Experimental and numerical investigation on failure characteristics and mechanism of coal with different water contents

Water injection, as a widely used technique to prevent coal burst, can restrain the fractured coal seam and released the energy storage. In this study, laboratory tests were frstly carried out on standard coal specimens with fve diferent water contents (i.e., 0%, 0.6%, 1.08%, 1.5%, 2.0%, and 2.3%). The failure mode, fragment size, and energy distribution characteristics of coal specimens were investigated. Experimental results show that strength, elastic strain energy, dissipated energy, brittleness index, as well as impact energy index decrease with increasing water content. Besides, the failure mode transitions gradually from splitting ejection to tensile-shear mixed failure mode as water content increases, and average fragment size shows positively related to water content. Moreover, scanning electron microscope tests results indicate that water in coal sample mainly causes the mineral softening and defects increase. Furthermore, a numerical model containing roadway excavation was established considering the water on coal burst prevention. Modelling results revealed that water injection can reduce degree of coal burst and ejection velocity of coal blocks, while it will raise up the depth of crack zone and surface displacement of roadway. Combined with laboratory tests and numerical results, the micro mechanism, energy mechanism, and engineering signifcance of water injection on coal burst prevention were fnally analyzed.

Retrieving Soil Water Contents from Soil Temperature Measurements by Using Linear Regression

A simple linear regression method is developed to retrieve daily averaged soil water content from diurnal variations of soil temperature measured at three or more depths. The method is applied to Oklahoma Mesonet soil temperature data collected at the depths of 5, 10, and 30 cm during 11–20 June 1995. The retrieved bulk soil water contents are compared with direct measurements for one pair of nearly collocated Mesonet and ARM stations and also compared with the retrievals of a previous method at 14 enhanced Oklahoma Mesonet stations. The results show that the current method gives more persistent retrievals than the previous method. The method is also applied to Oklahoma Mesonet soil temperature data collected at the depths of 5, 25, 60, and 75 cm from the Norman site during 20–30 July 1998 and 1–31 July 2000. The retrieved soil water contents are verified by collocated soil water content measurements with rms differences smaller than the soil water observation error (0.05 m3 m−3). The retrievals are found to be moderately sensitive to random errors (±0.1 K) in the soil temperature observations and errors in the soil type specifications.

Modeling Virgin Compression of Reconstituted Clay at Different Initial Water Contents

The observations on compressibility of reconstituted clays show that the compression line with a higher initial water content lies above the compression line with a lower initial water content for a given clay. Hence there exists additional void ratio due to initial water contents among virgin compression lines（VCLs） of reconstituted clays. In this paper, the difference in void ratio caused by different initial water contents is investigated based on the empirical equation proposed by Liu and Carter（2000） for describing the differential void ratio at the same stress between natural and reconstituted clays. The mechanism of compressibility of reconstituted clays, when the stress level is larger than the remolded yield stress, is also discussed.

A Calculation Method of Double Strength Reduction for Layered Slope Based on the Reduction of Water Content Intensity

The calculation of the factor of safety(FOS)is an important means of slope evaluation.This paper proposed an improved double strength reductionmethod(DRM)to analyze the safety of layered slopes.The physical properties of different soil layers of the slopes are different,so the single coefficient strength reduction method(SRM)is not enough to reflect the actual critical state of the slopes.Considering that the water content of the soil in the natural state is the main factor for the strength of the soil,the attenuation law of shear strength of clayey soil changing with water content is fitted.This paper also establishes the functional relationship between different reduction coefficients.Then,a USDFLD subroutine is programmed using the secondary development function of finite element software.Controlling the relationship between field variables and calculation time realizes double strength reduction applicable to the layered slope.Finally,by comparing the calculation results of different examples,it is proved that the stress and displacement distribution of the critical slope state obtained by the improved method is more realistic,and the calculated safety factor is more reliable.The newly proposedmethod considers the difference of intensity attenuation between different soil layers under natural conditions and avoids the disadvantage of the strength reduction method with uniform parameters,which provides a new idea and method for stability analysis of layered and complex slopes.

