• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.85-96
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• 2023

Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is extensively discussed as a promising topic for ground stabilization. The practical effect of stabilizing the expansive soil is presented in this paper with a logical process from the bacterial activity to the treatment technology. Temperature, pH, shaking frequency, and inoculation amount are discussed to evaluate the bacterial activity. The physic-mechanic properties are also evaluated to discuss the effect of the MICP process on expansive soil. Results indicate that the MICP method achieves the mitigation of expansion. The treated soil has a low proportion of fine particles (< 5 ㎛), the plasticity index significantly decreases, and strength values improve much. MICP process has a significant cementation effect on the soil matrix. Moreover, the infiltration model test presents the coating effect on the topsoil. According to the relation between the CaCO₃ content and the treatment effect, the topsoil has better treatment than the deeper soil.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.135-147
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• 2012

At mesoscale, concrete is considered as a three-phase composite material consisting of the aggregate particles, the cement matrix and the interfacial transition zone (ITZ). The reconstruction of the internal structures for concrete composites requires the identification of the boundary of the aggregate particles and the cement matrix using digital imaging technology followed by post-processing through MATLAB. A parameter study covers the subsection transformation, median filter, and open and close operation of the digital image sample to obtain the optimal parameter for performing the image processing technology. The subsection transformation is performed using a grey histogram of the digital image samples with a threshold value of [120, 210] followed by median filtering with a $16{\times}16$ square module based on the dimensions of the aggregate particles and their internal impurity. We then select a "disk" tectonic structure with a specific radius, which performs open and close operations on the images. The edges of the aggregate particles (similar to the original digital images) are obtained using the canny edge detection method. The finite element model at mesoscale can be established using the proposed image processing technology. The location of the crack determined through the numerical method is identical to the experimental result, and the load-displacement curve determined through the numerical method is in close agreement with the experimental results. Comparisons of the numerical and experimental results show that the proposed image processing technology is highly effective in reconstructing the internal structures of concrete composites.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.259-269
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• 2022

In this study, we introduce a canonical correlation analysis method to accurately assess the tunnel damage potential of ground motion. The proposed method can retain information relating to the initial variables. A total of 100 ground motion records are used as seismic inputs to analyze the dynamic response of three different profiles of tunnels under deep and shallow burial conditions. Nine commonly used ground motion parameters were selected to form the canonical variables of ground motion parameters (GMP_CCA). Five structural dynamic response parameters were selected to form canonical variables of structural dynamic response parameters (DRP_CCA). Canonical correlation analysis is used to maximize the correlation coefficients between GMP_CCA and DRP_CCA to obtain multivariate ground motion parameters that can be used to comprehensively assess the tunnel damage potential. The results indicate that the multivariate ground motion parameters used in this study exhibit good stability, making them suitable for evaluating the tunnel damage potential induced by ground motion. Among the nine selected ground motion parameters, peck ground acceleration (PGA), peck ground velocity (PGV), root-mean-square acceleration (RMSA), and spectral acceleration (Sa) have the highest contribution rates to GMP_CCA and DRP_CCA and the highest importance in assessing the tunnel damage potential. In contrast to univariate ground motion parameters, multivariate ground motion parameters exhibit a higher correlation with tunnel dynamic response parameters and enable accurate assessment of tunnel damage potential.