The ground subsidence on the underground pipe often is caused with the reduction of the effective stress and the loss of suction in the base course and then, soil drainage into the pipe. The final formation of the cavity growth in the ground was observed as the ground subsidence. Authors focused this problem and hence performed model tests with water-inflow and drainage cycle in the model ground. The mechanism of cavity generation in the model ground was observed using an X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) scanner. In those studies, water was supplied into the model grounds from the defected underground pipe model in case of the change of relative density and grain size distribution. As results, it was observed that the loosening area was generated from the defected part with water-inflow and some of the soil particles in the ground were drained into the underground pipe through the defected part. And afterward, the cavity was generated just above the defected part of the model pipe in the ground. Based on this observation, it might be said that the bulk density of soil around the defected pipe played one of key factor to generate the cavity in the ground. Moreover, the dimension of the defected part should be related to the magnification of the ground subsidence, in particular, crack width on a sewerage pipe and particle size would be the quantitative factor to evaluate the magnification of the ground subsidence. ?In this paper, it was concluded that the low relative density of soil would become the critical factor to cause the fatal failure of model ground if the maximum grain size was close to the dimension of crack width of defective part. The fatal collapse of the ground with high relative density more than 80% would be avoided in a few cycles of water inflow and soil drainage.

The modeling of high velocity impact is an important topic in impact engineering. Due to various constraints, experimental data are extremely limited. Therefore, detailed numerical simulation can be considered as a desirable alternative. However, the physical processes involved in the impact are very sophisticated; hence a practical and complete reproduction of the phenomena involves complicated numerical models. In this paper, we present a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method to model two-dimensional impact of metal sphere on thin metallic plate. The simulations are applied to different materials (Aluminum, Lead and Steel); however the target and projectile are formed of similar metals. A wide range of velocities (300, 1000, 2000, and 3100 m/s) are considered in this study. The goal is to study the most sensitive input parameters (impact velocity and plate thickness) on the longitudinal extension of the projectile, penetration depth and damage crater.

Fire disasters and the deterioration of tunnel structures are major concerns for tunnel operation and maintenance. Traditional wired monitoring systems have many drawbacks in terms of installation time, overall cost, and flexibility in tunnel environments. In recent years, there has been growing interest in the use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for the monitoring of various structural monitoring applications. This paper evaluated the feasibility of applying a WSN in the monitoring of tunnels. The monitoring requirements of tunnels under explosion and combustion fire scenarios are analyzed using numerical simulation, and the maximum possible distance for temperature sensors is derived. The displacement monitoring of tunnels using an inclinometer is investigated. It is recommended that the inclinometer should be installed in the 1/4 span of the tunnel structure. The maximum wireless transmission distances in both outdoor and tunnel environments were examined. The influences of surface materials and sensor node locations on the data transmission distance in tunnel environments were also investigated. The experimental results show that the data loss in tunnel environments is approximately three times that in outdoor environments. Surface material has a considerable influence on the transmission distance of radio signals. The distance is 25 ? 28 m for a raw concrete surface, 20 m for a brick surface, and 36 m for a terrazzo surface. The transmission distances along the middle of quarter points are approximately 0.9D (D is the transmission distance in the center of the tunnel), and the relative error is less than±3%. The transmission distances at different locations along the bottom exhibit significant differences, decreasing from the middle to the corner point, with distances of approximately 0.8D at the quarter points and minimum distances of approximately 0.55D at the corner points.

The expanded distinct element method (EDEM) was used to investigate the crack growth in rock-like materials under uniaxial compression. The tensile-shear failure criterion and the Griffith failure criterion were implanted into the EDEM to determine the initiation and propagation of pre-existing cracks, respectively. Uniaxial compression experiments were also performed with the artificial rock-like samples to verify the validity of the EDEM. Simulation results indicated that the EDEM model with the tensile-shear failure criterion has strong capabilities for modeling the growth of pre-existing cracks, and model results have strong agreement with the failure and mechanical properties of experimental samples. The EDEM model with the Griffith failure criterion can only simulate the splitting failure of samples due to tensile stresses and is incapable of providing a comprehensive interpretation for the overall failure of rock masses. Research results demonstrated that sample failure primarily resulted from the growth of single cracks (in the form of tensile wing cracks and shear secondary cracks) and the coalescence of two cracks due to the growth of wing cracks in the rock bridge zone. Additionally, the inclination angle of the pre-existing crack clearly influences the final failure pattern of the samples.

