Determinación analítica y experimental de la resistencia a tracción de probetas de hormigón reforzadas con fibras de acero

[ES] Las propiedades mecánicas del hormigón reforzado con fibras de acero (HRFA) están íntimamente ligadas a la cuantía, tipología y orientación de las fibras. Determinar de manera fiable la resistencia a tracción del HRFA es un tema aún no resuelto y que está siendo investigado a nivel internacional. La tomografía mediante rayos X se ha erigido como una de las herramientas más eficaces para determinar la posición y orientación de las fibras. Por otra parte, en los últimos años se han propuesto y desarrollado diferentes modelos para simular el comportamiento resistente y determinar la capacidad a tracción del HRFA. Uno de estos métodos se basa en la superposición del compartimiento individual de las fibras en la sección de fisura en función de la orientación. De los resultados obtenidos en una primera campaña experimental en que se tomografiaron los testigos que posteriormente fueron ensayados a tracción uniaxial, se ha derivado analíticamente su resistencia a tracción uniaxial. La comparación de los datos analíticos con los obtenidos en los ensayos permite contrastar la idoneidad de la formulación planteada. Así mismo, el estudio de los resultados permite analizar la influencia de la cuantía y la orientación de las fibras en la resistencia del material.Lorente Monleon, S.; Molins Borrell, C.; Ocete Manero, S. (2018). Determinación analítica y experimental de la resistencia a tracción de probetas de hormigón reforzadas con fibras de acero. En HAC 2018. V Congreso Iberoamericano de hormigón autocompactable y hormigones especiales. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 485-494. https://doi.org/10.4995/HAC2018.2018.5616OCS48549

A multiphysics coupling framework for exascale simulation of fracture evolution in subsurface energy applications

Predicting the evolution of fractured media is challenging due to coupled thermal, hydrological, chemical and mechanical processes that occur over a broad range of spatial scales, from the microscopic pore scale to field scale. We present a software framework and scientific workflow that couples the pore scale flow and reactive transport simulator Chombo-Crunch with the field scale geomechanics solver in GEOS to simulate fracture evolution in subsurface fluid-rock systems. This new multiphysics coupling capability comprises several novel features. An HDF5 data schema for coupling fracture positions between the two codes is employed and leverages the coarse resolution of the GEOS mechanics solver which limits the size of data coupled, and is, thus, not taxed by data resulting from the high resolution pore scale Chombo-Crunch solver. The coupling framework requires tracking of both before and after coarse nodal positions in GEOS as well as the resolved embedded boundary in Chombo-Crunch. We accomplished this by developing an approach to geometry generation that tracks the fracture interface between the two different methodologies. The GEOS quadrilateral mesh is converted to triangles which are organized into bins and an accessible tree structure; the nodes are then mapped to the Chombo representation using a continuous signed distance function that determines locations inside, on and outside of the fracture boundary. The GEOS positions are retained in memory on the Chombo-Crunch side of the coupling. The time stepping cadence for coupled multiphysics processes of flow, transport, reactions and mechanics is stable and demonstrates temporal reach to experimental time scales. The approach is validated by demonstration of 9 days of simulated time of a core flood experiment with fracture aperture evolution due to invasion of carbonated brine in wellbore-cement and sandstone. We also demonstrate usage of exascale computing resources by simulating a high resolution version of the validation problem on OLCF Frontier

Understanding the hydrological response of a headwater-dominated catchment by analysis of distributed surface–subsurface interactions

We computationally explore the relationship between surface–subsurface exchange and hydrological response in a headwater-dominated high elevation, mountainous catchment in East River Watershed, Colorado, USA. In order to isolate the effect of surface–subsurface exchange on the hydrological response, we compare three model variations that differ only in soil permeability. Traditional methods of hydrograph analysis that have been developed for headwater catchments may fail to properly characterize catchments, where catchment response is tightly coupled to headwater inflow. Analyzing the spatially distributed hydrological response of such catchments gives additional information on the catchment functioning. Thus, we compute hydrographs, hydrological indices, and spatio-temporal distributions of hydrological variables. The indices and distributions are then linked to the hydrograph at the outlet of the catchment. Our results show that changes in the surface–subsurface exchange fluxes trigger different flow regimes, connectivity dynamics, and runoff generation mechanisms inside the catchment, and hence, affect the distributed hydrological response. Further, changes in surface–subsurface exchange rates lead to a nonlinear change in the degree of connectivity—quantified through the number of disconnected clusters of ponding water—in the catchment. Although the runoff formation in the catchment changes significantly, these changes do not significantly alter the aggregated streamflow hydrograph. This hints at a crucial gap in our ability to infer catchment function from aggregated signatures. We show that while these changes in distributed hydrological response may not always be observable through aggregated hydrological signatures, they can be quantified through the use of indices of connectivity

Reactive transport model of sulfur cycling as impacted by perchlorate and nitrate treatments

