Using neural network modeling to improve the detection accuracy of land subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal

Despite the high efficiency of remote sensing methods for rapid and large-scale detection of subsidence phenomena,this technique has limitations such as atmospheric impact and temporal and spatial decorrelation that affect the accuracy of the results.This paper proposes a method based on an artificial neural network to improve the results of monitoring land subsidence due to groundwater overexploitation by radar interferometry in the Aliabad plain(Central Iran).In this regard,vertical ground deformations were monitored over 18 months using the Sentinel-1A SAR images.To model the land subsidence by a multilayer perceptron(MLP)artificial neural network,four parameters,including groundwater level,alluvial thickness,elastic modulus,and transmissivity have been applied.The model's generalizability was assessed using data derived for 144 days.According to the results,the neural network estimates the land subsidence at each ground point with an accuracy of 6.8 mm.A comparison between the predicted and actual values indicated a significant agreement.The MLP model can be used to improve the results of subsidence detection in the study area or other areas with similar characteristics.

Mechanical properties and damage constitutive model of sandstone after acid corrosion and high temperature treatments

Aiming at the problem of temperature-mechanics-chemical(T-M-C)action encountered by rocks in underground engineering,sandstone was selected as the sample for acid corrosion treatment at pH 1,3,5 and 7,the acid corrosion treated samples were then subjected to high-temperature experiments at 25,300,600,and 900℃,and triaxial compression experiments were conducted in the laboratory.The experimental results show that the superposition of chemical damage and thermal damage has a significant impact on the quality,wave velocity,porosity and compression failure characteristics of the rock.Based on the Lemaitre strain equivalent hypothesis theory,the damage degree of rock material was described by introducing damage variables,and the spatial mobilized plane(SMP)criterion was adopted.The damage constitutive model can well reflect the stress-strain characteristics of the rock triaxial compression process,which verified the rationality and reliability of the model parameters.The experiment and constitutive model analyzed the change law of mechanical properties of rock after chemical corrosion and high temperature thermal damage,which had certain practical significance for rock engineering construction.

Viscoplastic solutions of time-dependent deformation for tunnels in swelling rock mass considering stress release

Excavation and control of tunneling responses in swelling soft-rock tunnels of Sichuan-Tibet railway under seepage conditions were studied.For this,a fractional viscoplastic(FVP)model for swelling soft rocks was established by introducing Abel dashpot and unsteady viscosity coefficient,considering additional swelling deformation and damage of rock caused by humidity effect.In view of the FVP model,the viscoplastic deformation solutions for rock mass surrounding tunnel under seepage conditions were derived and long-term mechanical responses of swelling rocks upon tunnel excavation were analyzed.Next,a stress release coefficient considering seepage and creep was proposed,based on which control responses considering stress release and failure mechanism of stress release measures were analyzed.The results showed that:(i)The one-dimensional(1D)FVP model has a good application for swelling rock and the three-dimensional(3D)FVP model could well describe the whole creep process of rock mass despite a much higher creep attenuation rate in the first stage of creep;and(ii)An appropriate stress release and deformation of surrounding rocks could effectively reduce the supporting resistance.However,upon a large stress release,the radius of plastic region could increase significantly,and the strength of the surrounding rock mass decreases greatly.The proposed solution could provide a theoretical framework for capturing the excavation and support responses for tunneling in swelling rock mass in consideration of time effect.

Application of the Engineering-Geological Conditions in Land-Use Plans in the Petrvald Region(Czech Republic)

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate necessity to inform relevant parties about engineering-geological conditions for various practical purposes, especially including appropriate land-use planning. However, the relationship between relevant geological information and the geological environment is vital for foundation engineering purposes, especially where demanding structures are involved. This information is most conveniently structured when accumulated information concerning engineering-geological zones is utilized. This necessarily includes knowledge of rock workability and also of the pre-Quaternary bedrock, and these characteristics were then related to the current built-up area and future development according to the land-use plans in a case study are from the Petrvald Region （Czech Republic）. The geological environment of area has been severely influenced by anthropogenic effects of deep black coal mining. Results of this research showed that future development should be founded on spoil banks, dumps, and settling basins. According to the land-use plan, this zone occupies 44.9% of the area of interest, and its materials predominantly emanate from mining in the Ostrava-Karvina Coal District. For future foundation structures planned there, it is imperative to consult detailed engineering-geological study. However, attention to and reliance on this necessity is not reflected in the existing land-use plan.

