Strength degradation of sandstone and granodiorite under uniaxial cyclic loading

Change in mechanical properties of rocks under static loading has been widely studied and documented.However, the response of rocks to cyclic loads is still a much-debated topic. Fatigue is the phenomenon when rocks under cyclic loading fail at much lower strength as compared to those subjected to the monotonic loading conditions. A few selected cored granodiorite and sandstone specimens have been subjected to uniaxial cyclic compression tests to obtain the unconfined fatigue strength and life. This study seeks to examine the effects of cyclic loading conditions, loading amplitude and applied stress level on the fatigue life of sandstone, as a soft rock, and granodiorite, as a hard rock, under uniaxial compression test. One aim of this study is to determine which of the loading conditions has a stronger effect on rock fatigue response. The fatigue response of hard rocks and soft rocks is also compared. It is shown that the loading amplitude is the most important factor affecting the cyclic response of the tested rocks. The more the loading amplitude, the shorter the fatigue life, and the greater the strength degradation. The granodiorite specimens showed more strength degradation compared to the sandstone specimens when subjected to cyclic loading. It is shown that failure modes of specimens under cyclic loadings are different from those under static loadings. More local cracks were observed under cyclic loadings especially for granodiorite rock specimens.

Reliability and sensitivity of bogie frame of high-speed train with strength degradation

High-speed bogie frame is a key mechanical component in a train system. The reliability analysis of the bogie is necessary to the safety of high-speed train. Reliability analysis of a bogie frame was considered. The equivalent load method was employed to account for random repeated loads in structural reliability analysis. Degradation of material strength was regarded as a Gamma process. The probabilistic perturbation method was, then, employed for response moment computation. Example of a high-speed train bogie structure under time-variant load was employed for reliability and sensitivity analyses. Monte-Carlo simulation verifies the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method in time-variant reliability analysis. The analysis results show that the reliability calculation considering the strength degradation and repeated load is closer to the practicality than the method of considering reliability calculation only. Its decreasing velocity is faster than the traditional reliability. The reliability sensitivity value changes over time. The analysis results provide a variation trend of reliability and sensitivity to design and usage of bogie frame.

Structural Strength Degradation Model Based on Non-stationary Gamma Process

Strength degradation is a stochastic and irreversible process.Gamma process is an independent nonnegative increment process which can be used to describe the characteristics of strength degradation.It is unreasonable to choose a linear function to describe the strength degradation trend considering that the degradation rate may change over time.So,a non-linear power law is proposed to describe the strength degradation trend based on preliminary work.It is more general compared with the linear one and the inadequacy of strict linear assumption is overcome.Then,the model parameters of non-stationary Gamma process are estimated based on the maximum likelihood method.Finally,it is proved that the non-stationary Gamma process can accurately reflect the strength degradation law through comparative analysis of a real example.

Wetting effects and strength degradation of swelling shale evaluated from multistage triaxial test

The multistage triaxial compression test was mainly utilized in this research to investigate the degradation in the strength of swelling shale under different wetting conditions.Shale samples were tested in four different conditions:(1)under their natural moisture content denoted as intact,and after soaking in,(2)water,(3)polymer solution,and(4)bentonite solution,separately.The experimental results showed that a considerable decrease in the shale’s strength was noted after soaking in water and the lubricant fluids(LFs).The polymer solution caused the least decrease in the strength compared to other fluids.Strength envelopes of the tested shale were constructed for intact and soaked states.These envelopes showed fair agreement between the single stage and the multistage triaxial compression test results,indicating suitability of the multistage triaxial compression test for the tested swelling shale.

The Degradation of Particleboard Strength

A number of references about the degradation of particleboard strength were reviewed. Evidencesindicae that PF adhesives are hydrolytically stable and yet particleboards bonded with these resins still degrade. The maincauses of degradation of PF bonded particleboard are the reversal of densification and the development of glue linestresses.

