Impact of Earthquake Action on the Design and Sizing of Jointed Masonry Structures in South Kivu, DRC

This article deals with the investigation of the effects of seismic impacts on the design and dimensioning of structures in South Kivu. The starting point is the observation of an ambivalence that can be observed in the province, namely the non-consideration of seismic action in the study of structures by both professionals and researchers. The main objective of the study is to show the importance of dynamic analysis of structures in South Kivu. It adopts a meta-analytical approach referring to previous researches on South Kivu and proposes an efficient and optimal method. To arrive at the results, we use Eurocode 7 and 8. In addition, we conducted static analysis using the Coulomb method and dynamic analysis using the Mononobe-Okabe method and compared the results. At Nyabibwe, the results showed that we have a deviation of 24.47% for slip stability, 12.038% for overturning stability and 9.677% for stability against punching through a weight wall.

Effects of Joint on Dynamics of Space Deployable Structure

Joints are necessary components in large space deployable truss structures which have significant effects on dynamic behavior of these joint dominated structures.Previous researches usually analyzed effects of one or fewer joint characters on dynamics of jointed structures.Effects of joint stiffness,damping,location,number,clearance and contact stiffness on dynamics of jointed structures are systematically analyzed.Cantilever beam model containing linear joints is developed based on finite element method,influence of joint on natural frequencies and mode shapes of the jointed system are analyzed.Analytical results show that frequencies of jointed system decrease dramatically when peak mode shapes occur at joint locations,and there are cusp shapes present in mode shapes.System frequencies increase with joint damping increasing,there are different joint damping to achieve maximum system damping for different joint stiffness.Joint nonlinear force-displacement is described by describing function method,one-DOF model containing nonlinear joints is established to analyze joints freeplay and hysteresis nonlinearities.Analysis results show that nonlinear effects of freeplay and hysteresis make dynamic responses switch from one resonance frequency to another frequency when amplitude exceed demarcation values.Joint contact stiffness determine degree of system nonlinearity,while exciting force level,clearance and slipping force affect amplitude of dynamic response.Dynamic responses of joint dominated deployable truss structure under different sinusoidal exciting force levels are tested.The test results show obvious nonlinear behaviors contributed by joints,dynamic response shifts to lower frequency and higher amplitude as exciting force increasing.The test results are further compared with analytical results,and joint nonlinearity tested is coincident with hysteresis nonlinearity.Analysis method of joint effects on dynamic characteristics of jointed system is proposed,which can be used in optimal design of joint parameters to achieve optimum dynamic performance of jointed system.

Joint inversion of gravity and vertical gradient data based on modified structural similarity index for the structural and petrophysical consistency constraint

Joint inversion is one of the most effective methods for reducing non-uniqueness for geophysical inversion.The current joint inversion methods can be divided into the structural consistency constraint and petrophysical consistency constraint methods,which are mutually independent.Currently,there is a need for joint inversion methods that can comprehensively consider the structural consistency constraints and petrophysical consistency constraints.This paper develops the structural similarity index(SSIM)as a new structural and petrophysical consistency constraint for the joint inversion of gravity and vertical gradient data.The SSIM constraint is in the form of a fraction,which may have analytical singularities.Therefore,converting the fractional form to the subtractive form can solve the problem of analytic singularity and finally form a modified structural consistency index of the joint inversion,which enhances the stability of the SSIM constraint applied to the joint inversion.Compared to the reconstructed results from the cross-gradient inversion,the proposed method presents good performance and stability.The SSIM algorithm is a new joint inversion method for petrophysical and structural constraints.It can promote the consistency of the recovered models from the distribution and the structure of the physical property values.Then,applications to synthetic data illustrate that the algorithm proposed in this paper can well process the synthetic data and acquire good reconstructed results.

Determining relative block structure rating for rock erodibility evaluation in the case of non-orthogonal joint sets

The most commonly used method for assessing the hydraulic erodibility of rock is Annandale's method.This method is based on a correlation between the erosive force of flowing water and the capacity of rock resistance. This capacity is evaluated using Kirsten's index, which was initially developed to evaluate the excavatability of earth materials. For rocky material, this index is determined according to certain geomechanical factors related to intact rock and rock mass, such as compressive strength of intact rock, rock block size, discontinuity shear strength and relative block structure. To quantify the relative block structure, Kirsten(1982) developed a mathematical expression that accounts for the shape and orientation of the blocks relative to the direction of flow. Kirsten's initial concept for assessing the relative block structure considers that the geological formation is mainly fractured by two joint sets forming an orthogonally fractured system. An adjusted concept is proposed to determine the relative block structure when the fractured system is non-orthogonal where the angle between the planes of the two joint sets is greater or less than 90°. An analysis of the proposed relative block structure rating shows that considering a non-orthogonally fractured system has a significant effect on Kirsten's index and, as a consequence, on the assessment of the hydraulic erodibility of rock.

