• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.401-420
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• 2016

The stability of deep coal roadways with large sections and thick top coal is a typical challenge in many coal mines in China. The innovative Universal Discrete Element Code (UDEC) trigon block is adopted to create a numerical model based on a case study at the Dongtan coal mine in China to better understand the failure mechanism and stability control mechanism of this kind of roadway. The failure process of an unsupported roadway is simulated, and the results suggest that the deformation of the roof is more serious than that of the sides and floor, especially in the center of the roof. The radial stress that is released is more intense than the tangential stress, while a large zone of relaxation appears around the roadway. The failure process begins from partial failure at roadway corners, and then propagates deeper into the roof and sides, finally resulting in large deformation in the roadway. A combined support system is proposed to support roadways based on an analysis of the simulation results. The numerical simulation and field monitoring suggest that the availability of this support method is feasible both in theory and practice, which can provide helpful references for research on the failure mechanisms and scientific support designing of engineering in deep coal mines.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.339-348
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• 2020

The uncertain geotechnical properties of frozen soil are important evidence for the design, operation and maintenance of the frozen ground. The complex geological, environmental and physical effects can lead to the spatial variations of the frozen soil, and the uncertain mechanical properties are the key factors for the uncertain analysis of frozen soil engineering. In this study, the elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio of warm frozen soil were measured, and the statistical characteristics under different temperature conditions are obtained. The autocorrelation distance (ACD) and autocorrelation function (ACF) of uncertain mechanical properties are estimated by random field (RF) method. The results show that the mean elastic modulus and mean strength decrease with the increase of temperature while the mean Poisson ratio increases with the increase of temperature. The average values of the ACD for the elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio are 0.64m, 0.53m and 0.48m, respectively. The standard deviation of the ACD for the elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio are 0.03m, 0.07m and 0.03m, respectively. The ACFs of elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio decrease with the increase of ratio of local average distance and scale of fluctuation. The ACF of uncertain mechanical properties is different when the temperature is different. This study can improve our understanding of the spatial autocorrelation variations of uncertain geotechnical properties and provide a basis and reference for the uncertain settlement analysis of frozen soil foundation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.461-474
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• 2020

Analysing the incompatible deformation and damage evolution around the tunnels in mixed strata is significant for evaluating the tunnel stability, as well as the interaction between the support system and the surrounding rock mass. To investigate this issue, confined compression tests were conducted on upper-soft and lower-hard strata specimens containing a circular hole using a rock testing system, the physical mechanical properties were then investigated. Then, the incompatible deformation and failure modes of the specimens were analysed based on the digital speckle correlation method (DSCM) and Acoustic Emission (AE) data. Finally, numerical simulations were conducted to explore the damage evolution of the mixed strata. The results indicate that at low inclination angles, the deformation and v-shaped notches inside the hole are controlled by the structure plane. Progressive spalling failure occurs at the sidewalls along the structure plane in soft rock. But the transmission of the loading force between the soft rock and hard rock are different in local. At high inclination angles, v-shaped notches are approximately perpendicular to the structure plane, and the soft and hard rock bear common loads. Incompatible deformation between the soft rock and hard rock controls the failure process. At inclination angles of 0°, 30° and 90°, incompatible deformations are closely related to rock damage. At 60°, incompatible deformations and rock damage are discordant due that the soft rock and hard rock alternately bears the major loads during the failure process. The failure trend and modes of the numerical results agree very well with those observed in the experimental results. As the inclination angles increase, the proportion of the shear or tensile damage exhibits a nonlinear increase or decrease, suggesting that the inclination angle of mixed strata may promote shear damage and restrain tensile damage.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.417-426
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• 2018