Water,organic matter,nitrogen and phosphorus contents in sediment of a large-scale mariculture area in the Zhelin Bay of eastern Guangdong Province,China

The Zhelin Bay is one of the most important bays for large-scale mariculture in Guangdong Province, China. Owing to the increasing human population and the expanding mariculture in the last two decades, the ecological environment has greatly changed with frequent harmful algal blooms. A monthly survey of water content, organic matter （TOM）, and various forms of nitrogen and phosphorous in sediment from July 2002 to July 2003 in the bay was conducted. The results showed that the water content was correlated significantly with TOM and various forms of nitrogen and phosphorus and can be used as proxy for quick and rough estimate of these factors in the future surveys. TOM was also correlated significantly with various forms of nitrogen and phosphorus, indicating that it was one of the key factors affecting the concentrations and distributions of nitrogen and phosphorus in the investigated waters. Average total Kjeldhal nitrogen （TkN） content was（ 1 113.1 ± 382.5）μg/g and average total phosphorus （TP） content was（567.2± 223.3）μg/g, and both were much higher than those of similar estuaries in China and elsewhere. Average nitrogen and phosphorus tended to be higher inside than outside the bay, higher at aquaculture than non-aquaculture areas, and higher at fish-cage culture than oyster culture areas, suggesting that large-scale mariculture inside the bay played an important role in the eutrophication of the Zhelin Bay. Various forms of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were higher during the warm season （July--September）, which was due to the increased decomposition and concentration of organic matter resulted from the fast growth and high mortality of the cultured species. Compared with July 2002, TkN and TP contents were much higher in July 2003, in consonance with the eutrophication of the Zhelin Bay. Because exchangeable phosphorus （Ex-P）, iron-bounded phos- phorus （Fe-P） and organic phosphorus （OP） combined accounted for 34.3% of the TP and authigenic phosphorus （Au-P） accounted for 49.2% of the TP, biological phosphorus （BP） that includes Ex-P, Fe-P, OP, and a portion of Au-P, thus accounted for 34.3% to 83.5% of the TP in the Zhelin Bay, which was within the percentage range, but with a high absolute value among the estuaries. Au-P was the most important species of phosphorus and accounted for 49.2% of the TP during the investigation. Since eutrophication in the water column can lead to reduction of pH in sediment and release of phosphorus in Au-P combined with authigenic spodiosite and calcium carbonate, high content of Au-P in the sediment maybe act as a time bomb that can trigger a vicious cycle of eutrophication and large-scale harmful algal bloom in the Zhelin Bay.

Strength weakening and its micromechanism in water–rock interaction,a short review in laboratory tests

Water–rock interaction(WRI)is a topic of interest in geology and geotechnical engineering.Many geological hazards and engineering safety problems are severe under the WRI.This study focuses on the water weakening of rock strength and its infuencing factors(water content,immersion time,and wetting–drying cycles).The strength of the rock mass decreases to varying degrees with water content,immersion time,and wetting–drying cycles depending on the rock mass type and mineral composition.The corresponding acoustic emission count and intensity and infrared radiation intensity also weaken accordingly.WRI enhances the plasticity of rock mass and reduces its brittleness.Various microscopic methods for studying the pore characterization and weakening mechanism of the WRI were compared and analyzed.Various methods should be adopted to study the pore evolution of WRI comprehensively.Microscopic methods are used to study the weakening mechanism of WRI.In future work,the mechanical parameters of rocks weakened under long-term water immersion(over years)should be considered,and more attention should be paid to how the laboratory scale is applied to the engineering scale.

Influence of soil organic matter contents on soil water characteristics of forests on east slope of Gongga Mountain

By testing soil organic matter （SOM） contents, soil water contents （SWC） within low suctions, and saturated infiltration rates of samples taken from east slope of Gongga Mountain of China, the enhancive effects of SOM contents on SWC within low suctions and saturated infiltration rates were quantified. The simulated functions might be applied on regional experience forest-hydrology model. The improving function of protecting forest floor and increasing SOM contents on forest ecosystem hydrological effects were also embodied.

