Effect of lateral stress on frictional properties of a fracture in sandstone

The injection of large volumes of natural gas into geological formations,as is required for underground gas storage,leads to alterations in the effective stress exerted on adjacent faults.This increases the potential for their reactivation and subsequent earthquake triggering.Most measurements of the frictional properties of rock fractures have been conducted under normal and shear stresses.However,faults in gas storage facilities exist within a true three-dimensional(3D)stress state.A double-direct shear experiment on rock fractures under both lateral and normal stresses was conducted using a true triaxial loading system.It was observed that the friction coefficient increases with increasing lateral stress,but decreases with increasing normal stress.The impact of lateral and normal stresses on the response is primarily mediated through their influence on the initial friction coefficient.This allows for an empirical modification of the rate-state friction model that considers the influence of lateral and normal stresses.The impact of lateral and normal stresses on observed friction coefficients is related to the propensity for the production of wear products on the fracture surfaces.Lateral stresses enhance the shear strength of rock(e.g.Mogi criterion).This reduces asperity breakage and the generation of wear products,and consequently augments the friction coefficient of the surface.Conversely,increased normal stresses inhibit dilatancy on the fracture surface,increasing the breakage of asperities and the concomitant production of wear products that promote rolling deformation.This ultimately reduces the friction coefficient.

Evaluation of the coefficient of lateral stress at rest of granular materials under repetitive loading conditions

Although the internal stress state of soils can be affected by repetitive loading,there are few studies evaluating the lateral stress(or K_(0))of soils under repetitive loading.This study investigates the changes in K_(0) and directional shear wave velocity(V_(s))in samples of two granular materials with different particle shapes during repetitive loading.A modified oedometer cell equipped with bender elements and a diaphragm transducer was developed to measure the variations in the lateral stress and the shear wave velocity,under repetitive loading on the loading and unloading paths.The study produced the following results:(1)Repetitive loading on the loading path resulted in an increase in the K_(0) of test samples as a function of cyclic loading number(i),and(2)Repetitive loading on the unloading path resulted in a decrease in K_(0) according to i.The shear wave velocity ratio(i.e.V_(s)(HH)/V_(s)(VH),where the first and second letters in parentheses corresponds to the directions of wave propagation and particle motion,respectively,and V and H corresponds to the vertical and horizontal directions,respectively)according to i supports the experimental observations of this study.However,when the tested material was in lightly over-consolidated state,there was an increase in K_(0) during repetitive loading,indicating that it was the initial K_(0),rather than the loading path,which is responsible for the change in K_(0).The power model can capture the variation in the K_(0) of samples according to i.Notably,the K_(0)=1 line acts as the boundary between the increase and decrease in K_(0) under repetitive loading.

Lateral stress-induced propagation characteristics in photonic crystal fibres

Using the finite element method, this paper investigates lateral stress-induced propagation characteristics in a photonic crystal fibre of hexagonal symmetry. The results of simulation show the strong stress dependence of effective index of the fundamental guided mode, phase modal birefringence and confinement loss. It also finds that the contribution of the geometrical effect that is related only to deformation of the photonic crystal fibre and the stress-related contribution to phase modal birefringence and confinement loss are entirely different. Furthermore, polarization-dependent stress sensitivity of confinement loss is proposed in this paper.