Seismic performance of steel reinforced ultra high-strength concrete composite frame joints

To investigate the seismic performance of a composite frame comprised of steel reinforced ultra high-strength concrete （SRUHSC） columns and steel reinforced concrete （SRC） beams, six interior frame joint specimens were designed and tested under low cyclically lateral load. The effects of the axial load ratio and volumetric stirrup ratio were studied on the characteristics of the frame joint performance including crack pattern, failure mode, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, strength degradation and rigidity degradation. It was found that all joint specimens behaved in a ductile manner with flexural-shear failure in the joint core region while plastic hinges appeared at the beam ends. The ductility and energy absorption capacity of joints increased as the axial load ratio decreased and the volumetric stirIup ratio increased. The displacement ductility coefficient and equivalent damping coefficient of the joints fell between the corresponding coefficients of the steel reinforced concrete （SRC） frame joint and RC frame joint. The axial load ratio and volumetric stirrup ratio have less influence on the strength degradation and more influence on the stiffness degradation. The stiffness of the joint degrades more significantly for a low volumetric stirrup ratio and high axial load ratio. The characteristics obtained from the SRUHSC composite frame joint specimens with better seismic performance may be a useful reference in future engineering applications.

Numerical simulation of triaxial compression test for brittle rock sample using a modified constitutive law considering degradation and dilation behavior

The understanding of the rock deformation and failure process and the development of appropriate constitutive models are the basis for solving problems in rock engineering. In order to investigate progressive failure behavior in brittle rocks, a modified constitutive model was developed which follows the principles of the continuum damage mechanics method. It incorporates non-linear Hoek-Brown failure criterion, confining pressure-dependent strength degradation and volume dilation laws, and is able to represent the nonlinear degradation and dilation behaviors of brittle rocks in the post-failure region. A series of triaxial compression tests were carried out on Eibenstock(Germany) granite samples. Based on a lab data fitting procedure, a consistent parameter set for the modified constitutive model was deduced and implemented into the numerical code FLAC3 D. The good agreement between numerical and laboratory results indicates that the modified constitutive law is well suited to represent the nonlinear mechanical behavior of brittle rock especially in the post-failure region.

Prediction of the Residual Strength for Durability Failure of Concrete Structure in Acidic Environments

According to the results of accelerated tests of acidification corrosion depth and compressive strength of concretes subjected to sulfuric acid environments,the acidification depth laws of concretes were predicted based on the grey system theory.Thus,the remaining compressive strength was calculated when the acidification depth reached the protection layer thickness of concrete structures,which indicates that the limit state of durability failure can be defined based on strength degradation,and the calculation process was illustrated by an example.The calculated results show that the remaining compressive strength values in the durability failure limit state for the concrete structures exposed to p H=2 and 3 sulfuric acid water environments and wet-dry cyclic sulfuric acid environment with p H=2 are 74%,72%,and 80% of initialstrength,respectively.The method provides references for the durability evaluation of concrete structure design under the acidic environments.

Numerical modeling of permeability evolution based on degradation approach during progressive failure of brittle rocks

The permeability evolution of rock during the progressive failure process is described. In combination with the strength degradation index, the degradation formulas of s and a, which are dependent on the plastic confining strain component, the material constants of Hock-Brown failure criterion are presented, and a modified elemental scale elastic-brittle-plastic constitutive model of rock is established. The rela- tionship between volumetric strain and permeability through tri-axial compression is investigated. Based on the above, a permeability evolution model is established. The model incorporates confining pressure- dependent degradation of strength, dilatancy and corresponding permeability evolution. The model is implemented in FLAC by the FISH function method. The permeability evolution behavior of rock is inves-tigated during the progressive failure process in a numerical case. The results show that the model is cap- able of reproducing, and allowing visualization of a range of hydro-mechanical responses of rock. The effects of confining pressure on degradation of strength, dilatancy and permeability evolution are also reflected.

Reliability Analysis Based on a Nonlinear Fatigue Damage Accumulation Model

A modified nonlinear fatigue damage accumulation model based on the Manson-Halford theory was presented,and the new model was developed for fatigue life prediction under constant and variable amplitude loading, which took the effects of the load interactions and the phenomenon of material's strength degradation into account. The experimental data of the 30 Cr Mn Si A and the LY-12 cz from literature were used to verify the proposed model. And from the good agreement between the experimental data and predicted results,we can see it clear that the proposed method can be applied to predicting fatigue life under different loadings.

