Identification on rock and soil parameters for vibration drilling rock in metal mine based on fuzzy least square support vector machine

A single freedom degree model of drilling bit-rock was established according to the vibration mechanism and its dynamic characteristics. Moreover, a novel identification method of rock and soil parameters for vibration drilling based on the fuzzy least squares(FLS)-support vector machine(SVM) was developed, in which the fuzzy membership function was set by using linear distance, and its parameters, such as penalty factor and kernel parameter, were optimized by using adaptive genetic algorithm. And FLS-SVM identification on rock and soil parameters for vibration drilling was made by changing the input/output data from single freedom degree model of drilling bit-rock. The results of identification simulation and resonance column experiment show that relative error of natural frequency for some hard sand from identification simulation and resonance column experiment is 1.1% and the identification precision based on the fuzzy least squares-support vector machine is high.

Slope structures and formation of rock–soil aggregate landslides in deeply incised valleys

Rock–soil aggregate landslides(RSALs) are a common geological hazard in deeply incised valleys in southwestern China. Large-scale RSALs are widely distributed in the upper reaches of the Dadu River, Danba County, Sichuan Province, and are influenced by slope structure, which can be divided into open, lock, strip, and dumbbell types, as well as soil type and meso-structure, which can be classified as layered rock–soil aggregate, block-soil, and grainsoil. In this study, the evolution of four types of structures, such as layered-dumbbell, block-soil lock, banded block-soil, and block-soil open types, were analyzed by field surveys, surface and deep displacement monitoring, and Flac3 D. It was found that the Danba reach of the Dadu River showed incised valley through the evolution from wide to slow valley affected by internal and external geological processes since the Quaternary Glaciation. In the layered-dumbbell rock–soil aggregate, the main sliding pattern is multi-stage sliding at different depths. Circular sliding in the trailing edge and plane sliding along the bedrock in the front edge body occurin the block-soil-lock type aggregate. Large-scale multi-level and circular sliding over long distances occur in the banded block-soil aggregate. The blocksoil open type is stable, with only circular sliding occurring in local and shallow surfaces of the body. The monitoring and numerical simulation results further show that slope structure and regularity have diversified with RSALs. The results provide a basis for analyzing the stability mechanism of RSALs and preventing RSALs in deeply incised valleys.

Characteristics of rock fragments in different forest stony soil and its relationship with macropore characteristics in mountain area, northern China

Rock fragments have major effect on soil macropores and water movement. However, the characteristics of rock fragments and their relationship with macropore characteristics remain elusive in forest stony soils in northern mountainous area of China. The objectives of this study are to(1) use Industrial Computed Tomography(CT) scanning to quantitatively analyze rock fragment characteristics in intact soil columns in different forest lands and(2) identify the relationship between characteristics of rock fragments and that of the macropores. Intact soil columns that were 100 mm in diameter and 300 mm long were randomly taken from six local forest stony soils in Wuzuolou Forest Station in Miyun, Beijing. Industrial CT was used to scan all soil column samples, and then the scanned images were utilized to obtain the three-dimensional(3 D) images of rock fragments and macropore structures. Next, theparameters of the rock fragments and macropore structure were measured, including the volume, diameter, surface area, and number of rock fragments, as well as the volume, diameter, surface area, length, angle, tortuosity and number of macropores. The results showed that no significant difference was found in soil rock fragments content in the 10-30 cm layer between mixed forest and pure forest, but in the 0-10 cm soil layer, the rock fragments in mixed forest were significantly less than in pure forest. The number density of macropores has significant negative correlation with the number of rock fragments in the 0-10 cm soil layer, whereas this correlation is not significant in 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm soil layers. The volume density of macropore was not correlated with the volume density of rock fragments, and there is no correlation between the density of macropore surface area and the density of rock fragment surface area. Industrial CT scanning combined with image processing technology canprovide a better way to explore 3 D distribution of rock fragments in soil. The content of rock fragments in soil is mainly determined by parent rocks. The surface soil(0-10 cm) of forest contains fewer rock fragments and more macropores, which may be caused by bioturbation, root systems, gravitational settling and faunal undermining.

