Exploring the mechanical behavior and microstructure of compacted loess subjected to dry-wet cycles and chemical contamination

Due to climatic factors and rapid urbanization,the soil in the Loess Plateau,China,experiences the coupled effects of dry-wet cycles and chemical contamination.Understanding the mechanical behavior and corresponding microstructural evolution of contaminated loess subjected to dry-wet cycles is essential to elucidate the soil degradation mechanism.Therefore,direct shear and consolidation tests were performed to investigate the variations in mechanical properties of compacted loess contaminated with acetic acid,sodium hydroxide,and sodium sulfate during dry-wet cycles.The mechanical response mechanisms were investigated using zeta potential,mineral chemical composition,and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)tests.The results indicate that the mechanical deterioration of sodium hydroxidecontaminated loess during dry-wet cycles decreases with increasing contaminant concentration,which is mainly attributed to the thickening of the electrical double layer(EDL)by Nat and the precipitation of calcite,as well as the formation of colloidal flocs induced by OH,thus inhibiting the development of large pores during the dry-wet process.In contrast,the attenuation of mechanical properties of both acetic acid-and sodium sulfate-contaminated loess becomes more severe with increasing contaminant concentration,with the latter being more particularly significant.This is primarily due to the reduction of the EDL thickness and the erosion of cement in the acidic environment,which facilitates the connectivity of pores during dry-wet cycles.Furthermore,the salt expansion generated by the drying process of saline loess further intensifies the structural disturbance.Consequently,the mechanical performance of compacted loess is sensitive to both pollutant type and concentration,exhibiting different response patterns in the dry-wet cycling condition.

Effects of dry-wet cycles on the mechanical properties of sandstone with unloading-induced damage

Sandstone is the fundamental material in various engineering and construction projects.However,the mechanical integrity of sandstone can be compromised by initial unloading damage resulting from activities such as engineering excavations.Furthermore,this degradation is further exacerbated under periodic dry-wet environmental conditions.This study investigated the effects of dry-wet cycles and unloading on the mechanical properties of jointed fine sandstone using uniaxial and triaxial compression tests.These tests were performed on rock samples subjected to varying unloading degrees and different numbers of dry-wet cycles.The results demonstrate that with an increase in the unloading degree from 0%to 70%,there is a corresponding decrease in peak stress ranging from 10%to 33%.Additionally,the cohesion exhibits a reduction of approximately 20%to 25%,while the internal friction angle experiences a decline of about 3.5%to 6%.These findings emphasize a significant unloading effect.Moreover,the degree of peak stress degradation in unloading jointed fine sandstone diminishes with an increase in confining pressure,suggesting that confining pressure mitigates the deterioration caused by dry-wet cycles.Additionally,as the number of dry-wet cycles increases,there is a notable decline in the mechanical properties of the sandstone,evidencing significant dry-wet degradation.Utilizing the Drucker Prager criterion,this study establishes a strength criterion and fracture criterion,denoted as σ_(1)(m,n) and K_(T)^(Ⅱ)(m, n), to quantify the combined impacts of dry-wet cycles and unloading on jointed fine sandstone,which provides a comprehensive understanding of its mechanical behavior under such conditions.

Effect of dry-wet cycles on dynamic properties and microstructures of sandstone:Experiments and modelling

Underground pumped storage power plant(UPSP)is an innovative concept for space recycling of abandoned mines.Its realization requires better understanding of the dynamic performance and durability of reservoir rock.This paper conducted ultrasonic detection,split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB)impact,mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP),and backscatter electron observation(BSE)tests to investigate the dynamical behaviour and microstructure of sandstone with cyclical dry-wet damage.A coupling FEM-DEM model was constructed for reappearing mesoscopic structure damage.The results show that dry-wet cycles decrease the dynamic compressive strength(DCS)with a maximum reduction of 39.40%,the elastic limit strength is reduced from 41.75 to 25.62 MPa.The sieved fragments obtain the highest crack growth rate during the 23rd dry-wet cycle with a predictable life of 25 cycles for each rock particle.The pore fractal features of the macropores and micro-meso pores show great differences between the early and late cycles,which verifies the computational statistics analysis of particle deterioration.The numerical results show that the failure patterns are governed by the strain in pre-peak stage and the shear cracks are dominant.The dry-wet cycles reduce the energy transfer efficiency and lead to the discretization of force chain and crack fields.