Microbial souring in oil reservoirs produces toxic, corrosive hydrogen sulfide through microbial sulfate reduction, often accompanying (sea)­water flooding during secondary oil recovery. With data from column experiments as constraints, we developed the first reactive-transport model of a new candidate inhibitor, perchlorate, and compared it with the commonly used inhibitor, nitrate. Our model provided a good fit to the data, which suggest that perchlorate is more effective than nitrate on a per mole of inhibitor basis. Critically, we used our model to gain insight into the underlying competing mechanisms controlling the action of each inhibitor. This analysis suggested that competition by heterotrophic perchlorate reducers and direct inhibition by nitrite produced from heterotrophic nitrate reduction were the most important mechanisms for the perchlorate and nitrate treatments, respectively, in the modeled column experiments. This work demonstrates modeling to be a powerful tool for increasing and testing our understanding of reservoir-souring generation, prevention, and remediation processes, allowing us to incorporate insights derived from laboratory experiments into a framework that can potentially be used to assess risk and design optimal treatment schemes

Neurofeedback: una eina de regulació i complementària a la psicoteràpia

Curs 2018-2019Cada cop més estudis i més bibliografia reconeixen l’efectivitat del Neurofeedback en trastorns diversos. Una de les grans aportacions d’aquesta tècnica és la seva capacitat de millora de la regulació emocional del pacient. Aquesta regulació emocional resulta indispensable en molts moments de la intervenció psicoterapèutica, és doncs en els casos de trauma on el pacient experimenta majors dificultats per sostenir-se i no trobar-se sobrepassat per les emocions que experimenta. Aquesta intensitat emocional en excés o per manca en el bloqueig emocional que també pot donar-se, suposa doncs una important dificultat i barrera per a la psicoteràpia. L’objectiu del treball pretén oferir, des de la pràctica clínica real, una visió del funcionament del Neurofeedback en una persona amb trauma del vincle afectiu. El cas que es tracta presenta un bloqueig emocional que ha dificultat la seva intervenció amb EMDR, s’inicia tractament amb Neurofeedback i es realitzen 10 sessions. En el mapeig cerebral pre-post s’hi observen canvis destacables que responen a millores en la seva regulació emocional, canvis que també tenen efectes en les sessions d’EMDR posteriors on pot connectar millor amb les seves emocions sobre el trauma i accedir a records del passat. Amb l’anàlisi del cas es conclou que el Neurofeedback és una tècnica que, de complementar-se amb la psicoteràpia, pot oferir beneficis molt importants i potenciar de forma clara els efectes de la psicoteràpia. És una tècnica que encara que es troba en els seus inicis, les publicacions amb evidència científica segueixen augmentant any rere any, fet que ens porta a pensar en un futur molt encoratjador pel que respecte a una major aplicabilitat

Using the Dusty Gas Model to investigate reaction-induced multicomponent gas and solute transport in the vadose zone

Biogeochemical reactions and vadose zone transport, in particular gas phasetransport, are inherently coupled processes. To explore feedback mechanisms between these processes in a quantitative manner, multicomponent gas diffusion and advection are implemented into an existing reactive transport model that includes a full suite of geochemical reactions. Multicomponent gas diffusion is described based on the Dusty Gas Model, which provides the most generally applicable description for gas diffusion.Gas advection is described by Darcy's Law, which in the current formulation, is directly substituted into the transport equations. The model is used to investigate the interactions between geochemical reactions and transport processes with an emphasis to quantify reaction-induced gas migration in the vadose zone. Simulations of pyrite oxidation in mine tailings, gas attenuation in partially saturated landfill soil covers, and methane production and oxidation in aquifers contaminated by organic compounds demonstrate how biogeochemical reactions drive diffusive and advective transport of reactive and non-reactive gases. Pyrite oxidation in mine tailings causes a pressure reduction in the reaction zone and drives advective gas flow into the sediment column, enhancing the oxidation process. Release of carbondioxide by carbonate mineral dissolution partly offsets pressure reduction, and illustrates the role of water-rock interaction on gas transport. Microbially mediated methane oxidation in landfill covers reduces the existing upward pressure gradient, there by decreasing the contribution of advective methane emissions to the atmosphere and enhancing the net flux of atmospheric oxygen into the soil column. At an oil spill site, both generation of CH⁴ in the methanogenic zone and oxidation of CH⁴ in the methanotrophic zone contribute to drive advective and diffusive fluxes. The model confirmed that non-reactive gases tend to accumulate in zones of gas consumption and become depleted in zones of gas production. In most cases, the model was able to quantify existing conceptual models, but also proved useful to identify data gaps, sensitivity, and inconsistencies in conceptual models. The formulation of the model is general and can be applied to other vadose zone systems in which reaction-induced gas transport is of importance.Science, Faculty ofEarth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department ofGraduat