Accounting for mineralogical composition and origin of soils and sedimentary rocks in thermal property predictions

A methodology for calculating the thermal conductivity of soils and rocks is developed which takes into account their origin and mineralogical composition.This method utilizes three approaches.One is founded on the structural modeling of contact heat interaction between particles and fills and estimates the statistical probability distribution of the particles in the volume of the medium.The second approach analyses perturbation to the temperature field of the matrix medium by ellipsoidal inclusions.The third approach is to find the mean thermal conductivity of the solid skeleton in the universal model at different composition of rock-forming minerals.

Effect of Rock Fragments on Tracer Transport in Broadleaved and Coniferous Forest Soils: Column Study

This study investigated the effect of rock fragments on tracer transport in broadleaved and coniferous forest soils from the 0 - 100 cm depth of Gongga Mountain in eastern margin of Qinghai Tibetan Plateau. Using repacked soil columns (20 cm in height and 10 cm in diameter) with different rock fragments contents (0%, 5%, and 15% in v/v), breakthrough curves of bromide (as non-reactive tracer) were obtained under saturated condition. A two-region model was applied and the parameters were estimated by inverse modeling. Results show that with increasing rock fragment content the dispersivity (λ) generally increased while the mobile-immobile partition coefficient (β) and the mass transfer coefficient (ω) decreased. The presence of rock fragments led to an increase in the fraction of immobile domain as well as soil tortuosity. A plausible explanation is that the soil beneath the rock fragments behaved as immobile domain and soil-rock interfaces could serve as preferential flow paths.

Assessment Slope Stability Based on Deformation of Rock Joints and Soil with Simulation Method

The first area is rock instability in conglomerates walls, and the second area is soil instability in a slope composed of sand gravel and shale in the south of the study area. In the first area, rock slopes were studied by fractures condition, slope morphology, measured engineering features of rocks, and then interpreted by Dips software to define the fracture types for analysis of block toppling. The rock slope of the area was modeled by Rock plan by adding water penetration and earthquake. The results showed that in dry condition these slopes were stable, but by penetrating water and saturation of the open spaces of the fractures, the block toppling will occur. Also, seismic activities in the area caused the instability of the slopes, and landslide will happen. In the second area, landslides were spoon-shaped type. To investigate the soil slope stability, the condition of slope was modeled by using soil engineering properties and measuring the morphological condition of the slope such as slope dip, layers thickness, layers dip and slope elevation. It was shown instability of the soil slopes. To stabilize the sliding areas, the dip changing method and formation of stepped-style slope were done. However, the new condition changed the formation of sliding areas in the upper most part of the stairs. The retaining walls formed from the local materials were applied to the slope to provide the desire stability.

A PERTURBATION BOUNDARY INTEGRAL EQUATION METHOD FOR ANALYSIS OF INTERACTION BETWEEN FOUNDATION AND NONLINEAR ROCK AND SOIL MEDIUM

A scheme is developed for analysing the interaction between afoundation and a nonlin- ear rock and soil medium, in which thefoundation is considered as a linear elastic body and a typicalboundary integral equation method (BIEM) is employed. On the basis oftaking the nonlinear proper- ties of the medium into account, aperturbation BIEM is developed. The fundamental equations for thenonlinear coupling analysis are formulated, and typical problems aresolved and discussed by the pre- sent method.

Simulation experiment of AE-based localization damage and deformation characteristic on covering rock in mined-out area

The localization damage and deformation characteristics of multiple rock in mined-out area under thick soil layer were investigated by acoustic emission （AE）-based physical similar simulation experiment and damage test combined with the AE theory on rock damage. During different mining courses, the degree of wall rock suffered from mining disturbed process in mined-out area was different, so did the AE density of initial damage and fracture. Some characteristic parameters, including large events, total events, and energy rate, presented fluctuations with temporal and spatial change and take on a certain extent statistic relation. Subsequently, the percent of damage degree was defined and divided into 4 stages, and the localization damage and deformation characteristics of surrounding rock in mined-out area and coal pillars were analyzed quantitatively.