Anomalous Laterally Stressed Kinetically Trapped DNA Surface Conformations

Up to now,the DNA molecule adsorbed on a surface was believed to always preserve its native structure.This belief implies a negligible contribution of lateral surface forces during and after DNA adsorption although their impact has never been elucidated.High-resolution atomic force microscopy was used to observe that stiff DNA molecules kinetically trapped on monomolecular films comprising one-dimensional periodically charged lamellar templates as a single layer or as a sublayer are oversaturated by sharp discontinuous kinks and can also be locally melted and supercoiled.We argue that kink/anti-kink pairs are induced by an overcritical lateral bending stress(>30 pNnm)inevitable for the highly anisotropic 1D-1D electrostatic interaction of DNA and underlying rows of positive surface charges.In addition,the unexpected kink-inducing mechanical instability in the shape of the template-directed DNA confined between the positively charged lamellar sides is observed indicating the strong impact of helicity.The previously reported anomalously low values of the persistence length of the surface-adsorbed DNA are explained by the impact of the surface-induced low-scale bending.The sites of the local melting and supercoiling are convincingly introduced as other lateral stress-induced structural DNA anomalies by establishing a link with DNA high-force mechanics.The results open up the study in the completely unexplored area of the principally anomalous kinetically trapped DNA surface conformations in which the DNA local mechanical response to the surface-induced spatially modulated lateral electrostatic stress is essentially nonlinear.The underlying rich and complex in-plane nonlinear physics acts at the nanoscale beyond the scope of applicability of the worm-like chain approximation.

A new apparatus for investigating stress,deformation and seepage coupling properties of rock fractures

A true triaxial apparatus which is composed of three units was presented.The apparatus allows for investigations on deformation and seepage behaviors of a single rock fracture subjected to lateral stress and normal stress.The first unit has three jacks which can apply loads independently in three orthogonal directions.The second unit is used to supply water inflow,control seepage pressure and measure flow velocity in real time.The third unit is for measuring the normal deformation of rock fractures.Some tests for investigating the normal deformation and seepage behaviors of rock fractures subjected to normal and lateral loads on hard granite specimens with an artificial persistent fracture,were introduced.The results show that both the normal deformation and the hydraulic conductivity are influenced not only by the normal stress but also by the lateral stress.It is also shown that the aperture and the hydraulic conductivity decrease with the increasing normal stress but increase with the increasing lateral stress and both the aperture and the hydraulic conductivity obey exponential relationships with the normal stress and the lateral stress.

Lateral displacement of silty clay under cement-fly ash-gravel pile-supported embankments: Analytical consideration and field evidence

Based on back analysis of lateral displacements measured in situ by using the analytical solution, a useful method for estimating stress concentration ratio of geosynthetic-reinforced and pile-supported(GRPS) embankments was proposed. In order to validate the proposed method, a full-scale high-speed railway embankment(HSRE) with four instrumented subsections over medium compressibility silty clay was constructed in three stages. The soil profile, construction procedure and monitoring of settlements and lateral displacements of the four test sections were described. The field deformation analysis results show that 1) the combined reinforcement of CFG piles and geosynthetic layer perform well in terms of reducing lateral displacements; 2) the development of lateral displacements lags behind the increase of fill load, which can be attributed to the vertical load transfer mechanism of the pile foundation; and 3) pile length has a dominant effect on the stress distribution proportion between piles and surrounding soils. The comparison between predicted and experimental results suggests that the proposed analytical solution and the back analysis-based method are capable of reasonably estimating the lateral deformation and the stress concentration ratio, respectively, if the appropriate soil elastic modulus is chosen.

Acute development of collateral circulation and therapeutic prospects in ischemic stroke

In acute ischemic stroke,collateral circulation plays an important role in maintaining blood flow to the tissue that is at risk of progressing into ischemia,and in increasing the successful recanalization rate without hemorrhagic transformation.We have reported that well-developed collateral circulation is associated with smaller infarct volume and better long-term neurological outcome,and it disappears promptly once the effective recanalization is achieved.Contrary to the belief that collateral vessels develop over time in chronic stenotic condition,there exists a phenomenon that collateral circulation develops immediately in acute stenosis or occlusion of the arteries and it seems to be triggered by fluid shear stress,which occurs between the territories of stenotic/occluded arteries and those fed by surrounding intact arteries.We believe that this acute development of collateral circulation is a target of novel therapeutics in ischemic stroke and refer our recent attempt in enhancing collateral circulation by modulating sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1,which is a known shear-stress mechanosensing protein.

