Lateral Pressure of RC Silos with Static and Dynamic Granular Materials

This paper aims at analyzing material-induced lateral pressure of RC cylinder silo in both static and dynamic condition using the finite element method( FEM). In the finite element software ABAQUS,concrete material is modeled by concrete damaged plasticity model,and stored materials in silo is modeled by the hypoplastic theory.In terms of numerical model,shell elements( S4R) and solid elements( C3D8) are applied for model silo wall and stored materials respectively. The interaction between silo wall and stored materials is simulated by Coulomb friction model and penalty contact constrain provided by ABAQUS.The numerical results are verified with the existing experimental data that are designed to ensure the validation of such numerical model using FEM and it obtains good agreements between numerical results and experimental data. Then the material parameters are analyzed in both static and dynamic condition.According to the analysis,it is clear that critical friction angle,initial void ratio and minimum void ratio have an obvious effect on static lateral pressure while all the material parameters affect dynamic lateral pressure at different levels. In addition,differences of silo wall between elastic and plastic state are analyzed in dynamic condition. The numerical results show that it contributes to increasing dynamic pressure when silo wall enters into the plastic state. Finally,this paper discusses the time-history lateral pressure at different heights along silo wall,and analytical results indicate that larger acceleration values play main roles in producing the maximum lateral pressure at higher part of the silo wall.

Frequency Analysis of Multiple Layered Cylindrical Shells under Lateral Pressure with Asymmetric Boundary Conditions

Natural frequency characteristics of a thin-walled multiple layered cylindrical shell under lateral pressure are studied. The multiple layered cylindrical shell configuration is formed by three layers of isotropic material where the inner and outer layers are stainless steel and the middle layer is aluminum. The multiple layered shell equations with lateral pressure are established based on Love＇s shell theory. The governing equations of motion with lateral pressure are employed by using energy functional and applying the Ritz method. The boundary conditions represented by end conditions of the multiple layered cylindrical shell are simply supported-clamped（SS-C）, free-clamped（F-C） and simply supported-free（SS-F）. The influence of different lateral pressures, different thickness to radius ratios, different length to radius ratios and effect of the asymmetric boundary conditions on natural frequency characteristics are studied. It is shown that the lateral pressure has effect on the natural frequency of multiple layered cylindrical shell and causes the natural frequency to increase. The natural frequency of the developed multilayered cylindrical shell is validated by comparing with those in the literature. The proposed research provides an effective approach for vibration analysis shell structures subjected to lateral pressure with an energy method.

POSTBUCKLING OF RECTANGULAR PLATES UNDER UNIAXIAL COMPRESSION COMBINED WITH LATERAL PRESSURE

Based on the nonlinear large deflection equations of von Karman plates, the lateral pressure is first converted into an initial deflection by Galerkin method, the postbuckling behavior oj simply supported rectangular plates under uniaxial compression combined with lateral pressure is then studied applying perturbation method by taking deflection as perturbation parameter.Two types of in-plane boundary conditions and the effects of initial geometric imperfection are also considered. It is found that the theoretical results are in good accordance with experiments.

Lateral earth pressure of granular backfills on retaining walls with expanded polystyrene geofoam inclusions under limited surcharge loading

Existing studies have focused on the behavior of the retaining wall equipped with expanded polystyrene(EPS)geofoam inclusions under semi-infinite surcharge loading rather than limited surcharge loading.In this paper,the failure mode and the earth pressure acting on the rigid retaining wall with EPS geofoam inclusions and granular backfills(henceforth referred to as EPS-wall),under limited surcharge loading are investigated through two-and three-dimensional model tests.The testing results show that different from the sliding of almost all the backfill in the EPS-wall under semi-infinite surcharge loading,only an approximately triangular backfill slides in the wall under limited surcharge loading.The distribution of the lateral earth pressure on the EPS-wall under limited surcharge loading is non-linear,and the distribution changes from the increase of the wall depth to the decrease with the increase of the limited surcharge loading.An approach based on the force equilibrium of a differential element is developed to predict the lateral earth pressure behind the EPS-wall subjected to limited surcharge loading,and its performance was fully validated by the three-dimensional model tests.

At-rest lateral earth pressure of compacted expansive soils:Experimental investigations and prediction approach

This paper presents experimental studies on a compacted expansive soil,from Nanyang,China for investigating the at-rest lateral earth pressureσL of expansive soils.The key studies include(i)relationships between theσL and the vertical stressσV during soaking and consolidation,(ii)the influences of initial dry densityρd0 and moisture content w 0 on the vertical and lateral swelling pressures at no swelling strain(i.e.σV0 andσL0),and(iii)evolution of theσL during five long-term wetting-drying cycles.Experimental results demonstrated that the post-soakingσL-σV relationships are piecewise linear and their slopes in the passive state(σL>σV)and active state(σL<σV)are similar to that of the consolidationσL-σV relationships in the normal-and over-consolidated states,respectively.The soakingσL-σV relationships converge to the consolidationσL-σV relationships at a thresholdσV where the interparticle swelling is restrained.TheσL0 andσV0 increase monotonically withρd0;however,they show increasing-then-decreasing trends with the w 0.The extent of compaction-induced swelling anisotropy,which is evaluated byσL0/σV0,reduces with an increase in the compaction energy and molding water content.TheσL reduces over moisture cycles and the stress relaxation in theσL during soaking is observed.An approach was developed to predict the at-rest soakingσL-σV relationships,which requires conventional consolidation and shear strength properties and one measurement of theσL-σV relationships during soaking.The proposed approach was validated using the results of three different expansive soils available in the literature.