Estimation of the unfrozen water content of saturated sandstones by ultrasonic velocity

The unfrozen water content(UWC)of rocks at low temperature is an important index for evaluating the stability of the rock engineering in cold regions and artificial freezing engineering.This study addresses a new method to estimate the UWC of saturated sandstones at low temperature by using the ultrasonic velocity.Ultrasonic velocity variations can be divided into the normal temperature stage(20 to 0℃),quick phase transition stage(0 to-5℃)and slow phase transition stage(-5 to-25℃).Most increment of ultrasonic velocity is completed in the quick phase transition stage and then turns to be almost a constant in the slow phase transition stage.In addition,the UWC is also measured by using nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)technology.It is validated that the ultrasonic velocity and UWC have a similar change law against freezing and thawing temperatures.The WE(weighted equation)model is appropriate to estimate the UWC of saturated sandstones,in which the parameters have been accurately determined rather than by data fitting.In addition,a linear relationship between UWC and ultrasonic velocity is built based on pore ice crystallization theory.It is evidenced that this linear function can be adopted to estimate the UWC at any freezing temperature by using P-wave velocity,which is simple,practical,and accurate enough compared with the WE model.

Contribution of groundwater to the formation of sand dunes in the Badain Jaran Desert, China

The tallest sand dune worldwide is located in the Badain Jaran Desert(BJD),China,and has been standing for thousands of years.Previous studies have conducted limited physical exploration and excavation on the formation of sand dunes and have proposed three viewpoints,that is,bedrock control,wind dominance,and groundwater maintenance with no unified conclusion.Therefore,this study analyzed the underlying bedding structure of sand dunes in the BJD.Although the bedrock of sand dunes is uplifted and wind controls the shape of dunes,the main cause of dune formation is groundwater that maintains the deposition of calcareous sandstone and accumulation of aeolian sand.According to water transport model and vapor transports in the unsaturated zone of sand dunes,capillary water transport height is limited with film water constituting the main form of water in dunes.Chemical properties and temperature of groundwater showed that aquifers in different basins receive relatively independent recharge from deep sources in the crater.Result of dune formation mechanism is of considerable importance in understanding groundwater circulation and provides a new perspective on water management in arid desert areas.

Performance evaluation of CLM5.0 in simulating liquid soil water in high mountainous area,Northwest China

The model performance in simulating soil water content(SWC) is crucial for successfully modeling earth’s system,especially in high mountainous areas.In this study,the performance of Community Land Model 5.0(CLM5.0) in simulating liquid SWC was evaluated against observations from nine in-situ sites in the upper reach of the Heihe River Watershed(HRW),Northwest China.The CLM5.0 shows reliable performance in the study area with correlation coefficients(R) ranging between 0.79–0.93,root mean standard errors(RMSE)ranging between 0.044–0.097 m^(3)/m^(3),and the mean bias(BIAS) ranging between-0.084–0.061 m^(3)/m^(3).The slightly worse performance of CLM5.0 than CLM4.5 on alpine meadow and grassland is mainly caused by the revised canopy interception parameterization.The CLM5.0 overestimates interception and underestimates evapotranspiration(ET) on both alpine meadow and grassland during the growth period.The systematical overestimations at all the grassland sites indicate that the underestimation of ET is much larger than the overestimation of interception on grassland during growth period,while the errors of simulated interception and ET are partially canceled out on alpine meadow.Moreover,the underestimation of ET is more responsible for the overestimation of SWC than the overestimation of interception in the high mountainous area.It is necessary to estimate reasonable empirical parameter α(proportion of leaf water collection area) in interception parameterization scheme and further improve the dry surface layerbased soil evaporation resistance parameterization introduced in CLM5.0 in future researches.The performance of CLM5.0 is better under completely frozen stage than thawing stage and freezing stage,because of low variations of liquid SWC caused by extremely low hydraulic conductivity of soils.The underestimation of liquid SWC under frozen state is caused by underestimation of soil temperature,which leads to more ice mass and less liquid water in total water content.