Deformation effect of lateral roof roadway in close coal seams after repeated mining

This paper analyzed the deformation mechanism in lateral roof roadway of the Ding Wu-3 roadway which was disturbed by repeated mining of close coal seams Wu-8 and Wu-10 in Pingdingshan No. 1 Mine. To determine the strata disturbance scope, the strata displacement angle was used to calculate the protection pillar width. A numerical model was built considering the field geological conditions. In simulation, the mining stress borderline was defined as the contour where the induced stress is 1.5 times of the original stress. Simulation results show the mining stress borderline of the lateral roadway extended 91.7 m outward after repeated mining. Then the original stress increased, deforming the road- way of interest. This deformation agreed with the in situ observations. Moreover, the strata displacement angle changed due to repeated mining. Therefore, reselection of the displacement angle was required to design the protective pillar width. Since a constant strata displacement angle was used in traditional design, the orooosed method was beneficial in field cases.

Fracture analyses of different pre-holed concrete specimens under compression

Crack propagation processes in specially prepared concrete discs and rectangular specimens containing a single cylindrical hole or multiple holes of varying diameters have been studied both experimentally and numerically. In this research, the cracks coalescence paths in Brazilian disc and rectangular specimens made from rock-like material containing multi-holes are investigated. These concrete specimens are specially prepared from an appropriate mixture of Portland Pozzolana Cement （PPC）, fine sands, and water. The pre-holed Brazilian discs and rectangular specimens are experimentally tested under compression. The breakage load in the ring type disc specimens containing an axial hole with varying diameters is measured and the distribution of the induced lateral stress is obtained. The mechanism of cracks propagation in the wall of the ring type specimens is also stud- ied. In the case of multi-hole Brazilian disc and rectangular specimens, the cracks propagation and cracks coalescence are also investigated. These experiments are numerically modeled by a modified higher order displacement discontinuity method. It has been shown that the corresponding experimental and numerical results are in good agreement with each other. The results presented in this research vali date the accuracy and applicability of these crack analyses procedures.

Hydroelastic interaction between water waves and thin elastic plate floating on three-layer fluid

The wave-induced hydroelastic responses of a thin elastic plate floating on a three-layer fluid, under the assumption of linear potential flow, are investigated for two-dimensional cases. The effect of the lateral stretching or compressive stress is taken into account for plates of either semi-infinite or finite length. An explicit expression for the dispersion relation of the flexural-gravity wave in a three-layer fluid is analytically deduced. The equations for the velocity potential and the wave elevations are solved with the method of matched eigenfunction expansions. To simplify the calculation on the unknown expansion coefficients, a new inner product with orthogonality is proposed for the three-layer fluid, in which the vertical eigenfunctions in the open-water region are involved. The accuracy of the numerical results is checked with an energy conservation equation, representing the energy flux relation among three incident wave modes and the elastic plate. The effects of the lateral stresses on the hydroelastic responses are discussed in detail.

Large excavations and their effect on displacement of land boundaries

A study to estimate land surface movement caused by large surface excavations in sedimentary strata is presented.In stratified or jointed strata the stress relief driven movement adjacent to large excavations can be significantly larger than expected.High lateral stresses measured in Australia and other places around the world indicate that the ratio of horizontal to vertical stress has been particularly high at shallow depths.The in situ strata is in compression and during excavation,stress is relieved towards the opening causing strata movement.Large excavations such as,open cut mines or highway cuttings,can initiate an extensive horizontal slide of surface layers towards the excavation.These ground movements can be damaging to surface structures such as water storage dams and large buildings.Based on stress measurements at shallow depths in Australian coal mines the study presented here calculates and models the extent of potential ground movement along the bedding surface adjacent to large excavations and provides a new prediction tool of land movement at the excavation boundary that can benefit the geotechnical practitioners in the mining industry.

