We propose a new method for detecting voids behind tunnel concrete linings using the impact-echo method that is based on continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and a convolutional neural network (CNN). We first collect experimental data using the impact-echo method and then convert them into time-frequency images via CWT. We provide a CNN model trained using the converted images and experimentally confirm that our proposed model is robust. Moreover, it exhibits outstanding performance in detecting backfill voids and their status.

With the rapid development of highways and railways, series of traffic safety issues emerged because of mudstone disintegration. To research on the mechanism and further guarantee the stability and safety of transportation infrastructure built on or near mudstone formations, the mudstone disintegration test of mudstone was carried out based on mudstone and sandy mudstone. The element types, cementation characteristics and pore characteristics of the tested specimens were studied by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Image Pro Plus (IPP). The disintegration index of mudstone was approximately 1%, and even some specimens were difficult to be calculated, while the disintegration index of sandy mudstone is approximately 8.7%. According to the results, the two mudstones belong to grade II and III disintegration respectively, of which the sandy stone presents more extensive disintegration than mudstone. This phenomenon was distinguished that, the clay minerals of mudstone are approximately 25% more abundant than those of sandy mudstone, and the unit pore area is 20 ㎛² larger, which result in different microstructure and water absorption capacities. In the liquid phase, the ions in the mudstone specimens were exchanged and combined with water molecules in the environment during the whole disintegration process. This results in continuous spalling and fragmentation of clay minerals, the emergence of secondary fractures, and the deepening of primary fractures.

Erigen's nonlocal thermoelasticity model is used to study the effect of viscosity on a micropolar thermoelastic solid in the context of the multi-phase-lag model. The harmonic wave analysis technique is employed to convert partial differential equations to ordinary differential equations to get the solution to the problem. The physical fields have been presented graphically for the nonlocal micropolar thermoelastic solid. Comparisons are made with the results of three theories different in the presence and absence of viscosity as well as the gravity field. Comparisons are made with the results of three theories different for different values of the nonlocal parameter. Numerical computations are carried out with the help of Matlab software.

The roof-filling body system stability plays a key role in gob-side entry retained (GER). Taking the GER of the 1103 belt transportation roadway in Heilong Coal Mine as engineering background, stability analysis of roof-filling body system was conducted based on the cusp catastrophe theory. Theoretical results showed that the current design parameters of 1103 belt transportation roadway could ensure the roof-filling body system stable during the resistance-increasing support stage of the filling body and the stable support stage of the filling body. Moreover, a verified global numerical model in FLAC3D was established to analyze the failure characteristics including surrounding rock deformation, stress distribution, and plastic zone. Numerical simulation indicated that the width-height ratio of the filling body had a great influence on the stability of the roof-filling body system. When the width-height ratio was greater than 0.62, with the decrease of the width-height ratio, the peak stress of the filling body gradually decreased; when the width-height ratio was greater than 0.92, as the distance to the roadway increased, the roof stress increased and then decreased. The theoretical analysis and numerical simulation findings in this study provide a new research method to analyze the stability of the roof-filling body system in GER.

Bitumen and high-quality subangular aggregates, the two principal materials used for asphalt concrete construction, are finite and expensive materials. The general availability of crumb rubber and naturally occurring aggregates of different shapes, especially flat and elongated shapes, indicates that they are feasible alternative materials for expanding the volume of bitumen and utilizing a wider range of aggregate shapes for the development of asphalt concrete, with an associated environmental benefit. The study investigated the effect of adding up to 15% crumb rubber and aggregates sorted into different groups, i.e., rounded, elongated, flat, and their combinations, on the rheological and mechanical properties and durability of 50/70 of hot-mix asphalt pavement. The addition of crumb rubber decreased ductility and penetration but increased the softening point. For a 5.5% bitumen content, asphalt concrete briquettes consisting of 7% crumb rubber and three types of aggregate shapes, i.e., 100% rounded, a mix of 75% rounded and 25% elongated, and a mix of 75% rounded, 15% elongated and 10% flat, were associated with high Marshall stability and indirect tensile strength as well as low lateral deformation due to their high solidity and moderate angularity ratio. Also, the addition of 7% crumb rubber resulted in a significant improvement in the tensile strength ratio and rebound strain of briquettes consisting of 75% rounded and 25% elongated aggregates and those with 75% rounded, 15% elongated and 10% flat aggregates. In relation to the parameters investigated, the three groups of briquettes met some of the local (South Africa) requirements for the surface course and base course of low traffic volume roads.

