Normalization method for asphalt mixture fatigue equation under different loading frequencies

In order to analyze the effect of different loading frequencies on the fatigue performance for asphalt mixture,the changing law of asphalt mixture strengths with loading speed was revealed by strength tests under different loading speeds.Fatigue equations of asphalt mixtures based on the nominal stress ratio and real stress ratio were established using fatigue tests under different loading frequencies.It was revealed that the strength of the asphalt mixture is affected by the loading speed greatly.It was also discovered that the fatigue equation based on the nominal stress ratio will change with the change of the fatigue loading speed.There is no uniqueness.But the fatigue equation based on the real stress ratio doesn't change with the loading frequency.It has the uniqueness.The results indicate the fatigue equation based on the real stress ratio can realize the normalization of the asphalt mixture fatigue equation under different loading frequencies.It can greatly benefit the analysis of the fatigue characteristics under different vehicle speeds for asphalt pavement.

Experimental study on remodeling strength of granular materials under different loads and lengths of time

Remodeled clay and sand rock specimens were prepared by designing lateral confinement and water drainage experiments based on the stress exerted on granular materials in a waste dump.An in situ test was conducted in an internal waste dump;the physical and mechanical parameters of the remodeled rock mass dumped at different time and depths were measured.Based on statistics,regression analysis was performed with regard to the shearing stress parameters acquired from the two tests.Other factors,such as remodeling pressure(burial depth),remodeling time(amount of time since waste was dumped),and the corresponding functional relationship,were determined.Analysis indicates that the cohesion of the remodeled clay and its remodeling pressure are correlated by a quadratic function but are not correlated with remodeling time length.In situ experimental results indicate that the shear strength of reshaped granular materials in the internal dump is positively correlated with burial depth but poorly correlated with time length.Cohesion Cand burial depth H follow a quadratic function,specifically for a short time since waste has been dumped.As revealed by both in situ and laboratory experiments,the remodeling strength of granular materials varies in a certain pattern.The consistency of such materials verifies the reliability of the remodeling experimental program.

Numerical Analyses of Caisson Breakwaters on Soft Foundations Under Wave Cyclic Loading

A caisson breakwater is built on soft foundations after replacing the upper soft layer with sand. This paper presents a dynamic finite element method to investigate the strength degradation and associated pore pressure development of the intercalated soft layer under wave cyclic loading. By combining the undrained shear strength with the empirical formula of overconsolidation clay produced by unloading and the development model of pore pressure, the dynamic degradation law that describes the undrained shear strength as a function of cycle number and stress level is derived. Based on the proposed dynamic degradation law and M-C yield criterion, a dynamic finite element method is numerically implemented to predict changes in undrained shear strength of the intercalated soft layer by using the general-purpose FEM software ABAQUS, and the accuracy of the method is verified. The effects of cycle number and amplitude of the wave force on the degradation of the undrained shear strength of the intercalated soft layer and the associated excess pore pressure response are investigated by analyzing an overall distribution and three typical sections underneath the breakwater. By comparing the undrained shear strength distributions obtained by the static method and the quasi-static method with the undrained shear strength distributions obtained by the dynamic finite element method in the three typical sections, the superiority of the dynamic finite element method in predicting changes in undrained shear strength is demonstrated.

Effect of strain rate and water-to-cement ratio on compressive mechanical behavior of cement mortar

Effects of strain rate and water-to-cement ratio on the dynamic compressive mechanical behavior of cement mortar are investigated by split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB) tests. 124 specimens are subjected to dynamic uniaxial compressive loadings.Strain rate sensitivity of the materials is measured in terms of failure modes, stress-strain curves, compressive strength, dynamic increase factor(DIF) and critical strain at peak stress. A significant change in the stress-strain response of the materials with each order of magnitude increase in strain rate is clearly seen from test results. The slope of the stress-strain curve after peak value for low water-to-cement ratio is steeper than that of high water-to-cement ratio mortar. The compressive strength increases with increasing strain rate. With increase in strain rate, the dynamic increase factor(DIF) increases. However, this increase in DIF with increase in strain rate does not appear to be a function of the water-to-cement ratio. The critical compressive strain increases with the strain rate.

Behavior and design method of square-tubed reinforced concrete short columns under axial compression

The behavior of square-tubed reinforced concrete (STRC) short columns subjected to axial compression was studied in detail with an accurate nonlinear finite element model (FEM) . Different width to thickness ratios (D/t = 50 150) of the steel tube and the compressive strength of concrete (C80 and C50) were adopted in this research. The axial load strength,steel tube strain and load-shortening response were determined from FEM and the analysis results from FEM were compared with those from experiment. The analysis and test results indicate that the concrete strength little affectes the confinement of the steel tube on the concrete. The transverse stress of the tube at the axial load point increases with the increment in the width to thickness ratio. Based on the results from FEM and experiment,a formula for the prediction of the axial load strength was proposed in this paper.