The influence of freeze-thaw cycles on the granulometric composition of Moscow morainic clay

The freeze-thaw cycling process considerably changes the composition, structure, and properties of soils. Since the grain size is the most important factor in determining soil characteristics, our current research primarily aims to investigate dynamic changes of the soil fraction when exposed to freeze-thaw conditions. We observed two series of Moscow morainic clayey specimens （gQⅡm）： （Ⅰ） the original series, and （Ⅱ） the remolded series. We subjected each series of soil specimens to different frequencies of freeze-thaw cycles （3, 6, 20, and 40 cycles）, and we used granulometric tests to analyze both series before and after exposure to freeze-thaw conditions. As a result of our experiments, the granulometric compositions tended to be distributed evenly after 40 freeze-thaw processes （i.e., content of fraction for 0.1-0.05 mm was increased after 40 freeze-thaw cycles） because the division of coarse grains and the aggregation of fine grains were synchronized during the freeze-thaw process. The soil grains in both series changed bi-directionally. In the original series, changes of the sand grains were conjugated with the clay grains, and in the remolded series, changes of the sand grains were conjugated with the silt grains, because potential energy difference caused the division and aggregation processes to relate to the counteraction process. The even distribution of soil grain size indicated the state of equilibrium or balance. The granulometric compositions were altered the most during the sixth freeze-thaw cycle, because the coefficient of the intensity variation of the grain fineness （Kvar） had its maximum value at that time.

Debris Flows Risk Analysis and Direct Loss Estimation:the Case Study of Valtellina di Tirano,Italy

andslide risk analysis is one of the primary studies providing essential instructions to the subsequent risk management process. The quantification of tangible and intangible potential losses is a critical step because it provides essential data upon which judgments can be made and policy can be formulated. This study aims at quantifying direct economic losses from debris flows at a medium scale in the study area in Italian Central Alps. Available hazard maps were the main inputs of this study. These maps were overlaid with information concerning elements at risk and their economic value. Then, a combination of both market and construction values was used to obtain estimates of future economic losses. As a result, two direct economic risk maps were prepared together with risk curves, useful to summarize expected monetary damage against the respective hazard probability. Afterwards, a qualitative risk map derived using a risk matrix officially provided by the set of laws issued by the regional government, was prepared. The results delimit areas of high economic as well as strategic importance which might be affected by debris flows in the future. Aside from limitations and inaccuracies inherently included in risk analysis process, identification of high risk areas allows local authorities to focus their attention on the “hot-spots”, where important consequences may arise and local （large） scale analysis needs to be performed with more precise cost-effectiveness ratio. The risk maps can be also used by the local authorities to increase population’s adaptive capacity in the disaster prevention process.

Grain Size Distribution of Soils within the Cordillera Blanca, Peru: An Indicator of Basic Mechanical Properties for Slope Stability Evaluation

This paper presents results of a study on the mechanical properties of sandy and gravely soils within the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. The soils were divided into groups according to their origin(glacial, fluvial, or debris flow). The grain size distribution of forty three soil samples was used to classify the soils according to the scheme of the Unified Soil Classification System(USCS). These distributions have then been used to estimate shear strength and hydraulic properties of the soils. There are clear differences between the soils which reflect their divergent origins. The glacial soils normally fit within one of two distinctive groups according to the proportion of fines(Group A, 7%-21.5%; Group B, 21%-65%). The estimation of shear strength at constant volume friction angle and peak shear strength of the glacial sediments with low content of fines was made using published data relating to the measured shear strength characteristics of soils with similar origins and grain size distributions. The estimated values were supported by measurements of the angle of repose taken from fourteen samples from two moraines and by shear tests on samples from one locality. The results of the grain size distribution werealso used to estimate the average hydraulic conductivity using the empirical Hazen formula which results were verified by field infiltration tests at two localities.

Spatial modeling of solar photovoltaic power plant in Kabul,Afghanistan

Energy planning and solar plant site selections are vital strategic decisions and one of the most complex executive challenges in the interconnected procedures.It is essential to study the potential renewable energy sources in Afghanistan to select the most sustainable sites for solar power production in populated cities.This study is based on the combination of a Geographic Information System,Remote sensing,and multi-criteria decision-making technique to evaluate the optimal placement of photovoltaic solar power plants in the Kabul province,capital of Afghanistan.Two models,Analytical Hierarchy Process(AHP)and Analytical Network Process(ANP),were used to select suitable areas for establishing a solar power plant.The application of the proposed model has been made possible by integrating four constraints such as climate,environmental,topography,and economical which comprised twelve criteria:solar radiation,yearly average rainfall,land slope,aspect,land use,dust,geology and proximity to faults,main roads,Normalized difference vegetation index,urban areas river and water bodies.The findings indicate that there is no considerable difference between the results of both models since both models identified more than 20%of the total area of Kabul province in suitable classes.Outputs maps conclude that northern and southern parts of Kabul city and the eastern part of Kabul province came to the range of suitable areas.It can be concluded that Kabul province is a source of sufficient potential for producing solar electricity.The results of this study can support the plans of the Afghanistan government in solar energy production and the implementation of photovoltaic power plants.