Stability analysis of gravity anchor foundation of layered argillaceous sandstone under dry-wet cycles

To investigate the stability of gravity anchors of suspension bridges,in-situ tests of the vertical bearing capacity of the bedrock,shear resistance of the anchor-rock interface,shear resistance of the bedrock were conducted in a suspension bridge project.Under dry-wet cycles,the deterioration law of the mechanical properties of argillaceous sandstone was identified in laboratory tests:the elastic modulus,cohesion and friction of the argillaceous sandstone deteriorated significantly at first few dry-wet cycles and then declined slowly after 10 cycles,ultimately these three mechanical parameters were reduced to about 1/3,1/3,2/3 of the initial value respectively.Moreover,numerical simulation was used to restore in-situ shear tests and a good agreement was obtained.Base on the results of in-situ and laboratory tests,the stability of the gravity anchor foundation under natural conditions and drywet cycles was calculated and its failure modes were analyzed.The results demonstrated that the dry-wet cycles caused uneven settlement of the anchor foundation,resulting in more serious stress concentration in the substrate.The dry-wet cycles remarkably reduced the stability coefficient of the anchor foundation,whose failure mode shifted from overturning failure under natural conditions to sliding failure.When there was weak interlayer in the rock layer,the anti-sliding stability of the anchor foundation was affected drastically.

The law of strength damage and deterioration of jointed sandstone after dry-wet cycles

Under the periodic rise and fall of the water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir in China,the rock mass in the ebb and flow zone of the slope is always in a state of a dry-wet cycle.In order to explore the influence of dry-wet cycle on mechanical properties of jointed sandstone,the triaxial and uniaxial compression tests of dry-wet cycle of jointed sandstone were carried out.For the experiment,four groups of samples with different numbers of joints were set up,and the jointed rock samples were subjected to 20 dry-wet cycles.Using both the triaxial compression test and the Mohr-Coulomb(M-C)rock fracture criterion,the strength envelope of the sandstone samples was fitted,and their strength degradation was further analyzed and studied.The results show that:(1)The peak intensity and elastic modulus of the sandstone samples decrease with increased number of dry-wet cycles.(2)The total deterioration of mechanical properties of intact rock samples is bigger than that of jointed sandstone samples as the number of dry-wet cycles increases.(3)With the increase of confining pressure,the peak intensity of intact sandstone samples increases much more than that of jointed sandstone samples,which indicates that joints and their numbers have obvious influence.(4)Joints and their numbers play an important role in guiding the damage effects of sandstone samples,which weaken the damage caused by dry-wet cycles.Therefore,the envelope of the M-C strength criterion of intact sandstone samples moves more than that of jointed sandstone samples.

Effect of Dry-Wet Cycles on the Transport and Mechanical Properties of Cement Mortar Subjected to Sulfate Attack

This study deals with the analysis of the detrimental effects of a“sulfate attack”on cement mortar for different dry-wet cycles.The mass loss,tensile strength,and gas permeability coefficient were determined and analyzed under different exposure conditions.At the same time,nitrogen adsorption(NAD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and X-ray diffraction(XRD)techniques were used to analyze the corresponding variations in the microstructure and the corrosion products.The results show that certain properties of the cement mortar evolve differently according to the durations of the dry-wet cycles and that some damage is caused to the mortars in aqueous solution.The pores fill with corrosion products,increasing the mortar specimen mass and tensile strength while reducing the permeability coefficient and pore size distribution.As corrosion proceeds,the crystallization pressure of the corrosion products increases,resulting in a 16%reduction in tensile strength from the initial value and a 2.6-factor increase in the permeability coefficient,indicating sensitivity to sulfate attack damage.Furthermore,the main corrosion products generated in the experiment are gypsum and ettringite.Application of osmotic pressure and extension of the immersion time can accelerate the erosion process.

Heteroclinic cycles in a new class of four-dimensional discontinuous piecewise affine systems

It is a huge challenge to give an existence theorem for heteroclinic cycles in the high-dimensional discontinuous piecewise systems（DPSs）. This paper first provides a new class of four-dimensional（4 D） two-zone discontinuous piecewise affine systems（DPASs）, and then gives a useful criterion to ensure the existence of heteroclinic cycles in the systems by rigorous mathematical analysis. To illustrate the feasibility and efficiency of the theory, two numerical examples, exhibiting chaotic behaviors in a small neighborhood of heteroclinic cycles, are discussed.