Equivalent continuum modeling of beam-like truss structures with flexible joints

The paper investigated the equivalent continuum modeling of beam-like repetitive truss structures considering the flexibility of joints,which models the contact between the truss member and joint by spring-damper with six directional stiffnesses and dampings.Firstly,a two-node hybrid joint-beam element was derived for modeling the truss member with flexible end joints,and a condensed model for the repeating element with flexible joints was obtained.Then,the energy equivalence method was adopted to equivalently model the truss structure with flexible joints and material damping as a spatial viscoelastic anisotropic beam model.Afterwards,the equations of motion for the equivalent beam model were derived and solved analytically in the frequency domain.In the numerical studies,the correctness of the presented method was verified by comparisons of the natural frequencies and frequency responses evaluated by the equivalent beam model with the results of the finite element method model.

Application of virtual material in joint surface of complex assembled structures

In order to acquire the dynamic characteristics of joint surfaces of complex assembled structures, a novel parameter identification technique was adopted. Virtual materials were introduced to simulate the stiffness and damping features of the joint surfaces between two different structures. Properties of the virtual materials, including elasticity modulus, density, and Poisson ratio, were gradually modified. At last, FEM modal results of the assembled structures are consistent with the experimental ones. This proves the feasibility of the simulating method and paves a solid foundation of the further research of the dynamic simulation.

Nonlinear Dynamics Analysis of Joint Dominated Space Deployable Truss Structures

Joints are necessary components in the larger space deployable truss structures which have significant effect on the dynamics behavior of these deployable joint-dominated structures. Four kinds of joints' nonlinear force-displacement relationship are analyzed based on describing function method. The dynamic responses of one-DOF jointed system under different exciting force levels are investigated to understand the influence of joint nonlinearity on dynamic responses. The influences of joint characterizing parameters on joint nonlinearities are analyzed. Dynamic responses of the modular beam-like deployable joint-dominated truss structure are tested under different sinusoidal exciting force levels. The experimental results show obvious nonlinear behaviors contributed by joints that dynamic response shifts to lower resonance frequency and higher amplitude with the increase of exciting force. The nonlinearity of the joints in the tested structure is compared with the theoretical results and identified to meet with the hysteresis nonlinearity.

IN SITU TEM OBSERVATION OF MICROSTRUCTURES OF AUSTENITIC-0.45%C STEELS WELD JOINT

The successive alteration o the microstructure from the weld metal zone through weld bond to the heat affected zone of a Cr18Ni13 austenitic-0.45%C steels weld joint was observed in situ using transmission electron microscopy.It was found a new type of microstructure called pearlite-like structure and observed the characteristics of the boundary of dissimilar phases. Based on the definition of various zones of the dissimilar steels weld joint under the optical mi- croscope,the transmission electron microscopic characteristics,including microstructures and compositions,of each zone are described and discussed.

Ultrasonic C-scan inspection of brazed joint in thin panel honeycomb structure

The non-destructive testing of brazed joint in honeycomb structure with thin panel （ thickness ： 0. 2 mm） was studied by ultrasonic C-scan method. Samples with different types of artificial defect were designed; the characteristic signal and the main parameters of the test were determined by the pre-experiment, and then parameters were optimized by orthogonal design, finally the optimum process was verified by a single panel sample. The multiple reflection echoes were chosen as the characteristic signal. The optimal C-scan results were achieved when the 20 MHz focus probe was used, and the pass band range for received signal were selected as 8 - 17. 5 MHz. The defects such as incomplete penetration and core damage can be detected with ultrasonic C-scan, and the detection accuracy can reach to 1 ram.