Currently, composite lining mountain tunnels in China are generally classified based on the [BQ] method for the surrounding rock grade. Increasingly, tunnel field construction is replicated indoors for scale down model tests. However, the development of analogous materials for model tests of composite lining tunnels with different surrounding rock grades is still unclear. In this study, typical Class III and V surrounding rock analogous materials and corresponding composite lining support materials were developed. The whole processes of excavation-support dynamics of the mountain tunnels were simulated. Data on the variation of deformations, contact pressures and strains on the surrounding rock were obtained. Finally, a comparative analysis between model tests and numerical simulations was performed to verify the rationality of analogous material development. The following useful conclusions were obtained by analyzing the data from the tests. The main analogous materials of Class III surrounding rock are barite powder, high-strength gypsum and quartz sand with fly ash, quartz sand, anhydrous ethanol and rosin for Class V surrounding rock. Analogous materials for rockbolts, steel arches are replaced by aluminum bar and iron bar respectively with both shotcrete and secondary lining corresponding to gypsum and water. In addition, load release rate of Class V surrounding rock should be less than Class III surrounding rock. The fenestration level had large influence on the load sharing ratio of the secondary lining, with a difference of more than 30%, while the influence of the support time was smaller. The Sharing ratios of secondary lining in Class III surrounding rock do not exceed 12%, while those of Class V surrounding rock exceed 40%. The overall difference between the results of model tests and numerical simulations is small, which verifies the feasibility of similar material development in this study.

This study analyzes the pull-out behavior of tunnel-type anchorage under various joint conditions, including joint direction, spacing, and position, using a finite element analysis. The validity of the numerical model was evaluated by comparing the results with a small-scaled model test, and the results of the numerical analysis and the small-scaled model test agree very well. The parametric study evaluated the quantitative effects of each influencing factor, such as joint direction, spacing, and position, on the behavior of tunnel-type anchorage using pull-out resistance-displacement curves. The study found that joint direction had a significant effect on the behavior of tunnel-type anchorage, and the pull-out resistance decreased as the displacement level increased from 0.002L to 0.006L (L: anchorage length). It was confirmed that the reduction in pull-out resistance increased as the number of joints in contact with the anchorage body increased and the spacing between the joints decreased. The pull-out behavior of tunnel-type anchorage was thus shown to be significantly influenced by the position and spacing of the rock joints. In addition, it is found that the number of joints through which the anchorage passes, the wider the area where the plastic point occurs, which leads to a decrease in the resistance of the anchorage.

It is important to make reasonable prediction about the long-term deformation of high rockfill geostructures. However, the deformation is usually underestimated using the rockfill parameters obtained from laboratory tests due to different size effects, which make it necessary to identify parameters from in-situ monitoring data. This paper proposes a novel hybrid back-analysis method with a modified objective function defined for the time-dependent back-analysis problem. The method consists of two stages. In the first stage, an improved weighted average method is proposed to quickly narrow the search region; while in the second stage, an adaptive response surface method is proposed to iteratively search for the satisfactory solution, with a technique that can adaptively consider the translation, contraction or expansion of the exploration region. The accuracy and computational efficiency of the proposed hybrid back-analysis method is demonstrated by back-analyzing the long-term deformation of two high embankments constructed for airport runways, with the rockfills being modeled by a rheological model considering the influence of stress states on the creep behavior.