The evaluation of the seismic stability of high rock slopes is of vital importance to ensure the safe operation of the hydropower stations. In this paper, an equivalent pseudo-static force analysis based on the finite element method is developed to evaluate the seismic stability of reinforced rock slopes where the prestressed cables are modeled by the bar elements applied with nodal forces and bounded only at the anchored parts. The method is applied to analyze a high rock slope in south-west China and the optimization of cables. The stabilization effects of prestressed cables on the seismic stability of the slope are studied, the simulations of the concrete heading are discussed and the potential failure modes of the shear concrete plug are compared. Based on this, the optimization of cables is studied including the anchor spacing and inclined angles.

Soils and their related behavior have always been the subject of many studies. Recent researches show some interests in investigation of inclusion of randomly distributed fiber in soil. This study focuses on effect of fiber inclusion on the strength and other parameters of clayey sand composite material. First part of this study is related to effective parameters on strength of the clayey sand composite with using natural fiber and plastic fiber and different fiber contents and length. Triaxial consolidated undrained (CU) tests were carried out to investigate behavior of the composite under different condition. The fiber percentage varied from 0% (for unreinforced samples) to 4% and fiber length varied from 8 to 25 mm. The fiber length and fiber content found to play important rule on the strength of fiber reinforced composite.

The field strengths of cement/lime treated clays were investigated in the Ariake Sea costal lowlands. The deposition environment of the investigation location is reconstructed and compared to the present ground environment. The mechanism of the ground environment change and its effect on the strength of cement/lime treated soil are discussed. The strength development of improved soil using cement and lime in different curing environments was investigated in the laboratory for studying the effect of environment change on the strength also. It has been found that the strength deterioration of improved soil in deep mixing method is due to 1) the ground environment change due to the secondary oxidation which results in low pH value and high organic content, and 2) the formations of the porous structures result from the elution of the calcium ions. Also, it has been found that the initial strength increase of the improved soil is related to the dissolved silica and that the dissolution of the silica in clay minerals needs long time. When examining the long-term strength for preventing strength degradation, the effect of environmental change has to be considered. The importance of measuring pH and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of the ground for cement/lime solidification method is explained.

The fatigue damage is one of the most common distresses observed on the asphalt concrete pavement. To thoroughly understand the fatigue of asphalt concrete, the behaviors of the major components of asphalt concrete under cyclic loading are investigated respectively in this study. A new experiment method is developed to evaluate the performances of asphalt binder, mastic and fine aggregates mixture under cyclic tensile loading. The fatigue test results of asphalt binder show that the fatigue performance of asphalt binder is closely related with loading magnitude, temperature and loading rate. Mastic specimens with different filler content are tested and the results indicate that mastic specimens with 30% filler content show better fatigue resistance and higher permanent strain. The micro-structure analysis of mastic and mixture indicates that the fatigue resistance is closely related with the air void content of specimen. 3D digital specimens are developed to model the fatigue of the asphalt binder, mastic and mixture specimens based on the finite element method (FEM). Fatigue damage of asphalt concrete is simplified by a damage model. With proper selection of damage parameters, the simulation results agree well with laboratory test results and can be used as a basis for future fatigue research.

We review the principle of topological interlocking and analyze the properties of the mortarless structures whose design is based on this principle. We concentrate on structures built of osteomorphic blocks – the blocks possessing specially engineered contact surfaces allowing assembling various 2D and 3D structures. These structures are easy to build and can be made demountable. They are flexible, resistant to macroscopic fractures and tolerant to missing blocks. The blocks are kept in place without keys or connectors that are the weakest elements of the conventional interlocking structures. The overall structural integrity of these structures depends on the force imposed by peripheral constraint. The peripheral constraint can be provided in various ways: by an external frame or features of site topography, internal pre-stressed cables/tendons, or self-weight and is a necessary auxiliary element of the structure. The constraining force also determines the degree of delamination developing between the blocks due to bending and thus controls the overall flexibility of the structure thus becoming a new design parameter.