Travel distance of failed slopes during 2004 Chuetsu earthquake and its evaluation in terms of energy

A number of slope failures during the 2004 Niigataken Chuetsu earthquake were investigated, revealing that the travel distance becomes longer as the slope gets gentler and the failed soil mass gets larger. An energy-based approach, proposed in previous research to evaluate the travel distance of failed slopes, is modified by adding the model test results and introducing a simple evaluation method. The energy approach is then applied to a number of slopes failed during the earthquake to back-calculate mobilized friction coefficients, revealing their strong dependency on initial slope inclinations. The friction coefficient was found to be smaller than the initial slope inclination for gentler slopes, indicating that the failed soil mass tends to accelerate. In contrast, that for steeper slopes was higher than initial slope inclination. The friction coefficient was found to decrease with increasing volume of failed slope, which is quite consistent with previous case studies including large non-seismic landslides.     

Towards multiple hazard resilient bridges: a methodology for modeling frequent and infrequent time-varying loads Part I, Comprehensive reliability and partial failure probabilities

The current AASHTO load and resistance factor design (LRFD) guidelines are formulated based on bridge reliability,which interprets traditional design safety factors into more rigorously deduced factors based on the theory of probability.This is a major advancement in bridge design specifications.However,LRFD is only calibrated for dead and live loads.In cases when extreme loads are significant,they need to be individually assessed.Combining regular loads with extreme loads has been a major challenge,mainly because the extreme loads are time variables and cannot be directly combined with time invariant loads to formulate the probability of structural failure.To overcome these difficulties,this paper suggests a methodology of comprehensive reliability,by introducing the concept of partial failure probability to separate the loads so that each individual load combination under a certain condition can be approximated as time invariant.Based on these conditions,the extreme loads (also referred to as multiple hazard or MH loads) can be broken down into single effects.In Part Ⅱ of this paper,a further breakdown of these conditional occurrence probabilities into pure conditions is discussed by using a live truck and earthquake loads on a bridge as an example.There are three major steps in establishing load factors from MH load distributions:(1) formulate the failure probabilities;(2) normalize various load distributions;and (3) establish design limit state equations.This paper describes the formulation of the failure probabilities of single and combined loads.     

Non-Simultaneous Failure of Ice in Front of Multi-Leg Structures

Because the multi-leg jacket structure is the major type of offshore structures in the Bohai Sea, the study of non-si-multaneous failure of i鏴 on multi-leg structures is important. However, the non-simultaneous failure has not been consid-ered in engineering design until now, obviously resulting in costly design and notable waste. To resolve this problem, this paper, by means of analysis of experimental data, calculates the coefficient of the non-simultaneous failure for the double-pile structure, the square four-leg structure, the single-line multi-pile structure, and the conical structure, respectively, and provides some reference criteria for engineering design.     

Borehole failure analysis in a sandstone under anisotropic stresses

Borehole failure under anisotropic stresses in a sandstone is analyze numerically for various borehole sizes using a nonlinear elastic–plastic constitutive model for a Cosserat continuum. Borehole failure is identified as macroscopic failure of the borehole through the development of shear bands and breakouts. The results compare well both qualitatively and quantitatively with experimental results from polyaxial tests on Red Wildmoor sandstone. They show that the hole size effect of the borehole failure strength is independent of the far‐field stress anisotropy and follows a ? power law of the hole size. A similar scale effect equation with a ? power law is proposed for the scale effect of the maximum plastic shear strain at failure. This equation can be useful for better predicting hole‐size‐dependent failure with standard codes based on classical continua. The effect of stress anisotropy on the borehole failure stress is found to be independent of the hole size. The failure stress decreases linearly to 40% as the stress anisotropy increases. However, the maximum plastic shear strain at failure is stress anisotropy independent and therefore the critical plastic shear strain for failure is only hole‐size dependent. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental Study of a Command Governor Adaptive Depth Controller for an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are increasingly being used in advanced applications that require them to operate in tandem with human divers and around underwater infrastructure and other vehicles. These applications require precise control of the UUVs which is challenging due to the non-linear and time varying nature of the hydrodynamic forces, presence of external disturbances, uncertainties and unexpected changes that can occur within the UUV’s operating environment. Adaptive control has been identified as a promising solution to achieve desired control within such dynamic environments. Nevertheless, adaptive control in its basic form, such as Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) has a trade-off between the adaptation rate and transient performance. Even though, higher adaptation rates produce better performance they can lead to instabilities and actuator fatigue due to high frequency oscillations in the control signal. Command Governor Adaptive Control (CGAC) is a possible solution to achieve better transient performance at low adaptation rates. In this study CGAC has been experimentally validated for depth control of a UUV, which is a unique challenge due to the unavailability of full state measurement and a greater thrust requirement. These in turn leads to additional noise from state estimation, time-delays from input noise filters, higher energy expenditure and susceptibility to saturation. Experimental results show that CGAC is more robust against noise and time-delays and has lower energy expenditure and thruster saturation. In addition, CGAC offers better tracking, disturbance rejection and tolerance to partial thruster failure compared to the MRAC.     