Tensile Structures of Cables Net, Guidelines to Design and Applications

The structural engineering design of not conventional typologies imposes a complex path that begins evaluating procedures of a preliminary design and ends with complex procedures to validate the analysis response. Any guide lines to follow are often available. About complex shapes, in particular, any details are presented in the codes to evaluate wind action and so wind tunnel experiments are necessary to valuate this. The evaluation of wind tunnel data is a complex process that often needs new and specific subroutines programmed by researchers. The difficult increases when the objective is to study a not specific building but general aspects as for examples the dependence of a generic phenomenon by a geometric sample;in this case it is necessary to design and to program numerical subroutines before and then the wind tunnel experiments. Often, these subroutines are left detached and are non-generalizable process. Purpose of this paper is to describe a complete procedure to pre- and post-process wind tunnel data with the objective to design a not convectional structure as a tensile structure. In this particular case the research aim is a parametrization of the aerodynamic behavior of Hyperbolic Paraboloid roofs, shape used for cables net. The reason of the experiments is the absence in the international codes of the pressure coefficients for these geometries. The paper describes the numerical procedure evaluated to choose a sufficient representative geometric sample, the numerical procedure evaluated to design and to construct the wind tunnel models and FE models, the numerical procedure to evaluate and to use for FEM analyses of the wind tunnel data, the numerical procedure to calculate nonlinear structural analysis, and, finally some applications. All these numerical procedures use basic theory derived for example by the cable theory, the fluid mechanic, the nonlinear geometric analysis and other. However specific codes were necessary and were programmed to apply the theories on the specific case of study;the complete methodology followed is presented. The goal is to create a free open domain where the numerical procedures evaluated are merged, added, modified by researchers with the aim to obtain a common space of use for wind engineering of not conventional structure.

Weight Analysis of Impact Factors of Interbedded Anti-Inclined Slopes Block-Flexure Toppling Based on Support Vector Regression

Block-flexure toppling failure is frequently encountered in interbedded anti-inclined rock(IAR)slopes,and seriously threatens the construction of hydropower infrastructure.In this study,we first investigated the Lean Reservoir area’s geological setting and the Linda landslide’s characteristics.Then,uniform design and random design were used to design 110 training datasets and 31 testing datasets,respectively.Afterwards,the toppling response was obtained by using the discrete element code.Finally,support vector regression was used to obtain the influence weights of 21 impact factors.The results show that the influence weight of the slope angle and rock formation dip angle on the toppling deformation among tertiary impact factors is 25.96%and 17.28%,respectively,which are much greater than the other 19 impact factors within the research range.For the primary impact factors,the influence weight is sorted from large to small as slope geometry parameters,joints parameters,and rock mechanics parameters.Joints parameters,especially the geometric parameters,cannot be ignored when evaluating the stability of IAR slopes.Through numerical simulation,it was qualitatively determined that failure surfaces of slopes were controlled by cross joints and that the rocks in the slope toe play a role in preventing slope deformation.

A multifunctional rock testing system for rock failure analysis under different stress states: Development and application

