Acoustic emission characterization of microcracking in laboratory-scale hydraulic fracturing tests

Understanding microcracking near coalesced fracture generation is critically important for hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoir characterization as well as damage evaluation in civil engineering structures. Dense and sometimes random microcracking near coalesced fracture formation alters the mechanical properties of the nearby virgin material. Individual microcrack characterization is also significant in quantifying the material changes near the fracture faces （i.e. damage）. Acoustic emission （AE） monitoring and analysis provide unique information regarding the microcracking process temporally, and infor- mation concerning the source characterization of individual microcracks can be extracted. In this context, laboratory hydraulic fracture tests were carried out while monitoring the AEs from several piezoelectric transducers. In-depth post-processing of the AE event data was performed for the purpose of under- standing the individual source mechanisms. Several source characterization techniques including moment tensor inversion, event parametric analysis, and volumetric deformation analysis were adopted. Post-test fracture characterization through coring, slicing and micro-computed tomographic imaging was performed to determine the coalesced fracture location and structure. Distinct differences in fracture characteristics were found spatially in relation to the openhole injection interval. Individual microcrack AE analysis showed substantial energy reduction emanating spatially from the injection interval. It was quantitatively observed that the recorded AE signals provided sufficient information to generalize the damage radiating spatially away from the injection wellbore.

Characterization and Laboratory-Scale Treatment of Municipal Drainage Wastewater of Khulna, Bangladesh

The study was conducted to characterize and perform laboratory-scale treatment of municipal drainage wastewater of Khulna, Bangladesh. Wastewater samples were collected from three different points of existing urban drain outlets into the Mayur River around Khulna. Laboratory testing shows the BOD5 and COD concentration of wastewater samples varied from 57 - 226 mg/l and 320 - 435 mg/l, respectively, and the total dissolved solids ranged from 1800 - 2525 mg/l. Therefore, a laboratory-scale treatment technology was developed to treat this wastewater. Treatment technologies adopted were primary sedimentation, followed by aeration, chemical precipitation and filtration. In treated wastewater, BOD5, COD and TDS were found to be in the range of 40 - 115 mg/l, 160 - 256 mg/l and 1356 - 1500 mg/l, respectively. These test results suggest that the performance of laboratory-scale treatment plant was not adequate to fulfil the acceptable limit (ECR’97) for safe disposal into surface water bodies. Due to poor quality of effluents, modification of laboratory-scale treatment plant was made by an activated sludge process followed by granular media filtration. The final BOD5, COD TDS and TSS concentration of effluents was found to be 1.38 - 9.8 mg/l, 32 - 192 mg/l, 590 - 1667 mg/l, and 35 - 95 mg/l respectively, which satisfy ECR’97 standard limits for safe disposal into inland water bodies.

Experimental investigation of flow field in a laboratory-scale compressor

The inner flow environment of turbomachinery presents strong three-dimensional, rotational, and unsteady characteristics. Consequently, a deep understanding of these flow phenomena will be the prerequisite to establish a state-of-the-art design system of turbomachinery. Currently the development of more accurate turbulence models and CFD tools is in urgent need for a high-quality database for validation, especially the advanced CFD tools, such as large eddy simulation（LES）. Under this circumstance, this paper presents a detailed experimental investigation on the 3D unsteady flow field inside a laboratory-scale isolated-rotor with multiple advanced measurement techniques, including traditional aerodynamic probes, hotwire probes, unsteady endwall static pressure measurement, and stereo particle image velocimetry（SPIV）. The inlet boundary layer profile is measured with both hotwire probe and aerodynamic probe. The steady and unsteady flow fields at the outlet of the rotor are measured with a mini five-hole probe and a single-slanted hotwire probe. The instantaneous flow field in the rotor tip region inside the passage is captured with SPIV,and then a statistical analysis of the spatial distribution of the instantaneous tip leakage vortex/flow is performed to understand its dynamic characteristics. Besides these, the uncertainty analysis of each measurement technique is described. This database is quite sufficient to validate the advanced numerical simulation with LES. The identification process of the tip leakage vortex core in the instantaneous frames obtained from SPIV is performed deliberately. It is concluded that the ensemble-averaged flow field could not represent the tip leakage vortex strength and the trajectory trace. The development of the tip leakage vortex could be clearly cataloged into three phasesaccording to their statistical spatial distribution. The streamwise velocity loss induced by the tip leakage flow increases until the splitting process is weak and the turbulent mixing phase is dominant.

Laboratory pull-out tests on fully grouted rock bolts and cable bolts:Results and lessons learned

Laboratory pull-out tests were conducted on the following rock bolts and cable bolts:steel rebars,smooth steel bars,fiberglass reinforced polymer threaded bolts,flexible cable bolts,IR5/IN special cable bolts and Mini-cage cable bolts.The diameter of the tested bolts was between 16 mm and 26 mm.The bolts were grouted in a sandstone sample using resin or cement grouts.The tests were conducted under either constant radial stiffness or constant confining pressure boundary conditions applied on the outer surface of the rock sample.In most tests,the rate of displacement was about 0.02 mm/s.The tests were performed using a pull-out bench that allows testing a wide range of parameters.This paper provides an extensive database of laboratory pull-out test results and confirms the influence of the confining pressure and the embedment length on the pull-out response(rock bolts and cable bolts).It also highlights the sensitivity of the results to the operating conditions and to the behavior of the sample as a whole,which cannot be neglected when the test results are used to assess the bolt-grout or the grouterock interface.