading regimes. This phenomenon is formulated by a unique empirical equation for the CMG tests. Undamaged reloading stress–strain curves (URCs) were inferred by removing the damage effects from measured reloading curves (MRCs) in the ML TC test based on this correlation. A method was developed within the framework of the proportional rule to infer primary loading curves (PLCs) at different confining pressures from the URCs and the PLC at the first step obtained from a given ML TC test. A procedure was formulated to modify the PLCs obtained by this procedure based on the PLCs measured at stresses exceeding the yield stress for large-scale yielding during reloading at different confining pressures in the ML test. This method was validated by comparing the PLCs obtained from the results of a pair of ML tests, increasing and decreasing the confining pressure, with those obtained from a set of SL TC tests at different confining pressures.     

Influence of test specimen on experimental characterization of timber–concrete composite joints

Load-carrying capacity of timber–concrete composite joints is usually evaluated using shear tests, which still lack specific standards. Regulations EN 26891 [1] and ASTM D 5652 [2] are usually used, both for timber joints, or EUROCODE 4 [3] for steel–concrete composite joints. Questions about test execution and arrangement of specimens are frequent and recurrent [4], [5], [6]. Steel–concrete composite structures already have a standard shear test for joints (push-out), described in Johnson and Anderson [7]. These authors also discussed the many differences in the results of shear tests because of differences in test methods before EUROCODE 4 [3] standardization.This paper presents some questions about the arrangement of test specimens for shear tests in timber–concrete joints. An experimental program was performed for this reason. The aim of the work was to compare shear test results using two different series of specimens most utilized in a review of the literature: the push-out type with concrete center and timber sides and the push-out type with timber center and concrete sides. 8.0, 10.0 and 12.5 mm diameter corrugated bars were used as connectors. Eucalyptus grandis Brazilian hardwood timber glulam was used. Two-component epoxy adhesive was used to glue the connectors into the timber. Average cylinder compressive strength of the concrete was 25 MPa (28 days old). Reinforcement was 6.0 mm diameter 500 MPa-yield-stress corrugated bars.The results showed that test specimen arrangement influenced the strength and deformation characteristics of timber–concrete composite joints. The specimen with the best shear strength was the concrete–wood–concrete type, similar to those used in steel–concrete composite structures. Since the arrangement of test specimen is an important factor in joint tests, it is recommended that further efforts be made towards standardization.     

Effect of surrounding soil on stress–strain response of buried pipelines under ground loads

In order to determine the stress–strain response of buried pipelines under the ground load, the pipeline–soil coupling finite element model was established. The mechanical behaviours of buried pipelines in the soil stratum and the rock stratum, as well as the effects of surrounding soil's elasticity modulus, Poisson's ratio and cohesion on stress and strain of buried pipelines were investigated. The results show that the maximum von Mises stress, high stress area, axial strain and plastic strain increase with the increasing ground load. Buried pipeline in the soil stratum is more prone to failure than in the rock stratum under the same ground load. The maximum axial compressive strain appears at the bottom of buried pipelines when there is no buckling, and the maximum tensile strain appears on the two sides. High stress area, the axial strain, the plastic strain and the plastic area decrease with the increase of the soil's elasticity modulus and cohesion. But the surrounding soil's Poisson's ratio has a small effect on the stress and strain of buried pipelines under the ground load. The results can provide a theoretical basis and reference for safety evaluation, repair and maintenance of buried pipelines.     

The stress–strain behaviour of multiple cell geocell packs

Geocell reinforcement of soil has been used successfully for many years in a wide variety of applications, some of which have tested the boundaries of current understanding of the functioning of the geocell–soil composite systems. This paper discusses the results of uniaxial compressive tests performed on geocell packs of different sizes. The packs were instrumented and the deformation within the packs studied. The boundary conditions imposed on the geocell pack in a laboratory test governs the deformation throughout the pack and has to be taken into account when interpreting the test results. This study shows that the strength of the geocell composite structure is indirectly proportional to the size of the individual cells and that the strength reduces with an increase in the number of cells in the structure.     

