Numerical simulation of spatial distributions of mining-induced stress and fracture fields for three coal mining layouts

In this study, the spatial distributions of stress and fracture fields for three typical underground coal mining layouts, Le, non-pillar mining （NM）, top-coal caving mining （TCM） and protective coal-seam mining （PCM）, are modeled using discrete element software UDEC, The numerical results show that different mining layouts can lead to different mining-induced stress fields, resulting in diverse fracture fields, For the PCM, the mining influenced area in front of the mining faces is the largest, and the stress concentration factor in front of the mining faces is the lowest, The spatial shapes of the mining-induced fracture fields under NM, TCM and PCM differ, and they are characterized by trapezoidal, triangular and tower shapes, respectively, The fractal dimensions of mining-induced fractures of the three mining layouts decrease in the order of PCM, TCM and NM, It is also shown that the PCM can result in a better gas control effect in coal mines with high outburst potential, The numerical results are expected to provide a basis for understanding of mining-induced gas seepage fields and provide a reference for high- efficiency coal mining,

Variation in hydraulic conductivity of fractured rocks at a dam foundation during operation

Characterizing the permeability variation in fractured rocks is important in various subsurface applications,but how the permeability evolves in the foundation rocks of high dams during operation remains poorly understood.This permeability change is commonly evidenced by a continuous decrease in the amount of discharge(especially for dams on sediment-laden rivers),and can be attributed to fracture clogging and/or hydromechanical coupling.In this study,the permeability evolution of fractured rocks at a high arch dam foundation during operationwas evaluated by inverse modeling based on the field timeseries data of both pore pressure and discharge.A procedure combining orthogonal design,transient flow modeling,artificial neural network,and genetic algorithm was adopted to efficiently estimate the hydraulic conductivity values in each annual cycle after initial reservoir filling.The inverse results show that the permeability of the dam foundation rocks follows an exponential decay annually during operation(i.e.K/K0=0.97e^(-0.59t)+0.03),with good agreement between field observations and numerical simulations.The significance of the obtained permeability decay function was manifested by an assessment of the long-term seepage control performance and groundwater flow behaviors at the dam site.The proposed formula is also of merit for characterizing the permeability change in riverbed rocks induced by sediment transport and deposition.

Long-term kinematics and mechanism of a deep-seated slow-moving debris slide near Wudongde hydropower station in Southwest China

Long-term kinematic research of slow- moving debris slide is rare despite of the widespread global distribution of this kind. This paper presents a study of the kinematics and mechanism of the Jinpingzi debris slide located on the Jinsha river bank in southwest China. This debris slide is known to have a volume of 27×106 ms in active state for at least one century. Field survey and geotechnical investigation were carried out to define the structure of the landslide. The physical and mechanical properties of the landslide materials were obtained by in-situ and laboratory tests. Additionally, surface and subsurface displacements, as well as groundwater level fluctuations, were monitored since 2005. Movement features, especially the response of the landslide movement to rainfall, were analysed. Relationships between resisting forces and driving forces were analysed by using the limit equilibrium method assuming rigid-plastic frictional slip. The results confirmed a viscous comoonent in the long-term continuous movement resulting in the quasioverconsolidated state of the slip zone with higher strength parameters than some other types of slowmoving landslides. Both surface and subsurface displacements showed an advancing pattern by the straight outwardly inclined （rather than gently or reversely inclined） slip zone, which resulted in low resistance to the entire sliding mass. The average surface displacement rate from 2005 to 2016 was estimated to be 0.19-0.87 mm/d. Basal sliding on the silty clay seam accounted for most of the deformation with different degrees of internal deformation in different parts. Rainfall was the predominant factor affecting the kinematics of Jinpingzi landslide while the role of groundwater level, though positive, was not significant. The response of the groundwater level to rainfall infiltration was not apparent. Unlike some shallow slow-moving earth flows or mudslides, whose behaviors are directly related to the phreatic groundwater level, the mechanism for Jinpingzi landslide kinematics is more likely related to the changing weight of the sliding mass and the downslope seepage pressure in the shallow soil mass resulting from rainfall events.

Test Studies on Performances of TGP Total Gradation Concrete

The Three Gorges Project (TGP) is the largest water conservancy and hydropower complex in the world, with a concrete consumption of 28 million m^3 in total. For such a significant world-attracting project, first rate quality concrete is needed. Various mechanical and deformation performances of hydraulic mass concrete are determined conventionally by the wet screening method to make small specimens and the test results of the small standard specimens are taken to represent the properties of the mass concrete. However, the quantity of the coarse aggregate after wet screening would be reduced by 30% or so and the gel materials would increase by 20% or so, thus causing significant differences between the properties of the small concrete specimen and that of the total gradation concrete. To well understand the performances of the total gradation concrete of TGP dam, test studies have been performed on the total gradation concrete, including compressive strength, split tensile strength, elastic modulus, ultimate tension, dry shrinkage, self volume deformation, creep, seepage prevention, and so on, and comparison made with the small standard specimens to find out the relationship between them, which have provided scientific ground for the design, operation and safety verification of the TGP dam.

Shake table experimental study of cable-stayed bridges with two different design strategies of H-shaped towers

As one of the main load-carrying components of cable-stayed bridges,bridge towers are typically required to remain elastic even when subjected to severe ground motions with a 2%-3%probability of exceedance in 50 years.To fulfill this special requirement imposed by current seismic design codes,reinforcement ratios in the bridge towers have to be kept significantly higher than if limited ductility behavior of the tower is allowed.In addition,since the foundation capacity is closely related to the moment and shear capacities of the bridge tower,a large increase in bridge construction cost for elastically designed cable-stayed bridge is inevitable.To further investigate the possibility of limited ductility bridge tower design strategies,a new 1/20-scale cable-stayed bridge model with H-shaped bridge towers designed according to strong strut-weak tower column design was tested.The shake table experimental results are compared with a previous strong tower column-weak strut designed full bridge model.A comparison of the results show that ductility design with plastic hinges located on tower columns,i.e.,strong strut-weak tower column design,is another effective seismic design strategy that results in only small residual displacement at the top of the tower column,even under very severe earthquake excitations.

Classification and Visualization of Surrounding Rock Mass Stability Based on Multi-Dimensional Cloud Model

The classification of the stability of surrounding rock is an uncertain system with multiple indices.The Multidimensional Cloud Model provides an advanced solution through the use of an improved model of One-dimensional Cloud Model.Setting each index as a one-dimensional attribute,the Multi-dimensional Cloud Model can set the digital characteristics of each index according to the cloud theory.The Multi-dimensional cloud generator can calculate the certainty of each grade,and then determine the stability levels of the surrounding rock according to the principle of maximum certainty.Using this model to 5 coal mine roadway surrounding rock examples and comparing the results with those of One-dimensional and Two-dimensional Cloud Models,we find that the Multi-dimensional Cloud Model can provide a more accurate solution.Since the classification results of the Multidimensional Cloud Model are difficult to be presented intuitively and visually,we reduce the Multi-dimensional Cloud Model to One-dimensional and Two-dimensional Cloud Models in order to visualize the results achieved by the Multi-dimensional Cloud Model.This approach provides a more accurate and intuitive method for the classification of the surrounding rock stability,and it can also be applied to other types of classification problems.