Characterization of rockfalls from seismic signal: insights from laboratory experiments

International audienceThe seismic signals generated by rockfalls can provide information on their dynamics and location. However, the lack of field observations makes it difficult to establish clear relationships between the characteristics of the signal and the source. In this study, scaling laws are derived from analytical impact models to relate the mass and the speed of an individual impactor to the radiated elastic energy and the frequency content of the emitted seismic signal. It appears that the radiated elastic energy and frequencies decrease when the impact is viscoelastic or elasto-plastic compared to the case of an elastic impact. The scaling laws are validated with laboratory experiments of impacts of beads and gravels on smooth thin plates and rough thick blocks. Regardless of the involved materials, the masses and speeds of the impactors are retrieved from seismic measurements within afactor of 3. A quantitative energy budget of the impacts is established. On smooth thin plates, the lost energy is either radiated in elastic waves or dissipated in viscoelasticity when the impactor is large or small with respect to the plate thickness, respectively. In contrast, on rough thick blocks, theelastic energy radiation represents less than 5% of the lost energy. Most of the energy is lost in plastic deformation or rotation modes of the bead owingto surface roughness. Finally, we estimate the elastic energy radiated during field scale rockfalls experiments. This energy is shown to be proportional to the boulder mass, in agreement with the theoretical scaling laws

Bridgehead isomer effects in bis(phosphido)-bridged diiron hexacarbonyl proton reduction electrocatalysts

The influence of the substitution, orientation and structure of the phosphido bridges in [Fe2(CO)6(μ-PR2)2] electrocatalysts of proton reduction has been studied. The isomers e,a-[Fe2(CO)6{μ-P(Ar)H}2] (1a(Ar): Ar = Ph, 2′-methoxy-1,1′-binaphthyl (bn′)), e,e-[Fe2(CO)6{μ-P(Ar)H}2] (1b(Ar): Ar = Ph, bn′) were isolated from reactions of iron pentacarbonyl and the corresponding primary phosphine, syntheses that also afforded the phosphinidene-capped tri-iron clusters, [Fe3(CO)9(μ-CO)(μ3-Pbn′)] (2) and [Fe3(CO)9(μ3-PAr)2] (3(Ar), Ar = Ph, bn′). A ferrocenyl (Fc)-substituted dimer [Fe2(CO)6{μ:μ′-1,2-(P(CH2Fc)CH2)2C6H4}] (4), in which the two phosphido bridges are linked by an o-xylyl group, was also prepared. The molecular structures of complexes 1a(Ph), 1b(Ph), 1b(bn′), 2 and 4 were established by X-ray crystallography. All complexes have been examined as electrocatalysts for proton reduction using p-toluene sulfonic acid in tetrahydrofuran. Cyclic voltammograms of the dimers with acid exhibit two catalysis waves for proton reduction. The first wave, which appears at the potential of the primary reduction, reaches maximum current (turnover) at moderate acid concentrations and is rapidly overtaken by the second wave, which appears at more negative potential. Both of these reductive waves show an initial first order dependence on acid. The electrochemistry and electrocatalyses of the [Fe2(CO)6(μ-PR2)2] dimers show subtle variations with the nature of the bridging phosphido group(s), including the orientation of bridgehead hydrogen atoms

Efficient and Limiting Reactions in Aqueous Light-Induced Hydrogen Evolution Systems using Molecular Catalysts and Quantum Dots

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