Experimental study of polyurethane foam reinforced soil used as a rock-like material

In this study, p o ly u reth an e foam ty p e th e rm o se t polym erizing, d u e to chem ical reaction b e tw e e n itsliquid ingredients, w as teste d as b in d e r afte r solidifying and th e n a rock-like m aterial m ixing w ith asandy silt ty p e soil w as prep ared . The uniaxial com pressive stren g th s （UCSs） o f p o ly u reth an e foamreinforced soil specim ens w ere d e term in ed for different p o ly u reth an e ratios in th e m ixture. A dditionally,a series o f te sts o n slake durability, im pact value, freezing-th aw in g resistance, and ab rasio n resistance ofp o ly u reth an e reinforced soil （PRS） m ix tu re w as co n d u cted . The UCS values over 3 M Pa w ere m easuredfrom th e PRS specim ens. The testin g results show ed th a t tre a te d soil can econom ically b ecom e adesirable rock-like m aterial in term s o f slake d u ra b ility a n d resistances ag ain st freezing-thaw ing, im pacteffect an d abrasion. As a n o th e r ch aracteristic o f th e rock-like m aterial m ade w ith p o ly u reth an e foam,u n it volum e w eig h t w as found to be q uite low er th a n th o se o f n atu ral rock m aterials.

New methods of safety evaluation for rock/soil mass surrounding tunnel under earthquake

The objective of this work is to obtain the seismic safety coefficient and fracture surface and proceed with the seismic safety evaluation for the rock mass or soil mass surrounding a tunnel,and the limitation of evaluating seismic stability is considered using the pseudo-static strength reduction.By using the finite element software ANSYS and the strength reduction method,new methods of seismic safety evaluation for the rock mass or soil mass surrounding a tunnel are put forward,such as the dynamic finite element static shear strength reduction method and dynamic finite element shear strength reduction method.In order to prove the feasibility of the proposed methods,the results of numerical examples are compared with that of the pseudo-static strength reduction method.The results show that 1) the two methods are both feasible,and the plastic zone first appears near the bottom corners; 2) the safety factor of new method Ⅱ is smaller than that of new method I but generally,and the difference is very small.Therefore,in order to ensure the safety of the structure,two new methods are proposed to evaluate the seismic stability of the rock mass or soil mass surrounding a tunnel.A theoretical basis is provided for the seismic stability of the rock mass or soil mass and the lining surrounding a tunnel and also provided for the engineering application.

Acid Sulfate Soil Induced Acidification of Estuarine Areas Used for the Production of Sydney Rock Oysters, <i>Saccostrea glomerata</i>

This study investigated estuarine acidification, associated with drainage and excavation of acid sulfate soils, in areas used for commercial cultivation of Sydneyrock oysters (Saccostrea glomerata). Regular measurements of pH and electrical conductivity were collected in oyster cultivation areas and acidified reaches of the Hastings River estuary and Port Stephens estuary located on the mid north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Water quality information from acidified floodplain drains was also collected in theHastingsRiverfollowing heavy rainfall. Both estuaries experienced acidification of tributaries following periods of heavy rainfall. Drain outflow waters were acidic

THEORETICAL MODEL OF EFFECTIVE STRESS COEFFICIENT FOR ROCK/SOIL-LIKE POROUS MATERIALS

Physical mechanisms and influencing factors on the effective stress coefficient for rock/soil-like porous materials are investigated, based on which equivalent connectivity index is proposed. The equivalent connectivity index, relying on the meso-scale structure of porous material and the property of liquid, denotes the connectivity of pores in Representative Element Area （REA）. If the conductivity of the porous material is anisotropic, the equivalent connectivity index is a second order tensor. Based on the basic theories of continuous mechanics and tensor analysis, relationship between area porosity and volumetric porosity of porous materials is deduced. Then a generalized expression, describing the relation between effective stress coefficient tensor and equivalent connectivity tensor of pores, is proposed, and the expression can be applied to isotropic media and also to anisotropic materials. Furthermore, evolution of porosity and equivalent connectivity index of the pore are studied in the strain space, and the method to determine the corresponding functions in expressions above is proposed using genetic algorithm and genetic programming. Two applications show that the results obtained by the method in this paper perfectly agree with the test data. This paper provides an important theoretical support to the coupled hydro-mechanical research.

Corrigendum to “Optimizing the evolution of strength for lime-stabilized rammed soil” [J Rock Mech Geotech Eng 11(2019)882-891]

The authors regret that in the paper of Baldovino et al.(2019),published in Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering(JRMGE),Eq.(2)must be corrected.Eq.(2)in the original paper describes a formula to calculate the unconfined compressive strength(q_u).But Authors wrote it as if it were the formula for calculating the split tensile strength(qt).To amend this error,Eq.(1)and Eq.(2)are the correct expressions for q_u and q_t measurements,respectively.