Numerical Modeling of the Stability of Horizontal Multidrain Oil Wells

The stability of the horizontal multidrain wells is a crucial issue and several factors are involved in this matter, including in-situ stresses, magnitude and distribution as well as the mainbore trajectories. In this paper, this issue is evaluated by assuming different circumstances for the above mentioned factors, based on finite difference threedimensional modeling by using the finite difference numerical software, FLAC3 D. The stability of the mainbore and lateral branches is analyzed based on the Normalized Yielded Zone Area（NYZA） criterion, i.e. the ratio of the surrounding yielded cross-sectional area to the initial area of the well. Optimum mud pressures are obtained in the mainbore and lateral branches in different mainbore trajectories under three in-situ stress regimes. In addition, the stability of the junction where the lateral branches are bifurcated from the mainbore is assessed in those situations. The optimum trajectory of the mainbore, in which the junction has obtained the most stable condition, is selected in each stress regime. It was concluded that in the Normal Faulting（NF） stress regime, the mainbore and junction stability varies in relation to the mainbore trajectories, inversely. However, in the other two stress regimes, i.e. Strike Slip（SS） and Reverse Faulting（RF）, the variations of the mainbore and junction stability are in the same trend with respect to the mainbore trajectory deviations.

In-situ stress distribution and coalbed methane reservoir permeability in the Linxing area, eastern Ordos Basin, China

Understanding the distribution of in-situ stresses is extremely important in a wide range of fields such as oil and gas exploration and development, CO2 sequestration, borehole stability, and stress-related geohazards assessment. In the present study, the in-situ stress distribution in the Linxing area of eastern Ordos Basin, China, was analyzed based on well tested parameters. The maximum horizontal principal stress （SHmax）, minimum horizontal principal stress （Shmin）, and vertical stress （Sv） were calculated, and they were linearly correlated with burial depth. In general, two types of in-situ stress fields were determined in the Linxing area： （i） the in-situ stress state followed the relation Sv 〉 Snmax 〉 Shmin in shallow layers with burial depths of less than about 940 m, indicating a normal faulting stress regime; （ii） the Snmax magnitude increased conspicuously and was greater than the Sv magnitude in deep layers with depths more than about 940 m, and the in-situ stress state followed the relation Snmax 〉 Sv 〉 Shmin, demonstrating a strike-slip faulting stress regime. The horizontal differential stress （Snmax-Shmtn） increased with burial depth, indicating that wellbore instability may be a potentially significant problem when drilling deep vertical wells. The lateral stress coefficient ranged from 0.73 to 1.08 with an average of 0.93 in the Linxing area. The coalbed methane （CBM） reservoir permeability was also analyzed. No obvious exponential relationship was found between coal permeability and effective in-situ stress magnitude. Coal permeability was relatively high under a larger effective in-situ stress magnitude. Multiple factors, including fracture development, contribute to the variation of CBM reservoir permeability in the Linxing area of eastern Ordos Basin.

Shear failure behaviors and degradation mechanical model of rockmass under true triaxial multi-level loading and unloading shear tests OA