Seismic vulnerability evaluation of axially loaded steel built-up laced members II:evaluations

The test results described in Part 1 of this paper （Lee and Bruneau, 2008） on twelve steel built-up laced members （BLMs） subjected to quasi-static loading are analyzed to provide better knowledge on their seismic behavior. Strength capacity of the BLM specimens is correlated with the strength predicted by the AISC LRFD Specifications. Assessments of hysteretic properties such as ductility capacity, energy dissipation capacity, and strength degradation after buckling of the specimen are performed. The compressive strength of BLMs is found to be relatively well predicted by the AISC LRFD Specifications. BLMs with smaller kl/r were ductile but failed to reach the target ductility of 3.0 before starting to fracture, while those with larger kl/r could meet the ductility demand in most cases. The normalized energy dissipation ratio, EC/ET and the normalized compressive strength degradation, Cr″/Cr of BLMs typically decrease as normalized displacements δ/δb,exp increase, and the ratios for specimens with larger kl/r dropped more rapidly than for specimens with smaller kl/r; similar trends were observed for the monolithic braces. The BLMs with a smaller slenderness ratio, kl/r, and width-to-thickness ratio, b/t, experienced a larger number of inelastic cycles than those with larger ratios.

Reliability Analysis of Slope Stability Considering Temporal Variations of Rock Mass Properties

Temporal variation of rock mass properties,especially the strength degradation due to drying-wetting cycles as well as the acidic wetting fluid(rainfall or reservoir water)is crucial to stability of reservoir rock slopes.Based on a series of drying-wetting cycling and experiments considering the influences of pH values,the degradation degree models of the reduced cohesion𝑐𝑐′,friction angle𝜑𝜑′are developed.2D stability analysis of the slope is subsequently carried out to calculate the factor of safety(Fs)via limit equilibrium method(LEM)and a predictive model of Fs is built using multivariate adaptive regression splines(MARS),revealing the effect of the drying-wetting cycles and pH value.The reliability analysis by Monte Carlo simulation is performed to rationally consider the uncertainty and the temporal variation of the shear strength parameters of rock mass.Results indicate that the MARS-based model can estimate the Fs accurately.The Fs and the reliability indexβdecrease with increase of drying-wetting cycles,and the temporal variation of rock mass properties has significant influence on the slope reliability.Overlooking the temporal variation of rock properties may overestimate the Fs and reliability indexβin the longer term.

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.

Geomechanical and water vapor absorption characteristics of clay-bearing soft rocks at great depth

The geological and physico-mechanical properties characterization of deep soft rocks is one of the critical scientific issues for deep soft rock engineering. In the present study, X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis,scanning electron microscope(SEM), and mercury intrusion porosimetry experiments were carried out to investigate the mineral compositions, microstructure and porosity characteristics of the 13 claybearing soft rock samples collected from a deep coal mine in China. Water vapor absorption and uniaxial compressive experiments were also performed to examine water absorption characteristics and waterinduced strength degradation effect of the investigated deep soft rock samples. The results show that the dominant mineral components in mudstone, coarse sandstone and fine sandstone samples were calcite, quartz and clay respectively. The contents of clay minerals in all samples were relatively high and ranged from 12.3%(N-4) to 56.5%(XS-1). Water vapor absorption processes of all the soft rock samples follow an exponential law which is very similar to the water vapor absorption behavior of conglomerate samples reported in our earlier study. Correlation analyses also suggested that there were good positive correlation relationships between water absorptivity and clay minerals for both mudstone and sandstone samples. Furthermore, it was found that vapor absorption was not correlated with the porosity for mudstone, however, positive correlation relationship was found between them for sandstone. Correlation analysis between UCS, modulus of elasticity and water content demonstrated that both of them tend to decrease with the increase of their water content due to water absorption.

Frost Resistance and Damage Velocity of Compressively Preloaded Concrete

The frost resistance and compressive strength degradation of concrete under the simultaneous action of compressive load and freeze-thaw cycles were experimentally investigated. Air-entrained and non-air-entrained specimens with different water/cement(w/c) ratios were subjected to different compressive stress by specially designed apparatus, while the specimens suffered freeze-thaw cycles. In order to track the strength degradation process, the nondestructive tests were carried out after each freeze-thaw cycle got the residual strength for each specimen. Based on the experimental data, a variable Kss was proposed to describe the damage velocity. Experimental results indicate that the deterioration processes are accelerated by the compressive loads, and the damage velocity increases with the increases of the preloading levels and w/c ratios. The air entrainment decreases the damage velocity and improves the frost resistance of non-air-entrained concrete, although it would reduce the compressive strength of concrete.

