• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.709-727
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• 2015

The main aim of this study is to introduce optimal design of homogeneous earth dams with oblique and horizontal drains based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) incorporating weighted least squares support vector machine (WLS-SVM). To achieve this purpose, the upstream and downstream slopes of earth dam, the length of oblique and horizontal drains and angle among the drains are considered as the design variables in the optimization problem of homogeneous earth dams. Furthermore, the seepage through dam body and the weight of dam as objective functions are minimized in the optimization process simultaneously. In the optimization procedure, the stability coefficient of the upstream and downstream slopes and the seepage through dam body as the hydraulic responses of homogeneous earth dam are required. Hence, the hydraulic responses are predicted using WLS-SVM approach. The optimal results of illustrative examples demonstrate the efficiency and computational advantages of PSO with WLS-SVM in the optimal design of homogeneous earth dams with drains.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.3
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• pp.355-368
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• 2021

The time-varying mean (TVM) component of non-stationary wind speeds is commonly extracted utilizing empirical mode decomposition (EMD) in practice, whereas the accuracy of the extracted TVM is difficult to be quantified. To deal with this problem, this paper proposes an approach to identify and extract the optimal TVM from several TVM results obtained by the EMD. It is suggested that the optimal TVM of a 10-min time history of wind speeds should meet both the following conditions: (1) the probability density function (PDF) of fluctuating wind component agrees well with the modified Gaussian function (MGF). At this stage, a coefficient p is newly defined as an evaluation index to quantify the correlation between PDF and MGF. The smaller the p is, the better the derived TVM is; (2) the number of local maxima of obtained optimal TVM within a 10-min time interval is less than 6. The proposed approach is validated by a numerical example, and it is also adopted to extract the optimal TVM from the field measurement records of wind speeds collected during a sandstorm event.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.1
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• pp.93-108
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• 2022

Real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) was applied to investigate the train-bridge interaction of a high-speed railway system, where the railway bridge was selected as the numerical substructure, and the train was physically tested. The interaction between the two substructures was reproduced by a servo-hydraulic shaking table. To accurately reproduce the high-frequency interaction responses ranging from 10-25Hz using the hydraulic shaking table with an inherent delay of 6-50ms, an adaptive time series (ATS) compensation algorithm combined with the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) was proposed and implemented in the RTHS. Testing cases considering different train speeds, track irregularities, bridge girder cross-sections, and track settlements featuring a wide range of frequency contents were conducted. The performance of the proposed ATS+LQG delay compensation method was compared to the ATS method and RTHS without any compensation in terms of residual time delays and root mean square errors between commands and responses. The effectiveness of the ATS+LQG method to compensate time delay in RTHS with high-frequency responses was demonstrated and the proposed ATS+LQG method outperformed the ATS method in yielding more accurate responses with less residual time delays.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2022

Many geotechnical analyses require the investigation of water flow within partially saturated soil zone to incorporate the effect of climatic conditions. It is widely understood that the hydraulic properties of the partially saturated soil should be included in the transient seepage analyses. However, the characteristics of dual porosity soils with dual-mode water retention curve are normally modelled using single-mode mathematical equation for simplification of the analysis. In reality, the rainwater flow can be affected significantly by the dual-mode hydraulic properties of the soil. This paper presents the variations of safety factor for dual porosity soil slope with dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability. This paper includes the development of the new dual-mode unsaturated permeability to represent the characteristics of soil with the dual-mode water retention curve. The finite element analyses were conducted to examine the role of dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability on the variations of safety factor under rainfall loading. The results indicate that the safety factor variations of dual porosity soil slope modelled using the dual-mode water retention curve and the unsaturated permeability equation are lower than those of dual porosity slope modelled using single-mode water retention curve and unsaturated permeability equations.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2023

Knowledge of minimum horizontal stress (S_hmin) is a significant step in determining full stress tensor. It provides crucial information for the production of sand, hydraulic fracturing, determination of safe mud weight window, reservoir production behavior, and wellbore stability. Calculating the S_hmin using indirect methods has been proved to be awkward because a lot of data are required in all of these models. Also, direct techniques such as hydraulic fracturing are costly and time-consuming. To figure these problems out, this work aims to apply the long-short-term memory (LSTM) algorithm to S_hmin time-series prediction. 13956 datasets obtained from an oil well logging operation were applied in the models. 80% of the data were used for training, and 20% of the data were used for testing. In order to achieve the maximum accuracy of the LSTM model, its hyper-parameters were optimized significantly. Through different statistical indices, the LSTM model's performance was compared with with other machine learning methods. Finally, the optimized LSTM model was recommended for S_hmin prediction in the well logging operation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.221-231
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• 2023