The redistribution of three-dimensional(3D)geostress during underground tunnel excavation can easily induce to shear failure along rockmass structural plane,potentially resulting in engineering disasters.However,the current understanding of rockmass shear behavior is mainly based on shear tests under2D stress without lateral stress,the shear fracture under 3D stress is unclear,and the relevant 3D shear fracture theory research is deficient.Therefore,this study conducted true triaxial cyclic loading and unloading shear tests on intact and bedded limestone under different normal stressσnand lateral stressσpto investigate the shear strength,deformation,and failure characteristics.The results indicate that under differentσnandσp,the stress–strain hysteresis loop area gradually increases from nearly zero in the pre-peak stage,becomes most significant in the post-peak stage,and then becomes very small in the residual stage as the number of shear test cycles increases.The shear peak strength and failure surface roughness almost linearly increase with the increase inσn,while they first increase and then gradually decrease asσpincreases,with the maximum increases of 12.9%for strength and 15.1%for roughness.The shear residual strength almost linearly increases withσn,but shows no significant change withσp.Based on the acoustic emission characteristic parameters during the test process,the shear fracture process and microscopic failure mechanism were analyzed.As the shear stressτincreases,the acoustic emission activity,main frequency,and amplitude gradually increase,showing a significant rise during the cycle near the peak strength,while remaining almost unchanged in the residual stage.The true triaxial shear fracture process presents tensile-shear mixture failure characteristics dominated by microscopic tensile failure.Based on the test results,a 3D shear strength criterion considering the lateral stress effect was proposed,and the determination methods and evolution of the shear modulus G,cohesion cjp,friction angleφjp,and dilation angleψjpduring rockmass shear fracture process were studied.Under differentσnandσp,G first rapidly decreases and then tends to stabilize;cjp,φjp,andψjpfirst increase rapidly to the maximum value,then decrease slowly,and finally remain basically unchanged.A 3D shear mechanics model considering the effects of lateral stress and shear parameter degradation was further established,and a corresponding numerical calculation program was developed based on3D discrete element software.The proposed model effectively simulates the shear failure evolution process of rockmass under true triaxial shear test,and is further applied to successfully reveal the failure characteristics of surrounding rocks with structural planes under different combinations of tunnel axis and geostress direction.

The WUSCHEL Related Homeobox Protein WOX7 Regulates the Sugar Response of Lateral Root Development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Sugars promote lateral root formation at low levels but become inhibitory at high C/N or C/P ratios. How sugars suppress lateral root formation is unclear, however. Here we report that WOX7, a member of the WUSCHEL related homeobox （WOX） family transcription factors, inhibits lateral root development in a sugar-dependent manner. The number of lateral root primordia increased in wox7 mutants but decreased in plants over-expressing WOX7o Plants expressing the WOX7-VP16 fusion protein produced even more lateral roots than wox7, suggesting that WOX7 acts as a transcriptional repressor in lateral root develop- ment. WOX7 is expressed at all stages of lateral root development, but it is primarily involved in lateral root initiation. Consistent with this, the wox7 mutant had a higher mitotic activity only at early stages of lateral root development. Further studies suggest that WOX7 regulates lateral root development through direct repression of cell cycle genes, particularly CYCD6;1. WOX7 expression was enhanced by sugar, reduced by auxin, but did not respond to salt and mannitoh In the wox7 mutant, the effect of sugar on lateral root formation was mitigated. These results together suggest that WOX7 plays an important role in coupling the lateral root development program and sugar status in plants.

Damage-constitutive model for seawater coral concrete using different stirrup confinements subjected to axial loading

Recently,the application of detrital coral as an alternative to natural aggregates in marine structures has attracted increased attention.In this study,research on the compressive performance of coral aggregate concrete(CAC)confined using steel stirrups with anti-rust treatment was experimentally conducted.A total of 45 specimens were cast,including 9 specimens without stirrups and under different strength grades(C20,C30,and C40)and 36 specimens under different strength grades(C20,C30,and C40).Moreover,three stirrup levels(rectangular,diamond-shaped compound,and spiral stirrups)and different stirrup spacings(40,50,60,and 70 mm)were used.Subsequently,the stress−strain curves of specimens subjected to axial loading were measured.The effects of the stirrup spacing and stirrup configurations on the stress and strain were investigated,respectively,and the lateral effective stress of the different stirrups was calculated based on the cohesive-elastic ring model and modified elastic beam theory.Moreover,a damageconstitutive model of CAC considering the lateral stress was set up based on damage mechanics theory.The results indicated an increase in the stress and strain with a decrease in the stirrup spacing,and the adopted stirrup ratio had a better strengthening effect than the different concrete grades,and the variation in the deformation was restricted by the performance of coral coarse aggregate(CA).However,an increment in the lateral strain was observed with an increase in the axial strain.The lateral stress model showed a good agreement with the experimental data,and the proposed damageconstitutive model had a good correlation with the measured stress−strain curves.