Effects of dry-wet cycles on three-dimensional pore structure and permeability characteristics of granite residual soil using X-ray micro computed tomography

Due to seasonal climate alterations,the microstructure and permeability of granite residual soil are easily affected by multiple dry-wet cycles.The X-ray micro computed tomography(micro-CT)acted as a nondestructive tool for characterizing the microstructure of soil samples exposed to a range of damage levels induced by dry-wet cycles.Subsequently,the variations of pore distribution and permeability due to drywet cycling effects were revealed based on three-dimensional(3D)pore distribution analysis and seepage simulations.According to the results,granite residual soils could be separated into four different components,namely,pores,clay,quartz,and hematite,from micro-CT images.The reconstructed 3D pore models dynamically demonstrated the expanding and connecting patterns of pore structures during drywet cycles.The values of porosity and connectivity are positively correlated with the number of dry-wet cycles,which were expressed by exponential and linear functions,respectively.The pore volume probability distribution curves of granite residual soil coincide with the χ^(2)distribution curve,which verifies the effectiveness of the assumption of χ^(2)distribution probability.The pore volume distribution curves suggest that the pores in soils were divided into four types based on their volumes,i.e.micropores,mesopores,macropores,and cracks.From a quantitative and visual perspective,considerable small pores are gradually transformed into cracks with a large volume and a high connectivity.Under the action of dry-wet cycles,the number of seepage flow streamlines which contribute to water permeation in seepage simulation increases distinctly,as well as the permeability and hydraulic conductivity.The calculated hydraulic conductivity is comparable with measured ones with an acceptable error margin in general,verifying the accuracy of seepage simulations based on micro-CT results.

Shot noise analysis on corrosion behavior of zinc alloy (ZnAl4Cul) under dry-wet cycles

The corrosion behaviors of zinc alloy （ZnAl4Cul） in 3.5% （mass fraction） NaCl, 7.3% （mass fraction） Na2SO4 and simulated acid rain solutions were investigated using electrochemical measurements. The potential noise during dry-wet cycle was monitored and analyzed by fast Fourier transform （FFT）, fast wavelet transform （FWT）, shot noise theory and stochastic theory. Cumulative probability curves of event frequency fn indicate that the corrosion events in the dry cycles are greater than those in the wet cycles. Uniform corrosion was observed in the NaCl solution compared with more localized corrosion in the Na2SO4 solution, which is evidenced by FWT and SEM. Conditional events generation rate r（t） for diffusion controlled reactions decreases with increasing the time. r（t） values for uniform corrosion and diffusion controlled process are the largest in the wet cycle in 3.5% NaCl solution. The values of r（t） for pitting corrosion in Na2SO4 solution are observed to become large during spraying periods, and r（t） for pitting corrosion has the largest value in the Na2SO4 solution. The intergranular corrosion of zinc is serious in simulated acid rain solution.

Performance of interface between TRC and existing concrete under a chloride dry-wet cycle environment

Textile-reinforced concrete(TRC)is suitable to repair and reinforce concrete structures in harsh environments.The performance of the interface between TRC and existing concrete is an important factor in determining the strengthening effect of TRC.In this paper,a double-sided shear test was performed to investigate the effects of the chloride dry-wet cycles on the average shear strength and slip at the interface between the TRC and existing concrete,also considering the existing concrete strength,bond length,textile layer and short-cut fiber arrangements.In addition,X-ray diffraction(XRD)technology was used to analyze the microscopic matter at the interface in the corrosive environment.The experimental results indicate that the interface performance between TRC and existing concrete would decrease with continued chloride dry-wet cycles.Compared with the specimen with a single layer of textile reinforcement,the specimens with two layers of textile with added PVA or AR-glass short-cut fibers could further improve the properties of the interface between the TRC layer and existing concrete.For the TRC with a single layer of textile,the average shear strength tended to decrease with increasing bond length.In addition,the strength grade of the existing concrete had a minor effect on the interface properties.

Law of Water Content Change in Subgrade Soil Under Action of Dry-Wet Cycle

Due to the influence of the groundwater level,the internal humidity of the subgrade changes and the stability of the subgrade is affected. The main purpose of this paper is to obtain a reliable model of subgrade soil water content variation under the action of dry-wet cycle through sensor readings. Thus,an indoor soil column model test system is designed,and the readings of the sensors are used to determine the changing law of moisture field in the subgrade soil. The sensor readings indicate that the water content gradually decreases along the height of the soil column,and the water in the upper part of the soil column continuously loses,while the water in the lower part migrates upward to supplement. With the increase of dry-wet cycle index,the water holding capacity of soil decreases,and the soil surface gradually cracks and tends to rupture.