Influence of initial dry density and water content on the soil–water characteristic curve and suction stress of a reconstituted loess soil

In the northwest of China, many loess landslides have occurred without clear triggering factors (i.e., rainfall, earthquake, human activities, etc.). To better understand and analyze the hydro-mechanical properties of these slopes and then provide evidence for their stability analysis subjected to matric suction, it is essential to clarify the soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC). In this study, we conducted a set of experimental trials to examine the influences of initial dry density, water content upon the SWCCs of a loess soil taken from a loess landslide area, by using a conventional volumetric pressure plate extractor. Two common SWCC models have been investigated to evaluate which one is better for loess soil. The suction stress characteristic curves (SSCCs) were also estimated and analyzed. We found that behaviors of SWCCs would be different when the matric suction was greater than a certain value. The two SWCC equations have approximately the same performance in describing the SWCC. The rates of desorption decrease and residual water content increases with increasing the initial dry density, while the initial dry density has little, if any, influence on the air-entry value (AEV). The specimen compacted under higher initial water content would exhibit a higher AEV value and residual water content but lower rate of desorption as compared with the lower initial water content. The magnitude of suction stress had an approximately linear relationship with matric suction before the AEV value, the SSCC shapes will be markedly varied with the initial dry density and water content.     

Mechanism of zonal disintegration around deep underground excavations under triaxial stress – Insight from numerical test

The failure pattern and failure mechanism around deep underground excavations under tri-axial stress, in particular the zonal disintegration at different scales, were studied through three-dimensional numerical tests. It is found that the failure patterns of deep underground openings are obviously influenced by the triaxial stress. Zonal disintegration is a general failure mode of deep surrounding rock mass under high triaxial stress, where the alternate fracture zones and intact zones are formed by the intersection of the fully developed shear dominated fractures. The circular failure pattern of zonal disintegration is only a very specific failure pattern of zonal disintegration that is more likely to be formed when the horizontal stress in the direction of tunnel axis being the maximum principal stress. Sometimes the circular failure pattern of zonal disintegration is only the miss-judgment based on the limited borehole observations. Numerical results also denote that the heterogeneities of rock masses play a very important role on the scale of zonal disintegration.     

Study of stress–strain and volume change behavior of fly ash-GBFS based geopolymer rammed earth

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Rammed earth (RE) material as inexpensive and sustainable material attracts the attention of owners, engineers, and contractors. Traditional...     

Analytical and experimental study on flexural performance of WPC–FRP beams

Wood plastic composite (WPC) beams retrofitted with carbon and glass fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP and GFRP) composites offer an attractive solution to enhance the behavior of wood in terms of strength and ductility, as well as altering the mode of rupture of such structural members. However, very little is known about their performance. Thus, this paper presents a theoretical model based on nonlinear WPC properties, to investigate the behavior of hybrid WPC–FRP beams. In order to calculate the bending moment, the model considers an exponential function in the stress–strain diagram of WPC in both tension and compression parallel to the fibers. A four-point bending test configuration was conducted as short-term experiments to determine the load–displacement relationships of WPC beams with CFRP and GFRP sheets adhered to the tensile side. In order to validate the employed approach, the results obtained from the theoretical model were compared with the experimental results where a satisfactory agreement was achieved.     

A three-stage full-range stress–strain inversion for stainless steel alloys as an explicit function of temperature

Presented in this paper is a new explicit full-range stress–strain inversion for stainless steel alloys which expresses the stress as an explicit function of strain and temperature. The relation utilizes an approximation of the closed form inversion of a highly accurate three-stage stress–strain relation recently obtained from a modified version of the Ramberg–Osgood equation. The inversion which is obtained by making a generalized rational function assumption on the fractional deviation of the actual stress–strain curve from an idealized linear elastic behavior is applicable both to tensile and compressive stresses. The temperature dependence is then accounted for by using modified mechanical properties which are functions of temperature. The paper also presents a new direct temperature dependent stress–strain relation based on material properties at normal temperature. While previous studies use temperature dependent material properties to account for the effect of temperature on the stress–strain relation, this paper proposes explicit formulation based on the material properties at normal temperatures. The explicit temperature dependence is introduced by modifying the form of the stress–strain relation which includes a factor with an appropriate temperature dependent function. The validity of the temperature-dependent expression is tested over a wide range of material parameters and a wide range of temperatures. It is demonstrated that the proposed expression is both qualitatively and quantitatively in excellent agreement with the fully iterated numerical solution of the full-range temperature-dependent stress–strain relation at moderate and high temperatures.     