Lateral abutment pressure distribution and evolution in wide pillars under the first mining effect

The wide pillars are generally popular due to the high productivity and efficiency in Northwest China.The distribution of lateral abutment pressure in coal pillars is important for mining safety.To reveal the effect of the first mining on the lateral abutment pressure distribution and evolution in wide pillars,an in-situ experiment,theoretical analysis and numerical simulation were performed.First,the field monitoring of lateral abutment pressure was conducted from the perspective of time and space in the Chahasu Coal Mine,Huangling No.2 Coal Mine and Lingdong Coal Mine during the first mining.Based on the field monitoring stress,a theoretical model was proposed to reveal the lateral abutment pressure distribution.The methodology was demonstrated through a case study.Aiming at the distribution mechanism,a numerical experiment was conducted through the finite-discrete element method(FDEM).Last,field observations of borehole fractures were performed to further study the damage distribution.In addition,two types of lateral abutment pressure evolution with mining advance were discussed.Suggestions on the stress monitoring layout were proposed as well.The results could provide foundations for strata control and disaster prevention in wide pillars in underground coal mines.

Producing ultra-high-speed nitrogen jets by arc heating in a low-pressure chamber

Pure nitrogen gas was heated with direct current arc, at input powers from several hundred Watt to over 5 kW, and then injected through a nozzle into a chamber at 1 or 10 Pa pressure, with the purpose of accelerating the gas to very high speed around 7 km/s. Various structures of the arc generator and gas expansion nozzle were examined. Results show that bypass exhausting of the boundary layer before it enters the nozzle divergent section can greatly increase flow speed of the jet, thus it might be possible to use nitrogen as a working gas in high speed gas dynamic test facilities.

Dynamic responses and failure mechanisms of the existing tunnel under transient excavation unloading of an adjacent tunnel

Engineering disasters(e.g.rock slabbing and rockburst)of the tunnel groups induced by the transient excavation of an adjacent tunnel threaten the stability of the existing tunnel,especially for those excavated by using the drill and blast tunneling(D&B).However,the dynamic response and failure mechanism of surrounding rocks of the existing tunnel caused by adjacent transient excavation are not clear due to the difficulty in conducting field tests and laboratory experiments.Therefore,a novel transient unloading experimental system for deep tunnel excavation was proposed in this study.The real stress path and the unloading rate can be reproduced by using this proposed system.The experiments were conducted for observing the dynamic response of the existing tunnel induced by adjacent transient excavation under different lateral pressure coefficients l(?0.4,0.6,0.8,1,1.2,1.4,1.6,1.8)with a polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA)specimen.The propagation of the impact wave and unloading surface wave was detected through the digital image correlation(DIC)analysis.The reflection of the unloading surface wave on the incident side of the existing tunnel(tunnel-E)was observed and analyzed.Moreover,the dynamic characteristics of the stress redistribution,the particle displacement and vibration velocity of surrounding rocks of tunnel-E were analyzed and summarized.In addition,the Mohr-Coulomb(MeC)failure criterion with tension cut-off was adopted to evaluate the stability of the existing tunnel under adjacent transient excavation.The results indicate that the incident side of the existing tunnel under the dynamic disturbance of transient excavation of an adjacent tunnel was more prone to fail,followed by the shadow side and the top/bottom side.

Analysis of One-Dimensional Compression under a Wide Range of Stress with Densely Arrayed BPM

In this paper,the densely arrayed bonded particle model is proposed for simulation of granular materials with discrete element method(DEM)considering particle crushing.This model can solve the problem of pore calculation after the grains are crushed,and reduce the producing time of specimen.In this work,several one-dimensional compressing simulations are carried out to investigate the effect of particle crushing on mechanical properties of granular materials under a wide range of stress.The results show that the crushing process of granular materials can be divided into four different stages according to er-logσy curves.At the end of the second stage,there exists a yield point,after which the physical and mechanical properties of specimens will change significantly.Under extremely high stress,particle crushing will wipe some initial information of specimens,and specimens with different initial gradings and void ratios present some similar characteristics.Particle crushing has great influence on grading,lateral pressure coefficient and compressibility of granular materials,and introduce extra irreversible volume deformation,which is necessary to be considered in modelling of granular materials in wide stress range.

