The Antifreeze Critical Strength of Low-temperature Concrete Effected by Index

The antifreeze critical strength and the pre-curing time of low-temperature concrete were studied by means of guaranteed rate of compressive strength and antifreeze performance for the structural safety requirement of concrete engineering,suffering once freeze damage under air environment.It is shown that the antifreeze critical strength is 3.7-4.4MPa,pre-curing time is 18-32 h by guaranteed rate of compressive strength,and the antifreeze critical strength is 3.7-4.4MPa,pre-curing time is 18-32 h by guaranteed rate of antifreeze performance.It can be found that the method of guaranteed rate of compressive strength is sensitive to the defect which generated by freeze damage in the concrete interior.The method is fit to evaluate the antifreeze critical strength of low-temperature concrete.

Research on the Critical Conditions for Clay Particle Release During Saline Aquifer Freshening Process

Water sensitivity phenomenon occurs during saline aquifer freshening process in seawater intrusion area, and clay particles released in the phenomenon can damage the infiltration capacity of the aquifer. In order to find out the factors and mechanisms for clay particle release, laboratory column infiltration experiments simulating saline aquifer freshening process were designed to measure the critical conditions(critical flow velocity, critical salt concentration and critical ionic strength) and force analysis for clay particle according to DLVO electric double layer theory was employed to illustrate the mechanisms for particle release. The research results showed that critical flow velocity for clay particle release is influenced by salt concentration of injecting solution. When salt concentration of injecting solution is very high, clay particles are not released, indicating that there does not exist a critical flow velocity in this situation. As salt concentration of injecting solution decreases, particles start to be released. The critical salt concentration for clay particle release is 0.052 mol L-1 in our work, which was determined by a constant-flux experiment for stepwise displacement of high concentration Na Cl solution. The critical ionic strength for clay particle release decreases as Ca2+ molar content percentage of the mixed solution of Na Cl and Ca Cl2 increases following the first-order exponential decay equation y = 0.0391e-0.266 x + 0.0015.

The temperature-dependent fracture strength model for ultra-high temperature ceramics

Breaking down the entire structure of a material implies severing all the bonds between its atoms either by applying work or by heat transfer. Because bond-breaking is indifferent to either means, there is a kind of equivalence between heat energy and strain energy. Based on this equivalence, we assume the existence of a constant maximum storage of energy that includes both the strain energy and the corresponding equivalent heat energy. A temperaturedependent fracture strength model is then developed for ultrahigh temperature ceramics （UHTCs）. Model predictions for UHTCs, HfB2, TiC and ZrB2, are presented and compared with the experimental results. These predictions are found to be largely consistent with experimental results.

Shear strength criteria for rock,rock joints,rockfill and rock masses:Problems and some solutions

Although many intact rock types can be very strong,a critical confining pressure can eventually be reached in triaxial testing,such that the Mohr shear strength envelope becomes horizontal.This critical state has recently been better defined,and correct curvature or correct deviation from linear Mohr-Coulomb（MC） has finally been found.Standard shear testing procedures for rock joints,using multiple testing of the same sample,in case of insufficient samples,can be shown to exaggerate apparent cohesion.Even rough joints do not have any cohesion,but instead have very high friction angles at low stress,due to strong dilation.Rock masses,implying problems of large-scale interaction with engineering structures,may have both cohesive and frictional strength components.However,it is not correct to add these,following linear M-C or nonlinear Hoek-Brown（H-B） standard routines.Cohesion is broken at small strain,while friction is mobilized at larger strain and remains to the end of the shear deformation.The criterion ＇c then σn tan φ＇ should replace ＇c plus σn tan φ＇ for improved fit to reality.Transformation of principal stresses to a shear plane seems to ignore mobilized dilation,and caused great experimental difficulties until understood.There seems to be plenty of room for continued research,so that errors of judgement of the last 50 years can be corrected.

Effect of Inclined Tension Crack on Rock Slope Stability by SSR Technique

The tension cracks and joints in rock or soil slopes affect their failure stability.Prediction of rock or soil slope failure is one of the most challenging tasks in the earth sciences.The actual slopes consist of inhomogeneous materials,complex morphology,and erratic joints.Most studies concerning the failure of rock slopes primarily focused on determining Factor of Safety(FoS)and Critical Slip Surface(CSS).In this article,the effect of inclined tension crack on a rock slope failure is studied numerically with Shear Strength Reduction Factor(SRF)method.An inclined Tension Crack(TC)influences the magnitude and location of the rock slope’s Critical Shear Strength Reduction Factor(CSRF).Certainly,inclined cracks are more prone to cause the failure of the slope than the vertical TC.Yet,all tension cracks do not lead to failure of the slope mass.The effect of the crest distance of the tension crack is also investigated.The numerical results do not show any significant change in the magnitude of CSRF unless the tip of the TC is very near to the crest of the slope.ATC is also replaced with a joint,and the results differ from the corresponding TC.These results are discussed regarding shear stress and Critical Slip Surface(CSS).