The Quantification of Micro-structural Damage of Weak Muddy Intercalation in Dry-wet Cycles Combining in-situ SEM and DIP

In order to reflect truly the damage evolution mechanism of weak muddy intercalation in dry-wet cycles, two typical weak muddy intercalations were selected for dry-wet cycles. The mineral changes of specimens were analyzed via X-ray diffraction after dry-wet cycles. By combining in-situ SEM and digital image processing(DIP), the damage evolution process and damage characteristic parameters of each stage were obtained. The experimental results indicate that the hydration and dissolution of minerals can not be a determinant factor in structure damage. The micro-structural damage is due to disintegration of mineral aggregates, leading to changes in the number and size of cracks and pores. The damage degree of specimens is related to its initial structure, and the micro-structural damage intensifies and finally tends to stabilize with cycle times increased.

Investigation of Sulfate Attack Resistance of Shotcrete under Dry-wet Cycles

In order to research the sulfate attack resistance of shotcrete, the sulfate attack of shotcrete in the presence and absence of steel fiber was experimentally studied by using dry-wet cycle method. Meanwhile, compared with ordinary concrete by the same mixture, the difference of sulfate attack resistance of shotcrete was studied. The experimental results showed that, with dry-wet cycles increasing, the changes of loss rate of relative dynamic elastic modulus and mass loss rate of specimens included three stages： initial descent stage, stable stage, and rapid descent stage, respectively. However, the changes of mechanical properties first increased and then decreased. Furthermore, the corrosion products of shotcrete after sulfate attack were observed by using the method of XRD, thermal analysis, and SEM, respectively, and the failure mode of shotcrete turned from ettringite destruction to ettringite-gypsum comprehensive failure. Meanwhile, the contents of ettringite and gypsum increased with increasing dry-wet cycle. Simultaneously, the stratified powders drilled from shotcrete under 150＇s dry-wet cycle were analyzed for the mineral phase composition and thermal analysis. With the drywet cycle increasing, the content of ettringite first increased and then decreased and tended to stable. However, the determination of gypsum decreased gradually and even to 0 when the depth was more than 12 mm.

断续模式下的半无桥Boost PFC变换器设计

半无桥Boost功率因数校正(PFC)变换器凭借其桥臂无直通风险的优势,广泛应用于军工、医疗等高可靠性应用场合。电流断续模式(DCM)下,Boost PFC变换器具有零电流开通、二极管无反向恢复等优点。针对传统控制方式下输入电压过高导致的电流畸变和功率因数降低等问题,首先在恒定占空比控制的基础上详细推导了变占空比的控制方式,从而在全范围内提高功率因数。其次,为解决传统的半无桥Boost PFC变换器使用2个功率电感带来的系统体积、占板面积大等问题,采用完全解耦的磁集成方式来提高功率密度。最后,搭建了1台150 W基于完全解耦磁集成的半无桥Boost PFC变换器,实验验证了所提方案的有效性。

Microstructure instability of fully lamellar TiAl alloy containing high content of Nb after long-term thermal cycling

Microstructure instabilities of the fully lamellar Ti-45Al-8.5Nb-（W,B,Y） alloy were investigated by SEM and TEM after long-term thermal cycling（500 and 1000 thermal cycles） at 900 °C. Two major categories of microstructure instability were produced in the alloy after the thermal cycling： 1） The discontinuous coarsening implies that grain boundary migrations are inclined to occur in the Al-segregation region after the long-term thermal cycling, especially after 1000 thermal cycles. Al-segregation can be reduced during the process of long-term thermal cycling as a result of element diffusion; 2） The α2 lamellae become thinner and are broken after 1000 thermal cycles caused by the dissolution of α2 lamellae through phase transformation of α2→γ. The γ grains nucleate within the α2 lamellae or（α2＋γ） lamellae in a random direction.

DISCONTINUOUS OSCILLATION IN THE ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION AND INDEX CYCLE

By using a low-order,two-layer baroclinic quasi-geostrophic model,a nonlinear system including the interaction between a thermal forced wave,a transient wave and zonal flow is studied. Under the conditions of near-resonance and weak baroclinic instability,the features of solution in phase space are discussed with the analytical methods of multiple scale and discontinuous oscillation.The results show that the dynamic coupling between forced wave and transient wave is responsible for the physical mechanism of the non-uniform index cycle of the atmospheric circulation.