Strength and interfacial microstructure of Si3N4 joint brazed with amorphous Ti-Zr-Ni-Cu filler metal

In this paper, the vacuum brazing of Si3N4 ceramic was carried out with Ti40Zr25Ni15Cu20 amorphous filler metal. The interfacial microstructure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy （ SEM ）, energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS） etc. According to the analysis, the interface reaction layer was mode up of TiN abut on the ceramic and the Ti-Si, Zr-Si compounds. The influence of brazing temperature and holding time on the joint strength was also studied. The results shows that the joint strength first increased and then decreased with the increasing of holding time and brazing temperature. The joint strength was significantly affected by the thickness of the reaction layer. Under the same experimental conditions, the joint brazed with amorphous filler metal exhibits much higher strength compared with the one brazed with crystalline filler metal with the same composition. To achieve higher joint strength at relatively low temperature, it is favorable to use the amorphous filler metal than the crystalline filler metal.

Tomographic determination of 3－D crustal structure──Joint inversion of explosion and earthquake data

In this paper, the theory and method, obtaining the tomographic determination of three-dimensional velocity structure of the crust by use of the joint inversion of explosion and earthquake data, are given. The velocity distribution of the crust is regarded as a continuous function of the spatial coordinates without parametrization of the velocity model ahead, so that the inversion solution would not be influenced by different parametrization procedures.The expressions of integration kernels, which relates the two kinds of data sets, are also given. The authors have processed the observed data in Tangshan earthquake region by the method proposed in this paper, and obtained the tomographic results of the middle and upper crust structures in this region. The comparison of these results with the result obtained only by the explosion data, has also been made.

Calculation of the Strengths of Jointswith Fillet Welds in Welded Structure

In the paper, the finite element method (FEM) , engineering calculationmethod (ECM) and empirical fromular method (EFM) were used to calculatethe strengths of fillet joints in an Al-alloy vehicle. The results obtained withdifferent calculation methods were analysed, and then each method wasreviewed and assessed. FEM is accurate, but complicated, and its results haveno strength reserve; ECM and EFM are simple and convenient, butconservative.

Lithological Characterization and Its Application Based on Three-Dimensional Structure-Coupled Joint Inversion of Gravity and Magnetic Data

Incorporating structural-coupling constraint, known as the cross-gradients criterion, helps to improve the focussing trend in cross-plot of multiple physical properties. Based on this feature, a?post-processing technique is studied to characterize the lithological types of subsurface geological materials after joint inversion. A simple domain transform, which converts two kinds of participant physical properties into an artificial complex array, is adopted to extract anomalies manually from homogenous host rock. A synthetic example shows that structure-coupled joint inverted results tend to concentrate on the feature trends in the cross-plot, and the main geological targets are recovered well by a radius-azimuth plot. In a field data example, the lithological characterization?reveals that the main rock types interpreted in the study area agree with the geological information, thus demonstrating the feasibility of this technique.

Simultaneous Structure-Coupled Joint Inversion of Gravity and Magnetic Data Based on a Damped Least-Squares Technique

The structure-coupled joint inversion method of gravity and magnetic data is a powerful tool for?developing improved physical property models with high resolution and compatible features;?however, the conventional procedure is inefficient due to the truncated singular values decomposition?(SVD) process at each iteration. To improve the algorithm, a technique using damped leastsquares?is adopted to calculate the structural term of model updates, instead of the truncated SVD. This?produces structural coupled density and magnetization images with high efficiency. A so-called?coupling factor is introduced to regulate the tuning of the desired final structural similarity level.?Synthetic examples show that the joint inversion results are internally consistent and achieve?higher?resolution than separated. The acceptable runtime performance of the damped least squares?technique used in joint inversion indicates that it is more suitable for practical use than the truncated SVD method.

3-D velocity structure in the central-eastern part of Qilianshan

The 3-D velocity tomography image of the central-eastern part of Qilianshan is obtained by the joint inversion of 3-D velocity structure and focal parameters based on the S-P data of micro-earthquakes recorded by the digital seismic network set up for a Sino-French cooperation program since 1996. The inversed velocity structure does primarily reflect some important features of the deep structure in the region and provide the scientific background for the further study of active tectonic structure and the calculation of earthquake parameters.

3-D velocity structure in the central-eastern part of Qilianshan

The 3-D velocity tomography image of the central-eastern part of Qilianshan is obtained by the joint inversion of 3-D velocity structure and focal parameters based on the S-P data of micro-earthquakes recorded by the digital seismic network set up for a Sino-French cooperation program since 1996. The inversed velocity structure does primarily reflect some important features of the deep structure in the region and provide the scientific background for the further study of active tectonic structure and the calculation of earthquake parameters.