The stress state in a rock mass is complex. Stress redistribution around underground excavation may lead to various failure modes, including compressive-shear, tensile-shear, and tensile failures. The ability to perform laboratory tests with these complex stress states is significant for establishing new strength criteria. The present paper introduces a new rock testing system with “tensile-compressive-shear”loading functions. The device includes bi-directional and double-range hydraulic cylinders, auxiliary loading equipment, and roller rows that can perform direct compressive-shear tests, direct tensile tests,and direct tensile-shear tests. The testing system provides maximum vertical and lateral loading forces of2000 k N and allows testing cubical rock specimens with dimensions of 0.5 m × 0.5 m × 0.5 m. The performance of the testing machine was evaluated by testing a rock-like material based on cement mortar under compressive-shear, tensile, and tensile-shear stress states. The failure process and deformation characteristics were monitored during loading using acoustic emission(AE) transient recorder,piezoelectric AE sensors, a high-speed camera, and a thermal infrared camera. The failure mechanism was investigated by analyzing AE counts, AE amplitude, strain, and temperature changes on the rock specimen surface. The test results confirmed that the testing system could successfully simulate the abovementioned stress path. The AE counts and amplitude responses were influenced by different failure modes. The temperature response during the compressive-shear test indicated the development of a high-temperature band on the rock specimen surface. In contrast, a negligible temperature change was observed during the tensile and tensile-shear tests. The newly developed multifunctional rock testing system allows laboratory tests under various failure modes. The monitoring results of multiple variables during rock failure tests provide valuable information on failure characteristics.

Natural Hazard Preventinkon and the Mountain Land Risk Reduction in the Western Carpathians

The Western Carpathians are located out of world main natural hazardous zones. Human casualties are related more to snow avalanches in connection with mountain hiking, some individuals yearly by flooding and rarely by forest fires. Economic lost about 0.1 to 0.2 %, exceptionally up to 0.8 % of the gross domestic product (GDP) proportionally to the Carpathian regions of particular countries. Natural disasters are linked, except of the above mentioned events, to infrequent small and medium scale earthquakes, landslides, and erosion. Records of the most harmful natural events are found in archives since the 16th century. Their systematic study and factor analysis started from the end of the 19th century, and protective measures and organization of impact mitigation developed during the 20th century to minimize the risk.

Spatially variable soils affecting geotechnical strip foundation design

Natural soil variability is a well-known issue in geotechnical design,although not frequently managed in practice.When subsoil must be characterized in terms of mechanical properties for infrastructure design,random finite element method(RFEM)can be effectively adopted for shallow foundation design to gain a twofold purpose:(1)understanding how much the bearing capacity is affected by the spatial variability structure of soils,and(2)optimisation of the foundation dimension(i.e.width B).The present study focuses on calculating the bearing capacity of shallow foundations by RFEM in terms of undrained and drained conditions.The spatial variability structure of soil is characterized by the autocorrelation function and the scale of fluctuation(δ).The latter has been derived by geostatistical tools such as the ordinary Kriging(OK)approach based on 182 cone penetration tests(CPTs)performed in the alluvial plain in Bologna Province,Italy.Results show that the increase of the B/δratio not only reduces the bearing capacity uncertainty but also increases its mean value under drained conditions.Conversely,under the undrained condition,the autocorrelation function strongly affects the mean values of bearing capacity.Therefore,the authors advise caution when selecting the autocorrelation function model for describing the soil spatial variability structure and point out that undrained conditions are more affected by soil variability compared to the drained ones.

Impact of urbanization on groundwater recharge and urban water balance for the city of Hyderabad, India

Groundwater recharge processes in an urban area are different than in non-urban areas. There are various new components that must be considered in the case of urban groundwater recharge in addition to the natural recharge from precipitation. These various components are estimated in this study based on the water balance equation for the Hyderabad city of India. Initially, urban recharge components including leakages from water supply network and sewage networks were calculated. To estimate the natural recharge from precipitation, actual evapotranspiration and surface runoff were estimated using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Results indicated that the urban recharge component of groundwater was more than ten times greater than the natural recharge. The net urban recharge component of groundwater was estimated to be approximately 568 mm yr-1 and the natural recharge component was observed to be 53 mm yr-1. Water inflow and outflow components were also estimated to provide the complete scenario of the total urban water balance of Hyderabad. This analysis has provided the information regarding the extent and intensity of percolation of urban contaminants into the aquifer.

New few parameters differential evolution algorithm with application to structural identification

Differential evolution algorithm(DEA) is a stochastic, population-based global optimization method. In this paper, we propose new schemes for both mutation and crossover operators in order to enhance the performances of the standard DEA. The advantage of these proposed operators is that they are "parameters-less", without a tuning phase of algorithm parameters that is often a disadvantage of DEA. Once the modified differential evolutions are presented, a large comparative analysis is performed with the aim to assess both correctness and efficiency of the proposed operators. Advantages of proposed DEA are used in an important task of modern structural engineering that is mechanical identification under external dynamic loads. This is because of the importance of using a "parametersless" algorithm in identification problems whose characteristics typically vary strongly case by case, needing of a continuous set up of the algorithm proposed. This important advantage of proposed optimizers, in front of other identification algorithms, is used to develop a computer code suitable for the automatic identification of a simple supported beam subject to an impact load, that has been tested both using numerical simulations and real standard tests dynamic. The results point out that this algorithm is an interesting candidate for standard applications in structural identification problems.