Soil water content and nitrogen differentially correlate with multidimensional leaf traits of two temperate broadleaf species

The variation and correlation of leaf economics and vein traits are crucial for predicting plant ecological strategies under different environmental changes.However,correlations between these two suites of traits and abiotic factors such as soil water and nitrogen content remain ambiguous.We measured leaf economics and vein traits as well as soil water and nitrogen content for two different shade-tolerant species(Betula platyphylla and Acer mono)in four mixed broadleaved-Korean pine(Pinus koraiensis)forests along a latitudinal gradient in Northeast China.We found that leaf economics traits and vein traits were decoupled in shade-intolerant species,Betula platphylla,but significantly coupled in a shadetolerant species,A.mono.We found stronger correlations among leaf traits in the shade tolerant species than in the shade intolerant species.Furthermore,leaf economic traits were positively correlated with the soil water gradient for both species,whereas vein traits were positively correlated with soil water gradient for the shade intolerant species but negatively correlated in the shade tolerant species.Although economic traits were positively correlated with soil nitrogen gradient in shade intolerant species but not correlated in shade tolerant species,vein traits were negatively correlated with soil nitrogen gradient in shade tolerant species but not correlated in shade intolerant species.Our study provides evidence for distinct correlations between leaf economics and vein traits and local abiotic factors of species differing in light demands.We recommend that the ecological significance of shade tolerance be considered for species when evaluating ecosystem functions and predicting plant responses to environmental changes.

Combination of effective color information and machine learning for rapid prediction of soil water content

Soil water content(SWC)is one of the critical indicators in various fields such as geotechnical engineering and agriculture.To avoid the time-consuming,destructive,and laborious drawbacks of conventional SWC measurements,the image-based SWC prediction is considered based on recent advances in quantitative soil color analysis.In this study,a promising method based on the Gaussian-fitting gray histogram is proposed for extracting characteristic parameters by analyzing soil images,aiming to alleviate the interference of complex surface conditions with color information extraction.In addition,an identity matrix consisting of 32 characteristic parameters from eight color spaces is constituted to describe the multi-dimensional information of the soil images.Meanwhile,a subset of 10 parameters is identified through three variable analytical methods.Then,four machine learning models for SWC prediction based on partial least squares regression(PLSR),random forest(RF),support vector machines regression(SVMR),and Gaussian process regression(GPR),are established using 32 and 10 characteristic parameters,and their performance is compared.The results show that the characteristic parameters obtained by Gaussian-fitting can effectively reduce the interference from soil surface conditions.The RGB,CIEXYZ,and CIELCH color spaces and lightness parameters,as the inputs,are more suitable for the SWC prediction models.Furthermore,it is found that 10 parameters could also serve as optimal and generalizable predictors without considerably reducing prediction accuracy,and the GPR model has the best prediction performance(R^(2)≥0.95,RMSE≤2.01%,RPD≥4.95,and RPIQ≥6.37).The proposed image-based SWC predictive models combined with effective color information and machine learning can achieve a transient and highly precise SWC prediction,providing valuable insights for mapping soil moisture fields.

Effect of Polypropylene Fiber on the Unconfined Compressive Strength of Loess with Different Water Content

Fiber-reinforced soils have been of great interest to experimenters for building foundations’strength performance,time,and economy.This paper investigates the effects of water content and polypropylene fiber dosage and length on loess’s unconfined compressive strength(UCS)according to the central composite response surface design test procedure.The water content is 11%–25%,the mass ratio of fiber to soil is 0.1%–0.9%,and the fiber length ranges from 6–18 mm.The response surface method(RSM)developed full quadratic models of different variables with response values.After analysis of variance(ANOVA),the mathematical model developed in this study was statistically significant(p≤0.05)and applicable to the optimization process.The optimization results showed that the optimal water content values,fiber amount,and fiber length were 16.41%,0.579%,and 14.90 mm,respectively.The unconfined compressive strength of the optimized specimens was increased by 288.017 kPa.The research results can reference the design and construction of fiber-reinforced soil in practical projects such as road base engineering and foundation engineering.