This paper presents the seismic behaviors and restoring force model of ring beam joints of steel tube-reinforced concrete column structure under cyclic loading. First, the main failure mode, ultimate bearing capacity, stiffness degradation and energy dissipation capacity are studied. Then, the effects of concrete grade, steel grade, reinforcement ratio and radius-to-width ratios are discussed. Finally, the restoring force model is proposed. Results show that the ring beam joints of steel tube-reinforced concrete column structure performs good seismic performances. With concrete grade increasing, the ultimate bearing capacity and energy dissipation capacity increase, while the stiffness degradation rates increases slightly. When the radius-width ratio is 2, with reinforcement ratio increasing, the ultimate bearing capacity decreases. However, when the radius-to-width ratios are 3, with reinforcement ratio increasing, the ultimate bearing capacity increases. With radius-to-width ratios increasing, the ultimate bearing capacity decreases slightly and the stiffness degradation rate increases, but the energy dissipation capacity increases slightly.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.75-90
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• 2019

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are rising rapidly despite efforts to curb release of such gases. One long term potential solution to offset these destructive emissions is the capture and storage of carbon dioxide. Partially depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs are attractive targets for permanent carbon dioxide disposal due to proven storage capacity and seal integrity, existing infrastructure. Optimum well completion design in depleted reservoirs requires understanding of prominent geomechanics issues with regard to rock-fluid interaction effects. Geomechanics plays a crucial role in the selection, design and operation of a storage facility and can improve the engineering performance, maintain safety and minimize environmental impact. In this paper, an integrated geomechanics workflow to evaluate reservoir caprock integrity is presented. This method integrates a reservoir simulation that typically computes variation in the reservoir pressure and temperature with geomechanical simulation which calculates variation in stresses. Coupling between these simulation modules is performed iteratively which in each simulation cycle, time dependent reservoir pressure and temperature obtained from three dimensional compositional reservoir models in ECLIPSE were transferred into finite element reservoir geomechanical models in ABAQUS and new porosity and permeability are obtained using volumetric strains for the next analysis step. Finally, efficiency of this approach is demonstrated through a case study of oil production and subsequent carbon storage in an oil reservoir. The methodology and overall workflow presented in this paper are expected to assist engineers with geomechanical assessments for reservoir optimum production and gas injection design for both natural gas and carbon dioxide storage in depleted reservoirs.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.301-315
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• 2023

Adopting cohesive soil as geocell-pocket infill materials is not fully accepted by researchers in the field of road engineering. The cohesion that may inhibit the lateral limitation of geocells is a common vital idea that exists within every researcher. However, the influence of infill materials' cohesion on geocell-reinforced performance is still not thoroughly determined. The mechanism behind this still needs to be studied in depth. This study initially discussed the relationship between subgrade bearing capacity, geocells' contribution to reinforced performance, and infill materials' cohesion (IMC). A law was proposed that adopting the soil with high cohesion as infill materials benefited the subgrade bearing capacity, but this was attributed to the superior mechanical properties of infill materials rather than geocells' contribution. Moreover, the vertical and lateral deformation of subgrade, coupling shear stress and confining stress of geocells, and deformation of geocells were deeply studied to analyze the mechanism that high cohesion can inhibit the geocells' contribution. The results indicate that the infill materials with high cohesion result in the total displacement of the subgrade toward to deeper depth, not the lateral direction. These responses decrease the vertical coupling shear stress, confining stress, and normal displacement of geocell walls, which weaken the lateral limitation of geocells.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.477-486
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• 2023

In the studies on fault dislocation of tunnel, existing literatures are mainly focused on the problems caused by normal and reverse faults, but few on strike-slip faults. The paper aims to research the deformation and failure mechanism of a tunnel under strike-slip faulting based on a model test and test-calibrated numerical simulation. A potential faulting hazard condition is considered for a real water tunnel in central Yunnan, China. Based on the faulting hazard to tunnel, laboratory model tests were conducted with a test apparatus that specially designed for strike-slip faults. Then, to verify the results obtained from the model test, a finite element model was built. By comparison, the numerical results agree with tested ones well. The results indicated that most of the shear deformation and damage would appear within fault fracture zone. The tunnel exhibited a horizontal S-shaped deformation profile under strike-slip faulting. The side walls of the tunnel mainly experience tension and compression strain state, while the roof and floor of the tunnel would be in a shear state. Circular cracks on tunnel near fault fracture zone were more significant owing to shear effects of strike-slip faulting, while the longitudinal cracks occurred at the hanging wall.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.303-316
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• 2024