Contamination of Water, Dust, Soil, Rock and Urine with Fluoride in Central India

At least 15% of 0.1 million people residing in 117 villages of Tamnar block (Chhattisgarh, central India) are suffering from fluorosis diseases. In this work, the contamination of F- in the environment (i.e. water, soil, rock and urine) of the Tamnar block is described. The concentration variations of F-, Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Al, Mn, Fe and Zn in the groundwater are reported. The F- content in the water was ranged from 1.7 - 17 mg/L with mean value of 9.0 ± 3.7 mg/L. Fluoride was enriched up to 3-, 54-, 69- and 244-folds in the urine, soil, dust and rock, respectively. The cluster and factor analysis models were used to apportion sources of F- and other elements in the water.

Using Poultry Litter Biochar and Rock Dust MB-4 on Release Available Phosphorus to Soils

Highly weathered soils in areas from Brazil are acidic soils, typically characterized by poor fertility, particularly with low soil phosphorus level. This laboratory experiment was carried out to evaluate the influences of biochar, made from the poultry litter and MB-4, rock dust from grinding of silicate rocks in increasing the available soil phosphorus on Ultisol, Oxisol and Entisol. Thus, one experiment involving soils incubation was conducted in laboratory, during 100 days. The treatments consisted of rock powder, MB-4 and poultry litter, biochar, evaluated by the base saturation method, with correction levels from 40% to 80% for Ultisol and Entisol and from 20% to 80% for Oxisol and three replicates. After the incubation period, the soil samples were analyzed in relation to available phosphorus in the soil. The results of this study confirmed that the biochar prepared from the poultry litter through slow pyrolysis was a potential source of phosphorus, particularly to weathered soils. Biochar released phosphorus into the soils. The biochar could be used in the improvement of available phosphorus for the three soils analyzed. During the incubation period, 100 days, the application of increasing doses of MB-4 in soils there was no improvement in the available soil phosphorus. MB-4 was not a source of phosphorus to the soil in a short term.

Some Rock and Soil Mechanical Issues inTGP Construction

The Yangtze Three Gorges Project (TGP) is the key backbone project to develop and harness the Yangtze river in China. As the largest water conservancy project in the world with the earth and rock excavation amounting up to 102.83×10 6 m 3, it is, therefore, the largest project on a scale of geomechanical engineering. The involvement of numerous domestic and foreign research institutes in the scientific research has promoted the development of geomechanics. Some rock and soil mechanical issues arising during construction of the Three Gorges Project are discussed in this article.

Identification of Soil, Rock and Tecto-Volcanism on Landslides in Tondano Watershed

This research was aimed to identify the soil, rock, and tecto-volcanism in their association with landslides intensity in Tondano watershed. The methods were survey method （soil, rock, and geomorphology）, joint data processing with stereonet 8, X-ray diffractometers for clay mineral identification, and earthquake data processing with GIS 10.2 Software. The magnitude of earthquake was 4-5.4 mb that resulted from tecto-volcanism activity. The earthquake caused the instability of soil and rock, especially in fault zones. The rock has been strong deformed with the highly developed intensity of fractures （advanced stage）. Soil dominated by Kaolinite and vermiculite minerals causes the instability conditions when it is saturated, while the nature of the bedrock with massive open fracture pattern causes the shear strength of the rocks decreases and on the contrary, the shear stress increases. Rainfall intensity is 73-145 mm/day that becomes a major factor of increased soil mass and burdening factor of the unstable rock. Slope is a factor that supports the intensity of mass movements of rock and soil in the form of shallow landslides.

Ornamental Rock Waste Application for Soil Remineralization

This study consists in the investigation of the application of ornamental rock tailings applied in remineralization in the Brazilian soil through the rocking technique.Due to the Brazilian dependence on the importation of agricultural inputs,the use of the method aims beyond improving the physical and chemical properties of the soil,supplying the demand for such data,and in return to give an adequate end to pollutant tailings.The tailings have chemical characteristics that are of great importance for soil composition.The methodology employed was divided into three stages,the first one was the physicochemical characterization of the rock dust,followed by the characterization of the soil experimented and the cultivation of the plant species Phaseolus Vulgari.The results obtained so far showed favorable results since the characteristics obtained through the physicochemical analyses were compatible with those suitable for the soil,after the application of the powder,which had its high pH and which proved that the tailings corrected the soil acidity of the sample in question,placing it at an ideal level for the cultivation of new species.