Characteristics of structural loess strength and preliminary framework for joint strength formula

The strength of structural loess consists of the shear strength and tensile strength. In this study, the stress path, the failure envelope of principal stress （ Kf line）, and the strength failure envelope of structurally intact loess and remolded loess were analyzed through three kinds of tests： the tensile strength test, the uniaxial compressive strength test, and the conventional triaxial shear strength test. Then, in order to describe the tensile strength and shear strength of structural loess comprehensively and reasonably, a joint strength formula for structural loess was established. This formula comprehensively considers tensile and shear properties. Studies have shown that the tensile strength exhibits a decreasing trend with increasing water content. When the water content is constant, the tensile strength of the structurally intact soil is greater than that ofremolded soil. In the studies, no loss of the originally cured cohesion in the structurally intact soil samples was observed, given that the soil samples did not experience loading disturbance during the uniaxial compressive strength test, meaning there is a high initial structural strength. The results of the conventional triaxial shear strength test show that the water content is correlated with the strength of the structural loess. When the water content is low, the structural properties are strong, and when the water content is high, the structural properties are weak, which means that the water content and the ambient pressure have significant effects on the stress-strain relationship of structural loess. The established joint strength formula of structural loess effectively avoids overestimating the role of soil tensile strength in the traditional theory of Mohr-Coulomb strength.

Influence of Shim Layers on Progressive Failure of a Composite Componentin Composite-Aluminum Bolted Joint in Aerospace Structural Assembly

The influence of varying shim layers on the progressive damage/failure of a composite component in a bolted composite-aluminum aerospace structural assembly was investigated using a non-linear three-dimensional(3 D)structural solid elements assembled model of a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer(CFRP)-aluminum single-lap joint with a titanium(Ti-6 Al-4 V)fastener and a washer generated with the commercial finite element(FE)software package,ABAQUS/Standard.A progressive failure algorithm written in Fortran code with a set of appropriate degradation rules was incorporated as a user subroutine in ABAQUS to simulate the non-linear damage behavior of the composite component in the composite-aluminum bolted aerospace structure.The assembled 3 DFE model simulated,as well as the specimen for the experimental testing consisted of a carbon-epoxy IMS-977-2 substrate,aluminum alloy 7075-T651 substrate,liquid shim(Hysol EA 9394),solid peelable fiberglass shim,a titanium fastener,and a washer.In distinction to previous investigations,the influence of shim layers(liquid shim and solid peelable fiberglass shim)inserted in-between the faying surfaces(CFRP and aluminum alloy substrates)were investigated by both numerical simulations and experimental work.The simulated model and test specimens conformed to the standard test configurations for both civil and military standards.The numerical simulations correlated well with the experimental results and it has been found that:(1)The shimming procedure as agreed upon by the aerospace industry for the resolution of assembly gaps in bolted joints for composite materials is the same for a composite-aluminum structure;liquid shim series(0.3,0.5 and 0.7 mm thicknesses)prolonged the service life of the composite component whereas a solid peelable fiberglass shim most definitely had a better influence on the 0.9 assembly gap compared with the liquid shim;(2)The shim layers considerably influenced the structural strength of the composite component by delaying its ultimate failure thereby increasing its service life;and(3)Increasing the shim layer′s thickness led to a significant corresponding effect on the stiffness but with minimal effect on the ultimate load.

Review on Connections for Original Bamboo Structures

Bamboo is a green construction material in line with sustainable development strategies.The use of raw bamboo in architecture has existed since ancient times.In the long development years of original bamboo buildings,many areas in the world gradually formed unique bamboo buildings,which have become an important local cultural feature.For building structures,joints are the key to ensure structural load transfer.Because of hollow and thin-walled material property of bamboo,the connection in raw bamboo buildings has always been a major difficulty and problem in the application of bamboo,which seriously hinders the development of original bamboo structures.In order to promote the use of raw bamboo,two traditional connection methods in raw bamboo structures are described in this paper firstly,with the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods pointed out.Also,research progress on four categories of raw bamboo building joints is described namely,bolt joints,steel member joints,filler reinforced joints and other types of joints.This work can provide a reference for future research and engineering applications.