Experimental investigation on the relevance of mechanical properties and porosity of sandstone after hydrochemical erosion

Under the effect of chemical etching,the macroscopic mechanical properties,mesoscopic structure,mineral content,and porosity of rocks undergo significant changes,which can lead to the geological disasters; thus,an understanding of changes in the microscopic and macroscopic structure of rocks after chemical etching is crucial.In this study,uniaxial mechanical tests and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) spectroscopy were carried out on sandstone samples that had been previously subjected to chemical erosion under different p H values.The aim was to study changes in properties and mechanical characteristics,including deformation and strength characteristics,of the rock,and microscopic pore variation characteristics,and to perform preliminary studies of the chemical corrosion mechanism.Results show that different chemical solutions have a significant influence on the uniaxial compressive strength,the axial strain corresponding to the peak axial stress,elastic modulus,etc.With the passage of time,porosity increases gradually with exposure to different chemical solutions,and exposure to chemical solutions results in large changes in the NMR T2 curve and T2 spectrum area.Sandstone exposed to different chemical solutions exhibits different corrosion mechanisms; the root cause is the change of mineral.

Hydro-mechanical-electrical simulations of synthetic faults in two orthogonal directions with shear-induced anisotropy

Fluid flow in fractures controls subsurface heat and mass transport,which is essential for developing enhanced geothermal systems and radioactive waste disposal.Fracture permeability is controlled by fracture microstructure(e.g.aperture,roughness,and tortuosity),but in situ values and their anisotropy have not yet been estimated.Recent advances in geophysical techniques allow the detection of changes in electrical conductivity due to changes in crustal stress and these techniques can be used to predict subsurface fluid flow.However,the paucity of data on fractured rocks hinders the quantitative interpretation of geophysical monitoring data in the field.Therefore,considering different shear displacements and chemical erosions,an investigation was conducted into the hydraulic-electric relationship as an elevated stress change in fractures.The simulation of fracture flows was achieved using the lattice Boltzmann method,while the electrical properties were calculated through the finite element method,based on synthetic faults incorporating elastic-plastic deformation.Numerical results show that the hydraulic and electrical properties depend on the rock's geometric properties(i.e.fracture length,roughness,and shear displacement).The permeability anisotropy in the direction parallel or perpendicular to the shear displacement is also notable in high stress conditions.Conversely,the permeability econductivity(i.e.,formation factor)relationship is unique under all conditions and follows a linear trend in logarithmic coordinates.However,both matrix porosity and fracture spacing alter this relationship.Both increase the slope of the linear trend,thereby changing the sensitivity of electrical observations to permeability changes.

Erosion research of CX-2002U carbon composites under low-temperature high-flux hydrogen plasma

The net erosion yield of CX-2002U carbon fiber composites under high-flux low-temperature hydrogen plasma is investigated using a linear plasma device.It is found that the net erosion yield decreases rapidly first,and then tends to saturate with the increase of hydrogen–plasma flux.When the temperature of the sample eroded by hydrogen plasma is above 300°C,the hybridization of electrons outside the carbon atom would change.Then the carbon atoms combine with hydrogen atoms to form massive spherical nanoparticles of hydrocarbon compounds and deposit on the surface at the flux condition of 1.77×10^(22) m^(−2)·s^(−1).Under the irradiation of hydrogen plasma loaded with negative bias,the surface morphology of the matrix carbon is changed dramatically.Moreover,the energy dependence of mass loss does not increase in proportion to the increase of hydrogen–plasma energy,but reaches a peak around 20 V negative bias voltage.Based on the analysis of different samples,it can be concluded that the enhancement of energy could make a contribution to chemical erosion and enlarge the size of pores existing on the surface.

