Analysis of plastic zones in surrounding rocks around a circular tunnel considering the effect of intermediate principal stress and heterogeneity

Based on a modified Mohr-Coulomb criterion with a non-uniform coefficient, a calculation method of plastic zone boundary of surrounding rocks in a circular tunnel in non-uniform stress field is established. Both the effects of intermediate principal stress and heterogeneity are studied. With the increase of the intermediate principal stress, the plastic zone size of the surrounding rocks will decrease first and then increase. Lateral pressure coefficient has an effect on the shape of the plastic zone. With the increase of lateral pressure coefficient, the plastic zone gradually becomes uniform, and the failure of surrounding rock develops upward and downward from both sides. As non-uniform coefficient increases, the material is more uniform and the effect of intermediate principal stress on the plastic zone is less significant. If the effect of intermediate principal stress is not taken into account, the calculation results tend to be consistent with results calculated by the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, which are considered to be conservative

Estimation of slope safety factor based on trajectory reduction method

Currently, double reduction method (DRM) is widely used in the field of slope stability. However, one of the main challenges of the double reduction method is how to define the comprehensive safety factor based on two reduction parameters. The trajectory reduction method developed by Isakov can be used to ensure the minimum comprehensive safety factor on different conditions. However, its main shortcoming is that the method needs expensive calculation to determine the safety factor for a certain slope configuration. The paper examines the relationship between the comprehensive safety factor and cohesive and internal friction angle of soil, by using the FEM and trajectory method to calculate the minimum safety factor and corresponding reduction factor with respect to different inclinations of the slope. The initial strength effect on double reduction parameters are analyzed accordingly. The result shows for a certain slope configuration; the initial strength has little effect on the critical strength which is related to the minimum comprehensive safety factor. It means that for a slope with a certain inclination, even if the strength of soil is different, the critical strength is identical. The critical strength of soil slope is linear with the inclination of the slope, which means that every inclination corresponds to one critical cohesive and one critical internal friction angle. Consequently, a novel method to calculate the minimum safety factor is proposed in this paper. The result obtained by this method is close to the result which is from the limit equilibrium method, and compared with the original method by Isakov, this alternative method can simplify the calculation, and keep the result as accurate as the limit equilibrium method. Thus, it can be used to analyze the stability of slope

MVMD-MOMEDA-TEO Model and Its Application in Feature Extraction for Rolling Bearings

In order to extract fault features of rolling bearings to characterize their operation state effectively, an improved method, based on modified variational mode decomposition (MVMD) and multipoint optimal minimum entropy deconvolution adjusted (MOMEDA), is proposed. Firstly, the MVMD method is introduced to decompose the vibration signal into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs), and then calculate the energy ratio of each IMF component. The IMF component is selected as the effective component from high energy ratio to low in turn until the total energy proportion Esum(t) ≥ 90%. The IMF effective components are reconstructed to obtain the subsequent analysis signal x_new(t). Secondly, the MOMEDA method is introduced to analyze x_new(t), extract the fault period impulse component x_cov(t), which is submerged by noise, and demodulate the signal x_cov(t) by Teager energy operator demodulation (TEO) to calculate Teager energy spectrum. Thirdly, matching the dominant frequency in the spectrum with the fault characteristic frequency of rolling bearings, the fault feature extraction of rolling bearings are completed. Finally, the experiments have compared MVMD-MOEDA-TEO with MVMD-TEO and MOMEDA-TEO based on two different data sets to verify the superiority of the proposed method. The experimental results show that MVMD-MOMEDA-TEO method has better performance than the other two methods, and provides a new solution for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of rolling bearings

Wind driven natural ventilation through multiple gridirons of a pile-supported wharf to prevent atmospheric corrosion in the marine environment

Salt fog originating from the offshore zone can easily accumulate in the semi-enclosed space (called the gridiron space) formed by the beams and slabs of a pile-supported wharf. Such accumulation can lead to the premature failure of the durability of the wharf’s substructure. Previous works have mainly focused on material-level measures to eliminate the adverse effects of salt fog accumulation, such as the use of anti-corrosion concrete and anti-corrosion coatings, which could result in increased construction costs. In fact, salt fog can be extracted from a gridiron by natural ventilation in some cases, so it is important to examine the flow characteristics of the gridiron space. In this work, a numerical simulation was conducted with natural ventilation and auxiliary ventilation groups. The critical value of the shield ratio (defined as the height ratio of edge stringer to air inlet) that led to the weakest turbulence of airflow inside the gridiron was studied in the natural ventilation group. In addition, the effect of various configurations of vents was discussed; in accordance with the results, design recommendations were proposed to enhance the durability of a pile-supported wharf.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Design, Dynamic Performance and Ecological Efficiency of Fiber-Reinforced Mortars with Different Binder Systems: Ordinary Portland Cement, Limestone Calcined Clay Cement and Alkali-Activated Slag