非连续干湿循环对混凝土表层氯离子迁移的影响规律

为探究滨海环境中干湿循环的不规律性对混凝土表层氯离子传输的影响,设计了连续、非连续干湿循环对比试验,研究了不同干湿循环下水灰比和干湿循环制度对混凝土表层氯离子含量分布规律及对流区氯离子含量变化规律的影响.结果表明:当自然风干时间/湿润时间(t_(d)/t_(w))较大时,由于双向对流与扩散的传输现象,使得氯离子含量在对流区存在1个拐点;对流区深度基本随水灰比减小而减小;连续干湿循环下氯离子峰值含量随着t_(d)/t_(w)的减小而增大;相较于连续干湿循环而言,非连续干湿循环对表层氯离子含量随深度的变化规律和氯离子峰值含量的影响较大.

Influence of Erosion Induced by NaCl on the Mechanical Performances of Alkali-Activated Mineral Admixtures

In this paper,the influence of NaCl freeze-thaw(F-T)cycles and dry-wet(D-W)alternations on theflexural,com-pressive and bonding strengths of alkali-activatedfly ash(FA)and a blast furnace slag powder(BFS)is investi-gated.The considered NaCl concentration is 3%.The effect of polypropylenefibers on the mechanical strengths is also examined.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM),thermogravimetry(TG)and X-ray diffraction(XRD)are selected to discern the mechanisms underpinning the NaCl-induced erosion.The obtained results indicate that the best results in terms of material resistance are obtained with admixtures containing 60%BFS and 40%FA in terms of mass ratio and 3%polypropylenefibers in terms of volume ratio.The maximum rates of decrease of theflexural,compressive and bonding strengths after 300 NaCl F-T cycles are 21.5%,20.3%and 22.6%,respec-tively.The corresponding rates of decrease due to NaCl D-W alternations are 28.1%,26.1%and 31.5%,respec-tively.The TG curves show that the alkali-activating activity of BFS is higher than that of FA.Moreover,in thefirst case,the microstructure of the hydration products is more compact.The results also show that NaCl F-T cycles lead to increasing cracks in the alkali-activated BFS.

Effects of transient flow conditions on colloid-facilitated release of decabromodiphenyl ether:Implications for contaminant mobility at e-waste recycling sites

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs)are ubiquitous contaminants,especially in the soil and groundwater of contaminated sites and landfills.Notably,2,20,3,30,4,40,5,50,6,60-decabromodiphenyl ether(BDE-209),one of the most frequently and abundantly detected PBDE congeners in the environment,has recently been designated as a new pollutant subject to rigorous control in China.Colloid-facilitated transport is a key mechanism for the release of PBDEs from surface soils and their migration in the aquifer,but the effects of hydrodynamic conditions,particularly transient flow,on colloid-facilitated release of PBDEs are not well understood.Herein,we examined the effects of typical transient flow conditions on the release characteristics of colloids and BDE-209 from surface soil collected from an e-waste recycling site by undisturbed soil core leaching tests involving multiple dry–wet cycles(with different drying durations)and freeze–thaw cycles.We observed significant positive correlations between BDE-209 and colloid concentrations in the leachate in both the dry–wet and freeze–thaw leaching experiments,highlighting the critical role of colloids in facilitating BDE-209 release.However,colloids mobilized during the dry–wet cycles contained higher contents of BDE-209 than those in the freeze–thaw cycle tests,and the difference was primarily due to the more intensive disintegration of soil aggregates and elution of newly formed inorganic colloidal particles(mainly primary silicate minerals such as quartz and albite)with low BDE-209 content during the freeze–thaw process.These findings underscore the necessity of considering transient flow conditions when assessing the fate and risks of PBDEs at contaminated sites.

非线性阻尼下光滑不连续振子极限环的全局演化

针对光滑不连续振子,提出了一种优化的广义谐波函数摄动法,得到其极限环的振幅与系统参数之间的解析关系式以及极限环的解析近似解。同时,基于微分方程定性理论,建立了该振子极限环特征量的解析计算公式。利用上述结果,可围绕极限环何时产生、如何分岔、在何处消失以及稳定性如何等问题,对具有复杂非线性阻尼项的光滑不连续振子极限环的全局演化过程展开定量分析。通过将本文所得之结果与龙格-库塔法之结果进行对比,验证了所提优化方法的可行性和可靠性,为研究强非线性振动系统解的全局演化问题,提供了新的参考方法。