Estimation of surface water content at the Tianwen-1 Zhurong landing site

China’s first Mars rover,Zhurong,successfully landed in the south of Utopia Planitia.The surface water content at the landing area can provide constraints on mineral formation conditions and help us better understand the evolution of the Martian aqueous and geological environment.In this work,the surface kinetic temperature of the Zhurong landing area was derived by analyzing data from the Mars Express Observatoire pour la Minéralogie,l’Eau,les Glaces et l’Activité(OMEGA)spectrometer.Using the Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer(DISORT)model,we performed atmospheric correction and thermal correction for the OMEGA data to obtain the surface effective single-particle absorption thickness(ESPAT)parameter to evaluate the surface water content.The surface water content distribution at the landing area was relatively uniform at a lateral scale of~10 km.At the Zhurong landing site,the surface water content in the topmost layer(a few hundred micrometers)of the regolith was 5−8 weight percent water(wt%H_(2)O),assuming surface particle sizes of<45μm,or 1.6−2.5 wt%H_(2)O,assuming surface particle sizes in the range of 125−250μm.The Mars Surface Composition Detector(MarSCoDe)onboard Zhurong also observed significant H_(2)O/OH signals in the landing area.Our results provide an important regional context for the hydration state of the area and can be further verified by the H content derived from the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer(LIBS)data of MarSCoDe.

Effects of thawing-induced softening on fracture behaviors of frozen rock

Due to the presence of ice and unfrozen water in pores of frozen rock,the rock fracture behaviors are susceptible to temperature.In this study,the potential thawing-induced softening effects on the fracture behaviors of frozen rock is evaluated by testing the tension fracture toughness(KIC)of frozen rock at different temperatures(i.e.-20℃,-15℃,-12℃,-10℃,-8℃,-6℃,-4℃,-2℃,and 0℃).Acoustic emission(AE)and digital image correlation(DIC)methods are utilized to analyze the microcrack propagation during fracturing.The melting of pore ice is measured using nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)method.The results indicate that:(1)The KIC of frozen rock decreases moderately between-20℃ and-4℃,and rapidly between-4℃ and 0℃.(2)At-20℃ to-4℃,the fracturing process,deduced from the DIC results at the notch tip,exhibits three stages:elastic deformation,microcrack propagation and microcrack coalescence.However,at-4℃e0℃,only the latter two stages are observed.(3)At-4℃e0℃,the AE activities during fracturing are less than that at-20℃ to-4℃,while more small events are reported.(4)The NMR results demonstrate a reverse variation trend in pore ice content with increasing temperature,that is,a moderate decrease is followed by a sharp decrease and-4℃ is exactly the critical temperature.Next,we interpret the thawing-induced softening effect by linking the evolution in microscopic structure of frozen rock with its macroscopic fracture behaviors as follow:from-20℃ to-4℃,the thickening of the unfrozen water film diminishes the cementation strength between ice and rock skeleton,leading to the decrease in fracture parameters.From-4℃ to 0℃,the cementation effect of ice almost vanishes,and the filling effect of pore ice is reduced significantly,which facilitates microcrack propagation and thus the easier fracture of frozen rocks.

Swelling pressure evolution characterization of strong expansive soil considering the influence of reserved expansion deformation

Numerous engineering cases have demonstrated that the expansive soil channel slope remains susceptible to damage with the implementation of a rigid or closed protective structure. It is common for the protective structure to experience bulging failure due to excessive swelling pressure. To investigate the swelling pressure properties of expansive soil, the constant volume test was employed to study the influence of water content and reserved expansion deformation on the characteristics of swelling pressure in strong expansive soils, and also to explore the evolution mechanism of the swelling pressure. The findings demonstrate that the swelling pressure-time curve can be classified into swelling pressure-time softening and swelling pressure-time stability type. The swelling pressuretime curve of the specimen with low water content is the swelling pressure-time softening type, and the softening level will be weakened with increasing reserved expansion deformation. Besides, the maximum swelling pressure Psmax decreases with increasing water content and reserved expansion deformation, especially for expansion ratio η from 24% to 37%. The reserved deformation has little effect on reducing Psmax when it is beyond 7% of the expansion rate. The specimen with low water content has a more homogeneous structure due to the significant expansion-filling effect, and the fracture and reorganization of the aggregates in the specimens with low water content cause the swelling pressure-time softening behavior. In addition, the proposed swelling pressure-time curve prediction model has a good prediction on the test results. If necessary, a deformation space of about 7% expansion rate is recommended to be reserved in the engineering to reduce the swelling pressure except for keeping a stable water content.