Improved uranium leaching efficiency from low-permeability sandstone using low-frequency vibration in the CO_(2)+O_(2) leaching process

Extraction of uranium from low-permeability sandstone is a long-standing challenge in mining.The improvement of sandstone permeability has therefore become a key research focus to improve the uranium leaching effect.To address the low-permeability problem and corresponding leaching limits,leaching experiments are performed using newly developed equipment that could apply low-frequency vibration to the sandstone samples.The test results indicate that low-frequency vibration significantly improves the uranium leaching performance and permeability of the sandstone samples.The leaching effect of low-frequency vibration treatment is approximately nine times more effective than ultrasonic vibration treatment,whereas the concentration of uranium ions generated without vibration treatment is not detectable.Mathematical model that considers the combined action of physico-mechanical vibration and chemical erosion is established to describe the effect of low-frequency vibration on the permeability.The calculated results are in good agreement with the tested permeability values.This study thus offers a new method to effectively leach more uranium from low-permeability sandstone using CO_(2)+O_(2)and provides an insight into the impact of low-frequency vibration on the uranium leaching process.

Changes in SOC and Nutrients under Intensive Tillage in Two Types of Slope Landscapes

The net effect of tillage erosion on soil properties would be associated with the spatial variation in soil constituents,and therefore plays an important role in ecological agriculture.We conducted a consecutive tillage by hoeing 15 times during a period with no rainfall in the two slope landscapes(a linear slope and complex slope) of the Yangtze Three Gorges reservoir areas,to examine the relationship between soil erosion rates and the variations in soil chemical properties and compare the effects of soil redistribution on SOC and nutrients between the linear and complex slopes.After the simulated tillage,notable changes in 137 Cs inventories of the soil occurred in the summit and toeslope positions on the linear slope,while there were significant changes in 137 Cs inventories at convex and concave positions on the complex slope.Soil profile disappeared at the summit slope boundary,with the exposure area of 16.0% and 7.6% of the experimental plot,respectively,for the linear and complex slopes due to no soil replacement.Soil organic C and nutrients were completely depleted with the disappearance of soil profiles at soil eroding zones,whereas a remarkable increase in SOC,total N and available nutrient concentrations of the post-tillage surface soil and a decrease in total nutrient concentrations(P and K) were found at depositional zones on the linear slope.For the complex slope,however,changes in SOC and nutrient concentrations of the post-tillage surface soil exhibited a patterndifferent from that on the linear slope,which showed a remarkable decrease in SOC and total nutrient concentrations but a slight increase in available nutrient concentrations after tillage in the toeslope position.Due to the gradual increase in soil depth from top to bottom of the slope,SOC and nutrient inventories in the soil profiles were significantly correlated with soil redistribution rates on both the linear and complex slopes.Tillage causes remarkable changes of soil chemical properties in the surface soil layer and soil profile,and increases SOC and nutrient inventories for the soil profile downslope in steeply sloping landscapes.

An improved method that incorporates the estimated runoff for peak discharge prediction on the Chinese Loess Plateau

An accurate prediction of peak discharge in watersheds is critical not only for water resource manage-ment,but also for understanding the complex relationships of hydrological processes.In this study,a modified peak discharge formula based on the Chemicals,Runoff,and Erosion from Agricultural Man-agement Systems(CREAMS)model was developed by introducing rainfall intensity and soil moisture factors.The reliability of the proposed method was tested with data from 1464 storm events in 41 watersheds and was applied to 256 storm events in five remaining typical watersheds using the opti-mized parameters.The results indicate that the proposed method is highly accurate in terms of model efficiency,as determined by Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies(NSEs)of 88.60%,74.04%,and 90.12%during the calibration,validation,and application cases,respectively.Furthermore,it performed better than the original and modified CREAMS methods.Subsequently,using the parameters derived from the initial 41 watersheds and the runoff estimated using the modified Soil Conservation Service curve number(SCS-CN)method,the proposed method was used to predict the peak discharge from the last five typical watersheds.Large NSE(63.88-80.83%)and low root mean square error(RMSE)values(0.31-35.93 m^(3)s^(-1))were obtained for the five watersheds.Overall,the proposed peak discharge model,combined with the modified SCS-CN method,may accurately predict event-based peak discharge and runoff for general applications under various hydrological and geomorphic conditions in the Loess Plateau region.