Stress-strain Model of Corroded Concrete under Uniaxial Compressive Loading

The prism specimens of corroded concrete were subjected to uniaxial compressive load to develop the stress-strain model. Compared to the un-corroded concrete, the mechanical prop- erties of corroded concrete, such as peak strength, Young＇s modulus, and residual deformation, et al are degraded. The concrete, which were subjected to the aggressive media in the environment, were resulted in randomly distributed pre-loading flaws and defects. The propagation of these corrosion flaws during the procedure of loading was the main reason of degradation of corroded concrete properties. By the application of the statistic theory of continuum damage, the compressive stress-strain curve of corroded concrete was simulated. The initial damage factor was introduced to represent the corrosive effects of different media. The present damage constitutive model agreed well with the test results.

Hydro-mechanical behaviours of highly compacted sand-bentonite mixture

： This paper presents the results of laboratory testing on a heavily compacted sand-bentonite mixture. To measure the soil-water retention curve （SWRC） of the mixture over a large range of suction, a pressure plate apparatus and filter papers were used. The obtained SWRC shows that the measurements via the two methods consistently agree with each other. By using a suction-controlled oedometer for unsaturated soils, a series of one-dimensional compression tests were performed on the unsaturated compacted sand-bentonite mixture at different constant suctions. The testing results indicate that the yield stress increases and compression index decreases with the increase of imposed suction. The results also demonstrate that the mixture wetted to saturation and subsequently dried to a certain suction level has a lower yield stress than that wetted directly to the same suction.

Deformability characteristics of jointed rock masses under uniaxial compression

We investigated the combined influence of joint inclination angle and joint continuity factor on deforma- tion behavior of jointed rock mass for gypsum specimens with a set of non-persistent open flaws in uni- axial compression. Complete axial stress-strain curves were classified into four types, i.e., single peak, softening after multi-peak yield platform, hardening after multi-peak yield platform and multi-peak dur- ing softening. Observation of crack evolution on the specimen surface reveals that the deformation behavior is correlated to the closure of pre-existing joint, development of fractures in rock matrix and teeth shearing of the shear plane. To investigate the brittleness of the specimens, the ratio of the residual strength to the maximum peak strength as well as the first and last peak strains were studied. At the same joint inclination angle, the ratios between residual strength and the maximum peak strength and the last peak strains increased while the first peak strain decreased with the increase of joint continuity factor. At the same joint continuity factor, the curves of the three brittleness parameters vs. joint inclina- tion angle can either be concave or convex single-oeak or wave-shaoed.

Feasibility evaluation for excavation of Naghshe Jahan Square subway station by underground methods

In recent years, in reaction to the increasing usage of urban areas, the excavation of underground spaces has been developed. One of the most challenging issues encountered by engineers is the construction of subway stations as large underground spaces at shallow depth with soft surrounding soils. In this paper, Naghshe Jahan Square subway station located in Isfahan, Iran, has been simulated by geomechanical fnite difference method(FDM). This station is located under important historical structures. Therefore, the ground displacement and surface settlement induced by the excavation of the subway station should be strictly controlled. Many of such problems are affected by selected excavation method. For these reasons, different underground excavation methods associated with construction have been studied. In this study, sequential excavation method and large-diameter curved pipe roofng method are used and the numerical results of the two methods are compared. The presence of groundwater table obliges us to choose special techniques for the stability of the ground around the subway station during construction; hence compressed air and ground freezing techniques are utilized in the simulations of the subway station. Finally, after choosing appropriate support systems, the large-diameter curved pipe roofng method with 1.5 m spacing between curved pipes is proposed.

Compression curve analysis and compressive strength measurement of brittle granule beds in lieu of individual granule measurements

Powders in granulated form are used in various processes to facilitate convenient usage. The durability of the formed granules is a crucial parameter, typically evaluated by the compressive strength of the gran- ules. However, especially for granules with a diameter in the order of tens of microns, statistically relevant testing of individual granules is not a feasible alternative, and in such cases uniaxial bed compression is required. There has not been consensus on whether uniaxial compression of a granule bed can be used to study the fracture of micron size or brittle granules. In our case study of a bed of sintered kaolinite granules with diameters under 100 μm, we show how the compressive strength of individual granules can be obtained from the compressive measurement of the entire bed by plotting the relative density versus the logarithmic pressure scale. We compressed the kaolinite powder with different loads; microscopy confirmed that below the ana- lyzed strength the granules are intact, though the granules start to fracture in the curved region on the compression curve. We found that angle-fitting can be used to locate the average compressive strength on the compression curve and to follow the evolution of strength with sintering temperature. The experi- ments in unison demonstrate that compression curve analysis is applicable for strength analysis of brittle granules.