Fatigue Properties of Plain Concrete Under Triaxial Compressive Cyclic Loading

Experiments were made on plain concrete subjected to triaxial static loading and constant amplitude compressive fatigue loading with a constant lateral pressure in two directions. The initial confining pressure was 0, 0.1 f c , 0.25 f c and 0.4 f c , respectively, for the static test, and 0.1 f c and 0.25 f c for the fatigue test. Based on the triaxial compressive constitutive behavior of concrete, the inflexion of confining pressure evolution was chosen to be the fatigue damage criterion during the test. The rule of evolution of longitudinal maximum and minimum strains, longitudinal cyclic modulus and damage were recorded and analyzed. According to the Fardis Chen criterion model and the concept of equivalent fatigue life and equivalent stress level, a unified S N curve for multi axial compressive fatigue loading was proposed. Thus, the fatigue strength factors for different fatigue loading cases can be obtained. The present investigation provides information for the fatigue design of concrete structures.

Interaction analysis of back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth walls

Back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth walls （BBMSEWs） are encountered in bridge approaches, ramp ways, rockfall protection systems, earth dams, levees and noise barriers. However, available design guidelines for BBMSEWs are limited and not applicable to numerical modeling when back-to-back walls interact with each other. The objective of this paper is to investigate, using PLAXIS code, the effects of the reduction in the distance between BBMSEW, the reinforcement length, the quality of backfill material and the connection of reinforcements in the middle, when the back-to-back walls are close. The results indicate that each of the BBMSEWs behaves independently if the width of the embankment between mechanically stabilized earth walls is greater than that of the active zone. This is in good agreement with the result of FHWA design guideline. However, the results show that the FHWA design guideline underestimates the lateral earth pressure when back-to-back walls interact with each other. Moreover, for closer BBMSEWs, FHWA design guideline strongly overestimates the maximum tensile force in the reinforcement. The investigation of the quality of backfill material shows that the minor increase in embankment cohesion can lead to significant reductions in both the lateral earth pressure and the maximum tensile force in geosynthetic. When the distance between the two earth walls is close to zero, the connection of reinforcement between back-to-back walls significantly improves the factor of safety.

Buckling analysis of ring stiffened thin cylindrical shell under external pressure

Submarine pressure hulls,fire-tube boilers,vacuum tanks,oil well casings,submersibles,underground pipelines,tunnels,rocket motor casing,etc.,are some of the examples of thin cylindrical shell structures which collapse due to buckling under uniform pressure.To enhance the buckling strength of bare cylin-drical shells,one of the best solutions is to stiffen them with ring stiffeners.In this work in order to predict the shell instability failure mode(SIFM)and general instability failure mode(GIFM)FE models are generated and analysed using buckling analysis of general-purpose FE software ANSYS.The numeri-cal results obtained using FE analysis are compared with published analytical and experimental results.Hence in the present study effort s are taken to develop FE models to predict global and shell instability failure modes of externally ring stiffened cylindrical shells by using linear FE analysis.It is proposed to use full/half bare cylindrical shell FE models(L/R ratio upto 200)to determine SIFM and FE models with shell281-Beam189(for stiffeners)can be used to determine GIFM.The developed FE models are vali-dated by comparing numerical results with experimental results published by Seleim and Roorda[25].By using both proposed FE models it is possible to predict the failure modes namely SIFM and GIFM,comparing their values of critical buckling pressures.The lower pressure value can indicate the possible failure mode.

Numerical Investigations of Film Cooling Characteristics of Interrupted Slot and Trench Holes on a Vane Endwall

This paper describes film cooling characteristics of the novel combined configuration employing interrupted slot and trench holes on a vane endwall.Interrupted slot,formed by uneven thermal expansion between combustor and high-pressure turbine vane,can improve adiabatic film cooling effectiveness of the leading edge and pressure side-endwall junction by inhibiting the development of horseshoes vortex.Holes embedded into a straight trench were introduced to improve film efficiency comparing to cylindrical holes on vane passage endwall.The influences of lateral pressure gradient,slot coolant and step on crossflow of the hole coolant in trench were mainly discussed.Three dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with shear stress turbulence model(SST k-ω)were used to obtain the flowfields and adiabatic film cooling effectiveness of a cascade model.Four hole blowing ratios M=0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0 and two axial positions X/Cax=–0.05,0 were considered.The coolant crossflow in trench on flat endwall of cascade passage trends to flow towards suction side due to the lateral pressure gradient rather than both sides on flat plate.For combined configuration of interrupted slot and trench holes,the step vortex rolls up hole coolant upstream of trench which changesηdistributions comparing to that on flat passage endwall.Comparing to the cylindrical holes,better film cooling performance can still be obtained when arranging trench holes under high blowing ratios.The influence of hole’s axial positions was also discussed.