结构首次穿越失效研究的新进展

在结构首次穿越失效分析中,初始条件、成群穿越、结构的非线性及抗力退化等问题影响着分析方法的复杂性和分析结果的精确性。结合近年来的研究进展,本文讨论和分析了解决上述问题的新思路、新技术和新方法,同时,归纳了几个新的研究热点,以便为结构首次穿越失效的进一步理论和应用研究提供有益的参考。     

Seismically induced slope instabilities and the corresponding treatments: the case of a road in the Wenchuan earthquake hit region

On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake hit Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province resulted in great loss of life and properties. Besides, abundant landslides and slope failures were triggered in the most seriously hit areas and caused disastrous damages to infrastructures and public facilities. Moreover, abundant unstable slopes caused by the quake have the potential to cause damages for a considerable long period of time. The variety of these slopes and the corresponding treatments are connected with the topographical and geological conditions of the sites. It is decided to document and identify some of these major slope instabilities caused by the earthquake and their treatments. The paper shows the condition of a road in Dujiangyan through in situ explorations. The case history showed significant implications to the reconstruction of the quake-hit regions and future disaster prevention and management works.     

海洋纤维增强热塑性立管极限承载拉力预测方法

海洋新型纤维增强热塑性立管因其可盘卷、耐腐蚀、耐疲劳和轻质化等优点,在深水油气开发中应用前景十分广阔。热塑性立管具有复合材料的各向异性、受力耦合效应及复杂的本构关系,且承受浮体运动和复杂海洋环境载荷,其失效模式尚未明确。针对轴对称载荷作用下纤维增强热塑性立管极限承载力问题,进行热塑性管稳态热传导和热应力的理论推导,求解了稳态温度和应力分布,首次给出了在任意温度载荷作用下管体径向位移的解析解,并直接求解其径向、轴向、环向和剪切应力。采用各向同性层Von Mises和各向异性层最大应力（Max Stress）准则或Tsai-Hill准则判定热塑性管的失效,基于应力分布、失效准则和二分法计算了热塑性管的极限载荷。温度载荷、纤维铺设角度和径厚比对管道的应力分布影响显著。不同温度载荷会改变失效指数沿径向的变化趋势,增大轴向拉力将增大热塑性管的失效指数,选用不同的失效准则在管体失效判定上存在一定的差异。热塑性管温度越低、纤维铺设角越小及径厚比越大,管道对轴向拉伸载荷的承载能力越强。     

基于循环孔洞扩张模型的X型圆管节点超低周疲劳寿命预测

海洋工程钢结构在服役过程中,受风、浪、流或地震等极端循环载荷的影响,易发生超低周疲劳断裂破坏,造成人员伤亡及财产损失,因此超低周疲劳断裂分析及寿命预测对于海工结构安全性评估至关重要。然而,现阶段基于累积损伤理论提出的多种超低周疲劳寿命预测模型无法对多尺度节点实现统一预测,造成了实际工程应用的不便。因此文中基于循环孔洞扩张模型开展X型圆管节点超低周疲劳寿命预测。首先,开发了基于循环孔洞扩张模型的VUSDFLD程序,实现ABAQUS与FORTRAN子程序联合应用,利用有限元分析验证循环孔洞扩张模型在X型圆管节点超低周疲劳断裂分析中的有效性;其次,根据多组X型圆管节点超低周疲劳断裂有限元分析结果,在宏观层面提出了一种基于Manson-Coffin公式的超低周疲劳寿命预测公式;最后,依据Miner理论,将适用于等幅加载的超低周疲劳寿命公式扩展至变幅加载情况,验证了多种节点尺寸下超低周疲劳公式的适用性,为工程应用提供了理论依据。