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.

Effect of local non-convexity on the critical shear strength of granular materials determined via the discrete element method

Multi-sphere clumps are commonly used to simulate non-spherical particles in discrete element method simulations.It is of interest whether the degree of local non-convexity λ affects the mechanical behaviour of granular materials with the same non-convexity η.A series of discrete-element-method biaxial shear tests are conducted on rough particle packings with rη=0.075 and different λ values(ranging from 0.134 to 0.770).The microscale results show that the contact type changes with an increase in λ.However,the critical strength is independent of λ.The evaluation of the contributions of different contact types to the critical shear strength and a detailed analysis of the anisotropies help clarify the microscopic mechanisms that result in the independence of the critical shear strength from λ.

Influence of the gassing materials on the dielectric properties of air

Influence of the gassing materials, such as PA6, PMMA, and POM on the dielectric properties of air are investigated. In this work, the fundamental electron collision cross section data were carefully selected and validated. Then the species compositions of the air–organic vapor mixtures were calculated based on the Gibbs free energy minimization. Finally, the Townsend ionization coefficient, the Townsend electron attachment coefficient and the critical reduced electric field strength were derived from the calculated electron energy distribution function by solving the Boltzmann transport equation. The calculation results indicated that H;O with large attachment cross sections has a great impact on the critical reduced electric field strength of the air–organic vapor mixtures. On the other hand, the vaporization of gassing materials can help to increase the dielectric properties of air circuit breakers to some degree.

Precipitation Behavior of FeTiP in Ti-added Interstitial Free High Strength Steels

The precipitation behavior of FeTiP in interstitial free high strength（IFHS）steels has been studied by using a transmission electron microscope（TEM）.The results show that the TiC particles,appearing at earlier stage,are more stable than the FeTiP ones during recrystallization annealing at the two given temperatures（810℃ and 840℃）.Therefore,the FeTiP particles can only be observed in the steels with sufficient amount of Ti.There is a critical forming time for the FeTiP,which is between 90-120 sat 810 ℃ and 60-90 sat 840 ℃.The precipitation of FeTiP involves two steps,i.e.the formation of FeTi precursors and the diffusion of P.The former step determines the reliance of Ti content for the precipitation of FeTiP,whereas the latter step leads to the difference in the critical annealing time.

Frozen sand-concrete interface direct shear behavior under constant normal load and constant normal height boundary

The shear strength properties of the frozen sand–structure interface are critical for evaluating the serviceability of pile foundations in frozen ground.The shear characteristics of the frozen sand–concrete interface were studied with two boundary conditions(constant normal load(CNL)and constant normal height(CNH)),at three normal stresses(100,200,and 300 k Pa),and at three temperatures(-2,-5,and-8℃).A detailed comparative analysis was performed to explore the principal factors affecting the shear/normal-shear displacement.The results showed that the shear behavior of the frozen sand–concrete interface under CNL was similar to that under CNH.The shear stress–shear displacement exhibited strain softening.The temperature and normal stress were the major influences on normal properties.The lower the temperature and the higher the normal stress,the greater was the elastic shear modulus.The peak shear stress and critical shear stress exhibited a dependence on normal stress.An exponential growth in the peak shear stress was observed as the temperature decreased.Critical shear stress was dependent on temperature.The value and percentage of peak ice-cementation in peak shear stress was affected by temperature and normal stress.

DEM investigation on the effect of sample preparation on the shear behavior of granular soil

The effect of initial fabric anisotropy produced by sample preparation on the shear behavior of granular soil is investigated by performing discrete element method （DEM） simulations of fourteen biaxial tests in drained conditions. Numerical test specimens are prepared by three means： gravitational deposition, multi-layer compression, and isotropic compression, such that different initial inherent soil fabrics are created. The DEM simulation results show that initial fabric anisotropy exerts a considerable effect on the shear behavior of granular soil, and that the peak stress ratio and peak dilatancy increase with an increase in the fabric index an that is estimated from the contact orientations. The stress-dilatancy relationship is found to be independent of the initial fabric anisotropy. The anisotropy related to the contact orientation and contact normal force accounts for the main contribution to the mobilized friction angle. Also, the occurrence of contractive shear response in an initial shearing stage is accompanied by the most intense particle rearrangement and microstructural reorganization, regardless of the sample preparation method. Furthermore, the uniqueness of the critical state line in e-logp＇ and q-p＇ plots is observed, suggesting that the influence of initial fabric anisotropy is erased at large shear strains.