Biopolymer stabilization is a sustainable alternative to traditional techniques that cause a lesser negative impact on the environment during production and application. The study aims to minimize the biopolymer dosages by sizing the bio-additives to the nanoscale. This study combines the advantages of bio and nanomaterials in geotechnical engineering applications and attempts to investigate the behaviour of a low viscous biopolymer, nano sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (nCMC), to treat organic soil. Soil is treated with 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75% and 1.00% of nano-bio additive, and its effect on the plastic behaviour, compaction characteristics, strength, hydraulic conductivity (HC) and compressible nature are investigated. The strength increased by 1.68 times after 90 days of curing at a dosage of 0.5% nCMC through the formation of gel threads connecting the soil particles that stiffened the matrix. The viscosity of 1% nCMC increased exponentially, deterring fluid flow through the voids and reduced the HC by 0.85 times after curing for 90 days. Also, beyond the optimum dosage of 0.50%, the nCMC forms a film around the soil particles that inhibits the inter-particle cohesion causing a reduction in strength. Experimental results show that nCMC can effectively substitute conventional additives to stabilize the soil.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.385-393
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• 2023

To analyze the consolidation with horizontal sand drains, the plane strain consolidation model under multi-ramp loading is established, and its corresponding analytical solution is derived by using the separation of variables method. The proposed solution is verified by the field measurement data and finite element results. Then, the effects of the loading mode and stress distribution on consolidation and dissipation of pore pressure are investigated. At the same time, the influence of hydraulic conductivity and thickness of sand blankets on soil consolidation are also analyzed. The results show that the loading mode has a significant effect on both the soil consolidation rate and generation-dissipation process of pore water pressure. In contrast, the influence of stress distribution on pore pressure dissipation is obvious, while its influence on soil consolidation rate is negligible. To guarantee the fully drained condition of the sand blanket, the ratio of hydraulic conductivity of the sand blanket to that of clay layer k_d/k_v should range from 1.0×10⁴ to 1.0×10⁶ with soil width varying from 100 m to 1000 m. A larger soil width correspondingly needs a greater value of kd/kv to make sure that the pore water can flow through the sand blanket smoothly with little resistance. When the soil width is relatively small (e.g., less than 100 m), the effect of thickness of the sand blanket on soil consolidation is insignificant. And its influence appears obvious gradually with the increase of the soil width.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.701-711
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• 2023

In order to fully reflect variation characteristics of composite concrete dam health state, the monitoring data is applied to diagnose composite concrete dam health state. Composite concrete dam lesion development to wreckage is a precursor, and its health status can be judged. The monitoring data are generally non-linear and unsteady time series, which contain chaotic information that cannot be characterized. Thus, it could generate huge influence for the construction of monitoring models and the formulation of corresponding health diagnostic indicators. This multi-scale diagnosis process is from point to whole. Chaotic characteristics are often contained in the monitoring data. If chaotic characteristics could be extracted for reflecting concrete dam health state and the corresponding diagnostic indicators will be formulated, the theory and method of diagnosing concrete dam health state can be huge improved. Therefore, the chaotic characteristics of monitoring data are considered. And, the extracting method of the chaotic components is studied from monitoring data based on fuzzy dynamic cross-correlation factor method. Finally, a method is proposed for formulating composite concrete dam health state indicators. This method can effectively distinguish chaotic systems from deterministic systems and reflect the health state of concrete dam in service.

• Composites Research
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.254-259
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• 2014

In this study, a device and pressure press process that is able to substitute autoclave process is developed. This process complements disadvantages of autoclave process which are long process-time and high production cost. The developed device provides air pressure as well as the vacuum which are greatest feature of autoclave process. The device is sealed using hydraulic pressure to keep the air pressure inside the mold. The transfer of the heat is designed to be direct. The heating and pressure charging time are decreased by reducing the interior space. Tooling cost is reduced dramatically compared to autoclave process. Spring-back phenomenon is measured and compared. The temperatures of several parts of the mold during molding are measured. The fiber volume fraction of the parts molded by autoclave process and by the developed process are compared.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2017

A coupled liquid-gas-solid three-phase model, linking two numerical codes (TOUGH2/EOS3 and $FLAC^{3D}$), was firstly established and validated by simulating an in-situ air flow test in Essen. Then the coupled model was employed to investigate responses of multiphase flow and soil skeleton deformation to compressed air or freshwater injection using the same simulation conditions in an aquifer of Tianjin, China. The simulation results show that with injecting pressurized fluids, the vertical effective stress in some area decreases owing to the pore pressure increasing, an expansion of soil skeleton appears, and land uplift occurs due to support actions from lower deformed soils. After fluids injection stops, soil deformation decreases overall due to injecting fluids dissipating. With the same applied pressure, changes in multiphase flow and geo-mechanical deformation caused by compressed air injection are relatively greater than those by freshwater injection. Furthermore, the expansion of soil skeleton induced by compressed air injection transfers upward and laterally continuously with time, while during and after freshwater injection, this expansion reaches rapidly a quasi-steady state. These differences induced by two fluids injection are mainly because air could spread upward and laterally easily for its lower density and phase state transition appears for compressed air injection.