Influence of Heavy Fuel Oil on the Thermo-Physical and Erodibility Properties of Earthen Materials

This study focuses on the use of heavy fuel oil in construction material in Burkina Faso. Its mixture with silty or clayey soil is used as a coating to reinforce the walls of raw earth constructions which are very sensitive to water. The interest of this study is to determine erodibility, water content, while highlighting the influence of the porosity accessible by water on thermal diffusion in construction material containing heavy fuel oil. The heavy fuel oil was mixed with a silty-clayey soil, in different proportions, and water to make bricks samples on which tests were carried out. At the end of the experimental tests, it appears that the water content increases gradually, but not significantly with the addition of heavy fuel oil, which causes a slight increase in the speed of heat propagation through the material with reduced porosity, particularly those containing higher quantities of heavy fuel oil. Conversely, we note a good performance of heavy fuel oil in terms of water resistance properties such as porosity accessible by water and erodibility. This allows us to conclude that the mixture of heavy fuel oil and silty-clayey soil used as a coating material could greatly reduce water infiltration into the walls of housing constructions with raw earthen materials.

Biodrying of municipal solid waste with high water content by combined hydrolytic-aerobic technology

The high water content of municipal solid waste(MSW)will reduce the effciency of mechanical sorting,consequently unfavorable for beneficial utilization.In this study,a combined hydrolytic-aerobic biodrying technology was introduced to remove water from MSW.The total water removals were proved to depend on the ventilation frequency and the temporal span in the hydrolytic stage. The ventilation frequency of 6 times/d was preferable in the hydrolytic stage.The hydrolytic span should not be prolonged more than ...

Effects of Material Composition and Water Content on the Mechanical Properties of Landslide Deposits Triggered by the Wenchuan Earthquake

Abundant landslide deposits were triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake, providing a rich source of material for subsequent debris flows or slope failures under rainfall conditions. A good understanding of the physical and mechanical properties of the landslide deposits is very important to the research on slope failure mechanisms and the initiation of debris flow. Laboratory biaxial compression tests are used to study the material compositions and water content impacts on the mechanical properties of landslide deposits, and a discrete element method （a bond-contact model） is used to study the particle stiffness, bond force, friction coefficient and confining stress impact on the mechanical behaviors and the relationships between the numerical and experimental parameters. The experimental results show that the failure stress of landslide deposits is decreased with increasing content of fine particles and also with increased water content, especially at the initial increasing stage. Cohesion of the saturated landslide deposits is increased, but the friction angle is decreased with the increase in the fine particle content. Shear strength parameters （the cohesion and friction angle） are decreased with the increasing water content at the initial increasing stage, and then, they slowly decrease. There is a critical value of the water content at 5%-7% （in weight） for the failure stress and shear strength parameters of the landslide deposits. Quadratic equations are presented to describe the relation between the bond force and cohesion, and the numerical friction coefficient and the experimental friction angle.

Effects of Soil Water Content on Cotton Root Growth and Distribution Under Mulched Drip Irrigation

The relation between soil water content and the growth of cotton root was studied for the scheme of field water and cotton yield under mulched drip irrigation. Based on the field experiments, three treatments of soil water content were conducted with 90%, 75%θf, and 60%θf （θfis field water capacity）. Cotton roots and root-shoot ratio were studied with digging method, and the soil moisture was observed with TDR （time domain reflector）, and cotton yield was measured. The results indicated that the growth of cotton root accorded with Logistic growth curve in the three treatments, the cotton root grew quickly and its weight was very high under 75%θf because of the suitable soil water condition, while grew slowly and its weight was lower under 90%θf due to water moisture beyond the suitable condition, and the root weight was in between under 60%θf For the three water treatments, the cotton root weight decreased with soil depth, and decreased more significantly in deeper soil layer with the soil moisture increasing. And the ratio of cotton root weight in 0-30 cm soil layer to the total root weight was the highest under 75%θf. The cotton root system was distributed mainly in the soil of narrow row and wide row mulched with plastic film, and little in the soil outside plastic film. The weight of cotton root was the highest in the soil of narrow row or wide row mulched with plastic film under 75%θf. Root-shoot ratio decreased with the soil moisture increasing. The soil water content affected cotton yields, and cotton yield was the highest under 75%θf. The higher soil moisture level is unfavorable to the growth of cotton root system and yield of cotton under mulched drip irrigation.