Experimental study on characteristic curves of restoring forces of Populus alba var. pyramidalis

Static tests under cyclic loading were carried out on Populus alba var. pyramidalis to determine its characteristic curves of restoring forces. The results show that P alba var. pyramidalis had good elastic performance. There was degradation of strength and stiffness under cyclic loading and unloading, where characteristic curves of restoring forces ofP. alba var. pyrarnidalis assumed a ＂flat and contrary S-shape＂ form. Simultaneously, P alba vat. pyramidalis showed typical characteristics of brittle destruction under large high peak loading and unloading. Furthermore, dynamic tests were carried out under wind loads to obtain dynamic displacement curves and dynamic strain curves. P alba var. pyramidalis reflected its stochastic dynamic performance in building up its resistance to the stochastic wind loads and its dynamically hysteretic properties. The dynamic response of this species was random and fuzzy under stochastic wind loads. This study has theoretical significance and reference value to research on the static characteristics and wind-induced dynamic performance of forests.

Seismic Behaviour of Beam-Column Joints of Precast and Partial Steel Reinforced Concrete

A beam-column joint of precast and partial steel reinforced concrete( PPSRC) is proposed for precast reinforced concrete frames. The PPSRC consists of partial steel and reinforced concrete. The partial steel is located in the core joint region and the connections between concrete members. This paper presents an experimental study of a series of PPSRC specimens. These specimens are tested under low cyclic loading.Experimental results demonstrate that the bearing capacity of the PPSRC specimens is 3 times that of the ordinary reinforced concrete( RC) beam-column joints. The strength and stiffness degradation rates are slower compared with that of the RC beam-column joints. In addition,the strength of the core joint region and the connections is higher than other parts of the PPSRC specimens. Beam failure occurs firstly for the PPSRC specimens,followed by column failure and connections failure. The failure of the core joint region occurs finally.Test results show that the seismic performance of the PPSRC is better than that of the ordinary RC beam-column joints.

Stochastic Fatigue Life and Reliability Prediction Based on Residual Strength

A randomized approach is developed to solve a deterministic equation. The method uses random deterministic approach to achieve the fatigue life based on residual strength and S-N curve. We propose a oneto-one transformation method to deduce the distribution of fatigue life from the residual strength. The proposed method is simple and effective, and can be used for fatigue life prediction. An example is given to illustrate how the method works.

Effects of joint persistence and testing conditions on cyclic shear behavior of en-echelon joints under CNS conditions

Cyclic shear tests on rock joints serve as a practical strategy for understanding the shear behavior of jointed rock masses under seismic conditions.We explored the cyclic shear behavior of en-echelon and how joint persistence and test conditions(initial normal stress,normal stiffness,shear velocity,and cyclic distance)influence it through cyclic shear tests under CNS conditions.The results revealed a through-going shear zone induced by cyclic loads,characterized by abrasive rupture surfaces and brecciated material.Key findings included that increased joint persistence enlarged and smoothened the shear zone,while increased initial normal stress and cyclic distance,and decreased normal stiffness and shear velocity,diminished and roughened the brecciated material.Shear strength decreased across shear cycles,with the most significant reduction in the initial shear cycle.After ten cycles,the shear strength damage factor D varied from 0.785 to 0.909.Shear strength degradation was particularly sensitive to normal stiffness and cyclic distance.Low joint persistence,high initial normal stress,high normal stiffness,slow shear velocity,and large cyclic distance were the most destabilizing combinations.Cyclic loads significantly compressed en-echelon joints,with compressibility highly dependent on normal stress and stiffness.The frictional coefficient initially declined and then increased under a rising cycle number.This work provides crucial insights for understanding and predicting the mechanical response of en-echelon joints under seismic conditions.

Effect of heat treatment on the microstructure and properties of CVD SiC fiber

In this study, the effect of heat treatment on the room temperature strength of W-core Si C fiber produced by chemical vapor deposition（CVD） was investigated. Thermal exposure in the temperature range of 900–1000？C decreases the strength of the Si C fiber. Fracture morphology analysis indicates that failure initiations predominantly take place at the W-core/Si C interface. A reaction layer that formed at the W-core/Si C interface during thermal exposure degraded the fiber strength and an empirical linear relationship of strength vs thickness of the reaction layer can be obtained. The kinetics of the growth of the W-core/Si C reaction layer were determined.