Seepage failure by heave in sheeted excavation pits constructed in stratified cohesionless soils

In this study,experimental and numerical investigations are performed to clarify the seepage failure by heave in sheeted excavation pits in stratified cohesionless soils in which a relatively permeable soil layer(Kupper)lies above a less permeable soil layer(Klower)between excavation base and wall tip.It is shown that the evaluation of base stabilities of excavation pits against seepage failure by using Terzaghi and Peck's approach leads to considerably lower critical potential differences than those obtained from the model tests.On the other hand,a relatively good agreement is achieved between the results of the model tests and the finite element(FE)analyses.Further investigations are performed by using axisymmetric excavation models with various dimensions and ground conditions,and a comparison between the results obtained from Terzaghi and Peck's approach and finite element analyses is given.

Asynchronous earthquake strong motion and RC bridges response

The dynamic response of long structures(e.g., bridges) is sensitive to the spatial variability of strong ground motion(asynchronous motion). Ground motion differences increase from point to point with increasing foundation distance. This latter is due to two physical phenomena: soil-wave interaction, that causes the loss of coherence and local amplification; wave traveling with finite velocity, that causes signals time lag. This ground motion variability produces a different structural demand compared to the synchronous one,which is the only one considered by designers in the majority of cases. A few codes consider this type of actions, therefore further research efforts are necessary. In this study,asynchronous ground motions are generated by means of a new generation procedure implemented in the software GAS 2.0 using as input the simultaneous strong motion records from the April 6 th, 2009, L’Aquila(Italy) at the seismic stations AQA and AQV, located in the Aterno River valley. These records are used to calibrate the generation model and to produce sets of asynchronous earthquake sampling. The asynchronous earthquake sets are applied on a typical highway reinforced concrete bridge to study its dynamic response considering two different configurations: non-isolated with traditional supports and isolated bridge with lead rubber bearings. The bridge is placed in two positions along the wave propagation direction: a position near one recording station and a position between the two stations to consider local soil effects. The response parameters investigated are the maximum relative displacements of soil and deck. The results show that there is animportant variation of relative displacement along the direction of wave propagation due to asynchronous motion with effects that designer should consider for the structural details design of isolated and non-isolated bridges.

To compute or not to compute?

In a previous paper "to retrofit or not to retrofit?"(Nuti and Vanzi, 2003) a straightforward procedure able to forecast the economic return of seismic structural upgrading was presented. More recently, the authors realized that the final mathematical results can be much simplified so as to allow back-of-an-envelope computation. The title of this paper tries to highlight precisely this aspect, namely that for many a regular seismic structural upgrading cases, nearly no computation is needed(apart from one subtraction and one multiplication) to assess their economic convenience. These findings are presented and discussed in this paper, together with a state of the art on the cost-studies available in literature and technical codes. The mathematical formulation leading to the proposed approximation is suitably explained, underlining its applicability field and comparing it with the rigorous solution. Also a table and a formula are furnished that alternatively allows to calculate the maximum estimation errors, in order to obtain an upper and lower bound for the maximum amount of money which should be allocated for seismic structural upgrading.

Volume/thrust optimal shape criteria for arches under static vertical loads

Arches are widely used when large spans are necessary, e.g. to overpass large rivers, and further possess unquestioned aesthetics advantages. Their structural efficiency depends primarily on optimal material exploitation, i.e. minimization of internal stress eccentricity,and on minimization of structural material volume. An efficient structure, under these terms, further requires simpler and lighter scaffolding, contributing in minimizing construction costs.Although arches have millenary use and many researches dealing with this typology are available in literature, there is still scope for design optimization. The proposed study is framed within this context. Investigation is limited to statically determinate plane arches under vertical load. The problem of finding the profile of an equal strength catenary subjected to its self-weight is spread out to the case of an inverted catenary of equal strength under its self-weight and an external constant load. In the first optimization step, constant normal stress is imposed at all sections, to maximize material exploitation, and the resulting arch centerline shape is computed in closed form. In the second step, the ensemble of foundations and arch is considered and optimized, taking the linear combination of arch weight and thrust as objective function. The linear combination is dependent on a single variable, and minima of the objective function(i.e. optimal geometric shape parameters) are computed and charted to be simply used in the design process.