Alteration of Ground Motion Acceleration at Ground Level Due To Tunnel Excavation

Underground tunneling is one of the alternative solutions to diminish traffic congestion in large cities. One of the most important effects of tunneling is the displacement of the ground surface, the settlement around the tunnel, and the variation in earthquake acceleration. The performance and behavior of underground structures have been studied by several researchers, but the impact of tunnel excavation on earthquake records and its effects on structures above the ground level have received less attention. This research emphasizes changes of earthquake acceleration at the ground level, structural response and Fourier spectrum by excavating a horseshoe tunnel. Results show that digging a horseshoe tunnel will change the characteristics of the earthquake record at ground level.

Experimental Investigations of the Three-DimensionalFlow in a Large Deflection Turbine Cascade with Tip Clearance

Results obtained from an experbontal study of the threedimensional flow survey within and exit of a large defiection linear turbine cascade are presented for a tip clearance levels of 0.08, 1.5, 3.0 percent of chord and compared with the help of boundary layer probes and that within and exit of a blade passage was done with a miniaturised five hole probe. End wall and blade tip surface static pressures were also obtained, in addition to flow visualisation studies. A strong horse-shoe vortex forms in front of the leading edge for zero clearance whereas this vortex does not appear for 3 percent clearance indicating that for large clearance the pressure forces have dominating infiuence than the viscous forces. In addition to normally known clearance vortex, a small tip separation vortex was noticed on the blade tip surface inside the tip gap. Due to the area contraction caused by the tip separation vortex, the fluid movign towards the tip gap from the pressure side is accelerated. Downstream of the vortex, the endwall pressure increases due to flow mixing. Both vortices increase in size and strength along the chord. The miring is incomplete in the aft portion of the blade. The tip gap velocity profiles exhibit wak like characteristics especially at axial positions where the mixing is incomplete. The passage vortex in the present investigations did not diminish with increase in clearance. The discharge coefhcient and the total pressure loss coefficient within the tip gap show similar tendency with lower values near the leading and trailing edge regions.