Modeling of soil–woven geotextile interface behavior from direct shear test results

Apart from other factors, the performance of geosynthetic reinforced soil structures depends also on the characteristics and behavior of the interface between soil and geosynthetic. Experiments were conducted in a direct shear test apparatus to study the shear force–displacement behavior at the soil–geotextile interface using two differently textured woven geotextiles. Analyzing the data so obtained a non-linear constitutive model has been presented for predicting both the pre-peak and the post-peak interface behavior. The predictions made by the developed model are found to be in good agreement with experimental data obtained from direct shear tests.     

Effects of experimental frost–thaw cycles on sandstones with different weathering degrees: a case from the Bingling Temple Grottoes,China

Numerous ancient sandstone grottoes remain in northwest and central China, and weathering issues have significantly influenced their preservation conditions. The dramatic naturally cyclic changes in water content and temperature in the environment have been considered to be the main drivers of the physical weathering that commonly occurs at these archaeological sites. Therefore, comparing and understanding the behaviors of sandstone with different weathering degrees under variable environmental conditions would be helpful for further study on predicting the type, location and extent of deterioration of sandstone relics in a small region (such as the surrounding rock of grottoes). This study examines Cretaceous sandstones with two weathering degrees from Bingling Temple Grottoes, China. Standard thin section photomicrographs provide petrographic and mineralogical data and show that the sandstones have identical lithologies. Three types of specifically designed frost weathering tests are then conducted on the samples. After every six weathering cycles, the weathering processes are suspended, and the corresponding parameters, such as dry weight loss, dry density, effective porosity, porosity, P wave velocity, surface hardness and drilling resistance, are measured. At the end of the weathering cycles, the sample variations in grain size distributions are compared, and statistical tests are performed to show the statistical significance of the results. The results indicate that similar deterioration patterns occur on the samples with two weathering degrees under the same weathering tests. The increase in effective porosity surpasses that of the porosity only when the weathering effect is large enough. Furthermore, sandstone with a high degree of weathering might be more susceptible to changes in the internal pores due to its greater initial interconnectivity. In an open system, physical weathering (frost–thaw and dry–wet cycles) would cause the superficial grain size distributions of different rocks to become relatively uniform. Finally, when exposed to the same weathering process, the decreases in the overall mechanical strength in the two sandstones do not differ significantly, but the loss of superficial strength may be different.

     

Wet‐dry process of HCL removal from flue gas: experimental study on operating parameters

Wet‐dry process of hydrogen chloride removal from flue gas has been studied at pilot scale. Hot gas produced by methane burner, added with gaseous hydrogen chloride, is contacted by an aqueous suspension of calcium hydroxide in a cylindrical steel vessel 0.25 m I.D. and 4 m high.

The effects of feed ratio Ca(OH)₂/HCl, hydrogen chloride concentration in the inlet gas, operating temperature and residence time on the amount of hydrogen chloride removed have been exstensively investigated. The effect of inside wall fouling by Ca(OH)₂ has also been evaluated.

The experimental results show that the overall amount of hydrogen chloride removed increases when the feed ratio and the gas inlet concentration are increased and the operating temperature is decreased. However, the HCL removal does not seem affected by the residence time within the short interval investigated.     

Dynamic elastic properties of hardened experimental mortar bars affected by accelerated alkali–silica reactivity test: a laboratory approach

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - The evaluation of ASR sensitivity of aggregates is of utmost importance due to durability and safety of structures and also due to economic...     

Seepage–stress coupled analysis on anisotropic characteristics of the fractured rock mass around roadway

Anisotropic properties of the fractured rock masses are investigated considering the coupled effect of the seepage and stress. The equivalent permeability and damage tensor of the fractured rock mass are initially examined using a series of Discrete-Fracture-Network (DFN) models with varied size and orientations from the geological investigation data of the sandstone roadway on the floor of 12# coal seam in Fangezhuang Coal Mine. A seepage–stress cross-coupling anisotropic model considering the coupled effect of the seepage and stress is described and applied to analyze the influence of the principal orientations of the joint sets on the anisotropic properties of the rock mass. It appears that the anisotropic properties of the rock mass have a great influence on the stress distribution, hydraulic conductivity coefficient and damage zone. The model may contribute to a more reasonable explanation on the dominant effect of the joint sets on deformation and failure of rock mass.     