The dynamic mechanical properties and ecological efficiency of cement-based composites are of vital importance to the development of green building materials and dynamic loadings resistance. In this study, the dynamic mechanical properties, ecological and economic efficiency of fiber-reinforced mortars (FRMs) made with different binder systems, including ordinary Portland cement (OPC), limestone calcined clay cement (LC3), and alkali-activated slag (AAS), were compared. In addition, different rheological parameters were designed to evaluate the dynamic mechanical properties of FRMs. The fiber pull-out testing, Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) testing, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to reveal the difference in the dynamic mechanical properties of FRMs made with different binder systems. The results showed that the loss factor of FRM made with LC3 was the highest, 70% and 150% higher than that made with OPC and AAS as the plastic viscosity of mixtures was at the same range. In addition, the loss factor of FRMs made with OPC and LC3 improved by 25% and 8.6% respectively as the plastic viscosity was improved to a higher level and caused more uniform fiber distribution. The fiber pull-out and microstructure testing indicated that FRM made with LC3 showed appropriate pore size distributions and good fiber-matrix interfacial properties. The ecological evaluation and cost analysis showed that the EE, ECO2e, and the cost of unit loss factor of FRM made with LC3 were the lowest among three kinds of mortars, showing 48369.1 MJ/m3, 6894.4 kgCO2/m3, and 20288.0 RMB/m3 respectively. Compared with FRM made with OPC, the above parameters were reduced by 55.8%, 66.9% and 46.0% respectively. Therefore, the FRM made with LC3 shows higher potential for designing green building materials with great dynamic loadings resistance, compared with FRMs made with OPC and AAS

Analysis of plastic zones in surrounding rocks around a circular tunnel considering the effect of intermediate principal stress and heterogeneity

Based on a modified Mohr-Coulomb criterion with a non-uniform coefficient, a calculation method of plastic zone boundary of surrounding rocks in a circular tunnel in non-uniform stress field is established. Both the effects of intermediate principal stress and heterogeneity are studied. With the increase of the intermediate principal stress, the plastic zone size of the surrounding rocks will decrease first and then increase. Lateral pressure coefficient has an effect on the shape of the plastic zone. With the increase of lateral pressure coefficient, the plastic zone gradually becomes uniform, and the failure of surrounding rock develops upward and downward from both sides. As non-uniform coefficient increases, the material is more uniform and the effect of intermediate principal stress on the plastic zone is less significant. If the effect of intermediate principal stress is not taken into account, the calculation results tend to be consistent with results calculated by the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, which are considered to be conservative

Damage Mode Identification of CFRP-Strengthened Beam Based on Acoustic Emission Technique

Externally bonded (EB) carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is widely used in structural strengthening and retrofitting. Premature debonding of the FRP severely limits the efficiency of CFRP utilization. The application of CRRP anchorage system offers a solution to the debonding problem. However, the understanding of damage mode identification of this combined system still remains elusive. Acoustic emission (AE) technique is employed to identify the damage mode of this CFRP anchorage system, due to its high sensitivity and the ability to detect damage in real-time. The objective of the current study is to identify the failure mechanisms of CFRP-strengthened beam by applying advanced pattern recognition techniques to the collected AE data. Firstly, four-point test of CFRP-strengthened beam was carried out until failure with simultaneous recording of AE signals. Then, correlation analysis was adopted to select the AE characteristic parameters, and principal component analysis (PCA) was used for dimensionality reduction. Lastly, the AE signals of the CFRP-strengthened beam was clustered to track the evolutionary behavior of the different damage modes by Gaussian mixture model (GMM) algorithm. Three main damage modes of CFRP-strengthened beam were identified by GMM clustering: concrete cracking, debonding of CFRP sheet and fracture of CFRP sheet. This study explores the damage evolution mechanism of combined system and provides a basis for achieving health monitoring of CFRP-strengthened structures.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Concrete Structure

Influence of Temperature and Flow Ratio on the Morphology and Uniformity of 4H-SiC Epitaxial Layers Growth on 150 mm 4° Off-Axis Substrates

The homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films was conducted on 4H-SiC 150 mm 4° off-axis substrates by using a home-made hot-wall chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor. Special attention was paid to the influence of the growth temperature on the surface morphology, growth rate, doping efficiency, and structural uniformity of the films. Among the above factors, growth temperature and flow ratio were shown to be the essential parameters to produce high-quality homoepitaxial layers. Furthermore, a two-side flow tunnel was introduced to control the growth temperature nonuniformity in the reactor. The influence of flow ratio on the epitaxial layer uniformity was also studied. It was found that the surface roughness increased with the increasing temperature, achieving its minimum value of 0.183 nm at 1610 °C. Besides that, the film growth rate decreased with the increase in growth temperature, whereas the degrees of thickness non-uniformity, N2 doping non-uniformity, and doping efficiency increased. Meanwhile, both the thickness and doping uniformity can be improved by adjusting H2 and N2 flow ratios, respectively. In particular, the use of the H2 ratio of 1.63 and N2 ratio of 0.92 enabled one to increase the degree of uniformity of thickness and doping by 0.79% (standard deviation/mean value) and 3.56% (standard deviation/mean value), respectively, at the growth temperature of 1630 °C