Seismic records are composed of mainshock and a series of aftershocks which often result in the incremental damage to underground structures and bring great challenges to the rescue of post-disaster and the repair of post-earthquake. In this paper, the repetition method was used to construct the mainshock-aftershocks sequence which was used as the input ground motion for the analysis of dynamic time history. Based on the Daikai station, the two-dimensional finite element model of soil-station was established to explore the failure process of station under different seismic precautionary intensities, and the concept of incremental damage of station was introduced to quantitatively analyze the damage condition of structure under the action of mainshock and two aftershocks. An arc rubber bearing was proposed for the shock absorption. With the arc rubber bearing, the mode of the traditional column end connection was changed from "fixed connection" to "hinged joint", and the ductility of the structure was significantly improved. The results show that the damage condition of the subway station is closely related to the magnitude of the mainshock. When the magnitude of the mainshock is low, the incremental damage to the structure caused by the subsequent aftershocks is little. When the magnitude of the mainshock is high, the subsequent aftershocks will cause serious incremental damage to the structure, and may even lead to the collapse of the station. The arc rubber bearing can reduce the damage to the station. The results can offer a reference for the seismic design of subway stations under the action of mainshock-aftershocks.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.601-618
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• 2024

The joint probability distribution of uncertain geomechanical parameters of geotechnical strata is a crucial aspect in constructing the reliability functional function for roof structures. However, due to the limited number of on-site exploration and test data samples, it is challenging to conduct a scientifically reliable analysis of roof geotechnical strata. This study proposes a Copula method based on small sample exploration and test data to construct the intensity characteristics of roof geotechnical strata. Firstly, the theory of multidimensional copula is systematically introduced, especially the construction of four-dimensional Gaussian copula. Secondly, data from measurements of 176 groups of geomechanical parameters of roof geotechnical strata in 31 coal mines in China are collected. The goodness of fit and simulation error of the four-dimensional Gaussian Copula constructed using the Pearson method, Kendall method, and Spearman methods are analyzed. Finally, the fitting effects of positive and negative correlation coefficients under different copula functions are discussed respectively. The results demonstrate that the established multidimensional Gaussian Copula joint distribution model can scientifically represent the uncertainty of geomechanical parameters in roof geotechnical strata. It provides an important theoretical basis for the study of reliability functional functions for roof structures. Different construction methods for multidimensional Gaussian Copula yield varying simulation effects. The Kendall method exhibits the best fit in constructing correlations of geotechnical parameters. For the bivariate Copula fitting ability of uncertain parameters in roof geotechnical strata, when the correlation is strong, Gaussian Copula demonstrates the best fit, and other Copula functions also show remarkable fitting ability in the region of fixed correlation parameters. The research results can offer valuable reference for the stability analysis of roof geotechnical engineering.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1071-1080
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• 2018

The study of behavior and values of deformations in the geological medium makes the scientific basis of the methodology of synthesis of true values of parameters of its physico-mechanical and density properties taking into account the influence of geodynamic impacts. The segments of continuous variation of homogeneous elastic uniform deformations are determined under overall compression of the medium. The limits of these segments are defined according to the criteria of instability (on geometric form changes and on "internal" instability). Analytical formulae are obtained to calculate current and limiting (critical) values of deformations within the framework of various variants of small and large initial deformations of the non-classically linearized approach of non-linear elastodynamics. The distribution of deformation becomes non-uniform in the medium while the limiting values of deformations are achieved. The proposed analytical formulae are applicable only within homogeneous distribution of deformations. Numerical experiments are carried out for various elastic potentials. It is found that various forms of instability can precede phase transitions and destruction. The influence of these deformation phenomena should be removed while the physico-mechanical and density parameters of the deformed media are determined. In particular, it is necessary to use the formulae proposed in this paper for this purpose.