A computational framework for fluid–structure interaction with applications on stability evaluation of breakwater under combined tsunami–earthquake activity

In this article, an improved impervious solid boundary condition of the coupled method called smooth particle hydrodynamics and discrete element method (SPH-DEM) is proposed, which prevents the fluid particles from penetrating solid boundary under earthquake action. And an improved transmitting boundary condition of SPH-DEM is designed in order to conquer the reflection of seismic waves on the boundary. Meanwhile, the effective stress method is proposed to be applied to the SPH-DEM for simulating seabed liquefaction. Based on these, a new computational framework for the SPH-DEM is put forward. Dynamic triaxial test of seabed soil samples indicate that our proposed computational framework can well reproduce the seismic liquefaction process of the seabed soil. Moreover, our proposed computational framework is used to numerically reproduce the failure mechanisms of a breakwater built in liquefied seabed under combined tsunami–earthquake activity and meantime the centrifuge test is carried out. And the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed computational framework, in which numerical results of it are consistent with results of the centrifuge test.     

Experimental study on seismic behavior of concrete filled steel tube columns under pure torsion and compression–torsion cyclic load

Based on the quasi-static test on eight CFST columns subjected to pure torsion and compression–torsion cyclic load, the torsion behavior of CFST columns with various section types, steel ratios and axial load levels was studied. The test results showed that the hysteretic curves of CFST columns under pure torsion and low compression–torsion cyclic load are very plump, which indicate that CFST columns have good seismic capacity. The unloading stiffness of CFST columns was equal to the initial elastic stiffness. The torsion capacity of CFST columns could be improved by the low compressive load, and the ductility was also good. But the torsion capacity of CFST columns would be reduced by the high compressive load. When CFST columns subjected to pure torsion, spiral diagonal compressive struts will be created in the in-filled concrete, and the axial components of the diagonal compressive force of the in-filled concrete was equal to the axial tensile force of the steel tube in order to satisfy the axial load equilibrium condition on the section, so the axial strain will be produced in the steel tube. The shear strain has good linear relationship with the rotation angle of the section when CFST columns subjected to pure torsion and compression–torsion combined action. Based on the test results and literatures available, the torsion mechanism of CFST columns was preliminarily analyzed.     

Effect of temperature on the soil–water retention characteristics in unsaturated soils: Analytical and experimental approaches

In unsaturated soil mechanics, the soil–water retention curve (SWRC) continues to play an important role, since it provides the necessary links between the properties and behaviour of unsaturated soils with a variety of engineering challenges. The temperature has been identified as the main factor influencing SWRC as compared to a variety of other parameters. The goal of this research is to describe theoretical and experimental aspects of the temperature effect on unsaturated soil water retention phenomena. Theoretically, a brief review of the constitutive laws governing the thermal-hydro-mechanical (THM) behaviour of unsaturated soils is presented, along with links between variations in suction with water content, temperature, and void ratio. It also provides a broad framework that would to be well adapted to describing many specific circumstances. Through a closed-form predictive relationship that is developed in this framework, the effect of temperature is examined. By using this relationship, the soil–water retention curve at arbitrary temperature could be determined from one at a reference temperature, therefore significantly decreasing the number of tests necessary to describe the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of a soil. Besides, the SWRC of kaolinite clay was also measured at three different temperatures in an experimental program. The test findings reveal that when the temperature rises, the SWRC decreases significantly. The experimental results were then integrated with sixteen other available data sets covering a wide range of soil types, densities, and suction to create a complete verification program for analytical models. The proposed model has a good performance and reliability in forecasting the fluctuation of non-isothermal SWRC than any existing model, according to statistical assessment results. The analytical model can be used to examine the thermo-hydro-mechanical characteristics of unsaturated soils in numerical simulations.