The use of point load test for Dubai weak calcareous sandstones

Intact rock is typically described according to its uniaxial compressive strength （UCS）. The UCS is needed in the design of geotechnical engineering problems including stability of rock slopes and design of shallow and deep foundations resting on and/or in rocks. Accordingly, a correct measure-ment/evaluation of the UCS is essential to a safe and economic design. Typically, the UCS is measured using the unconfined compression tests performed on cylindrical intact specimens with a minimum length to width ratio of 2. In several cases, especially for weak and very weak rocks, it is not possible to extract intact specimens with the needed minimum dimensions. Thus, alternative tests （e.g. point load test, Schmidt hammer） are used to measure rock strength. The UCS is computed based on the results of these tests through empirical correlations. The literature includes a plethora of these correlations that vary widely in estimating rock strength. Thus, it is paramount to validate these correlations to check their suitability for estimating rock strength for a specific location and geology. A review of the available correlations used to estimate the UCS from the point load test results is performed and summarized herein. Results of UCS, point load strength index and Young＇s modulus are gathered for calcareous sandstone specimens extracted from the Dubai area. A correlation for estimating the UCS from the point load strength index is proposed. Furthermore, the Young＇s modulus is correlated to the UCS.

Analytical analysis of pullout resistance of the hydraulic expansion rockbolts on a frictionally coupled model

This paper proposes an empirical formula to estimate the shear strength of hydraulic expansion rockbolts.The field experimental results were obtained from eleven pullout tests to evaluate the results computed by the proposed formula.It was found that shear resistance of hydraulic expansion rockbolts significantly depends on the uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus of rock,with high correlation coefficients of 0.7651 and0.8587,respectively.The developed formula enables estimation of the maximum pullout load in an analytical process without pullout tests in the field.Conversely,due to the poor interlocking at the initial pullout load,the measured displacements were higher than the estimated ones.To reduce the interlocking effects between bolt and rock,we recommend preloading of 29.4 kN.Preload allows reducing the distance between the measured and estimated displacement and making two load-displacement curves practically identical with marginal differences of 1.1 to 1.5 mm at the maximum pullout load.

Axial compressive behavior and design method of tubed circular steel reinforced concrete short columns

To study the behavior and design of tubed circular steel reinforced concrete (TCSRC) short column under axial compressive loads, a nonlinear finite element model (FEM) has been developed to simulate this kind of structure. Depending on the FEM results, an elastic-plastic analysis was carried out to clarify the status of steel tube, then a simplified procedure was proposed to predict the compressive axial load strength. The results obtained from this procedure were compared with the test results. It is found that they agree well each other.

Prediction of uniaxial compressive strength of rock based on lithology using stacking models

Uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of rock is an essential parameter in geotechnical engineering.Point load strength(PLS),P-wave velocity,and Schmidt hammer rebound number(SH)are more easily obtained than UCS and are extensively applied for the indirect estimation of UCS.This study collected 1080 datasets consisting of SH,P-wave velocity,PLS,and UCS.All datasets were integrated into three categories(sedimentary,igneous,and metamorphic rocks)according to lithology.Stacking models combined with tree-based models and linear regression were developed based on the datasets of three rock types.Model evaluation showed that the stacking model combined with random forest and linear regression was the optimal model for three rock types.UCS of metamorphic rocks was less predictable than that of sedimentary and igneous rocks.Nonetheless,the proposed stacking models can improve the predictive performance for UCS of metamorphic rocks.The developed predictive models can be applied to quickly predict UCS at engineering sites,which benefits the rapid and intelligent classification of rock masses.Moreover,the importance of SH,P-wave velocity,and PLS were analyzed for the estimation of UCS.SH was a reliable indicator for UCS evaluation across various rock types.P-wave velocity was a valid parameter for evaluating the UCS of igneous rocks,but it was not reliable for assessing the UCS of metamorphic rocks.

Stability Analysis of a Multi-holes Shell Under Axial Compression

The paper presents a multi-holes shell with one hundred and eighty circular holes which has been used in engineering. Using a buckling module of the finite element analysis software, stability behavior and destroy mode along geometry parameters are studied. Results show the destroy mode depends on the geometry parameter greatly. Curves of buckling critical load and strength limited load along geometry parameters have a point of intersection. The point implies the multi-holes shell has different destroy mode and the value of point is change in geometry parameters.

Numerical Simulation on Effect of Indenter Radius During Point Load Test

To investigate the effect of the radius of the spherical heads of the indenter on the results of a point load test,this study uses a discrete element model based on the flat joint contact for numerical simulation.Results show that the discrete element model based on the flat joint model can accurately describe the damage process and size effects of rocks under point loads.Damage of rock samples under the loading of different radii of the indenter can be characterized as vertical splitting damage,and the larger the radius of the indenter is,the larger the damage area.Values of the point load strength of rock samples increase with increasing the radius of the indenter and obey a power function relationship.The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for the selection of the spherical heads of indenters in point load tests and tool design for mechanical rock breaking.