An experimental technique for determining the spalling strength of rock-like materials under a high strain rate is developed. It is observed that the spalling strength of a specimen can be determined by only knowing the wavelength, loading peak value and length of the first spallation of an incident wave under a specific loading waveform. Using this method in combination with a split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) and other experimental devices, the spalling strength of granite specimens under a high strain rate is tested. Comparisons with other experimental results show that the new measuring method can accurately calculate the dynamic tensile strength of rock materials under a high strain rate.

In this work, an efficient and simple quasi-3D hyperbolic shear deformation theory is developed for bending and vibration analyses of functionally graded (FG) plates resting on two-parameter elastic foundation. The significant feature of this theory is that, in addition to including the thickness stretching effect, it deals with only 5 unknowns as the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). The foundation is described by the Pasternak (two-parameter) model. The material properties of the plate are assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction by a simple power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Equations of motion for thick FG plates are obtained within the Hamilton's principle. Analytical solutions for the bending and free vibration analysis are obtained for simply supported plates. The numerical results are given in detail and compared with the existing works such as 3-dimensional solutions and those predicted by other plate theories. It can be concluded that the present theory is not only accurate but also simple in predicting the bending and free vibration responses of functionally graded plates resting on elastic foundation.

In order to evaluate the grouting effects of water-rich fault in tunnels systematically, a feasible and scientific method is introduced based on the extension theory. First, eight main influencing factors are chosen as evaluation indexes by analyzing the changes of permeability, mechanical properties and deformation of surrounding rocks. The model of evaluating grouting effects based on the extension theory is established following this. According to four quality grades of grouting effects, normalization of evaluation indexes is carried out, aiming to meet the requirement of extension theory on data format. The index weight is allocated by adopting the entropy method. Finally, the model is applied to the grouting effects evaluation in water-rich fault F4-4 of Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Subsea Tunnel, China. The evaluation results are in good agreement with the test results on the site, which shows that the evaluation model is feasible in this field, providing a powerful tool for systematically evaluating the grouting effects of water-rich fault in tunnels.

Rock burst may cause serious casualties and property losses, and how to conduct effective monitoring and warning is the key to avoid this disaster. In this paper, we reviewed both the rock burst mechanism and the principle of using electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from coal rock to monitor and forewarn rock burst, and systematically studied EMR monitored data of 4 rock bursts of Qianqiu Coal Mine, Yima Coal Group, Co. Ltd. Results show that (1) Before rock burst occurrence, there is a breeding process for stress accumulation and energy concentration inside the coal rock mass subject to external stresses, which causes it to crack, emitting a large amount of EMR; when the EMR level reaches a certain intensity, which reveals that deformation and fracture inside the coal rock mass have become serious, rock burst may occur anytime and it's necessary to implement an early warning. (2) Monitored EMR indicators such as its intensity and pulses amount are well and positively correlated before rock bursts occurs, generally showing a rising trend for more than 5 continuous days either slowly or dramatically, and the disaster bursts generally occurs at the lower level within 48 h after reaching its peak intensity. (3) The rank of EMR signals sensitive to rock burst in a descending order is maximum EMR intensity > rate of change in EMR intensity > maximum amount of EMR pulses > rate of change in the amount of EMR pulses.

Collapsible soil presents a porous unsaturated structure, its sudden settlement after humidification, without supplementary charge, can be of a big nuisance for the foundations and therefore for the constructions built on it. To improve its structure and limit its instability, samples of laboratory reconstituted soil, with different percentages of water contents and compacted at different compaction energies, were treated with glass-fiber. The study of the mechanical behavior was performed by oedometer tests. The microstructure was explored by the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The results obtained show clearly the efficiency of the treatment with glass fiber on reducing the collapsibility of such soil.

The paper presents the laboratory study of clayey soil stabilized with Pond ash (PA), Rice husk ash (RHA), cement and their combination used as stabilizers to develop and evaluate the performance of clayey soil. The effect of stabilizer types and dosage on fresh and mechanical properties is evaluated through compaction tests, unconfined compressive strength tests (UCS) and Split tensile strength tests (STS) performed on raw and stabilized soil. In addition SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and XRD (X-ray diffraction) tests were carried out on certain samples in order to study the surface morphological characteristics and hydraulic compounds, which were formed. Specimens were cured for 7, 14 and 28 days after which they were tested for unconfined compression tests and split tensile strength tests. The moisture and density curves indicate that addition of RHA and pond ash results in an increase in optimum moisture content (OMC) and decrease in maximum dry density (MDD). The replacement of clay with 40% PA, 10% RHA and 4% cement increased the strength (UCS and STS) of overall mix in comparison to the mixes where PA and RHA were used individually with cement. The improvement of 336% and 303% in UCS and STS respectively has been achieved with reference to clay only. Developed stabilized soil mixtures have shown satisfactory strength and can be used for low-cost construction to build road infrastructures.

Swelling and shrinkage characteristics of expansive fine grained soil cause volumetric changes followed by distress and damage to the structures. Soil stabilization can be explained as the alteration of the soil properties by chemical, mechanical or any other means in order to enhance the engineering properties of the soil. Utilization of industrial wastes in soil stabilization is cost effective and environment friendly. This paper presents an experimental study on stabilization of expansive soil using industrial wastes, viz. fly ash and dolochar. The paper includes the evaluation of engineering properties like unconfined compressive strength and California bearing ratio (CBR) of expansive soil collected from Balasore district of Odisha stabilized with fly ash and dolochar in different proportions and to predict the influence of these additives on engineering properties and strength characteristics of expansive soil. Both fly ash and dolochar were found to increase the CBR and decrease many index properties such as liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, swelling index and UCS, thus enhancing the strength parameters of expansive soil.

A series of high-pressure isotropic compression tests were performed on four types of poorly graded silica sand that were artificially prepared based on representative grading curves and similar mineralogy composition of seabed sediment containing different fines contents existing in the Nankai Trough. The addition of fines steepens the initial compression path and increases the decrement of the void ratio after loading. The transitional behaviour of the poorly graded sand with a larger amount of fines content was identified. The slope of the normal compression line shows a slight decreasing tendency with the level of fines content. The bulk modulus of silica sand with fines was lower when compared with the published results of silica sand without fines. A small amount of particle crushing of the four types of poorly graded sand with variable fines content levels was noticed, and the results indicated that the degree of particle crushing tended to decrease as the fines content increased.

The bearing mechanism of tunnel-type anchorage (TTA) for suspension bridges is studied. Model tests are conducted using different shapes of plug bodies, which are circular column shape and circular truncated cone shape. The results show that the plug body of the latter shape possesses much larger bearing capacity, namely 4.48 times at elastic deformation stage and 4.54 times at failure stage compared to the former shape. Numerical simulation is then conducted to understand the mechanical and structural responses of plug body and surrounding rock mass. The mechanical parameters of the surrounding rock mass are firstly back-analyzed based on the monitoring data. The calculation laws of deformation and equivalent plastic strain show that the numerical simulation results are rational and provide subsequent mechanism analysis with an established basis. Afterwards, the bearing mechanism of TTA is studied. It is concluded that the plug body of circular truncated cone shape is able to take advantage of the material strength of the surrounding rock mass, which greatly enhances its bearing capacity. The ultimate bearing capacity of TTA, therefore, is concluded to be determined by the material strength of surrounding rock mass. Finally, recommendations for TTA design are proposed and discussed.

This paper investigates the damage identification of the concrete pile element through axial wave propagation technique using computational and experimental studies. Now-a-days, concrete pile foundations are often common in all engineering structures and their safety is significant for preventing the failure. Damage detection and estimation in a sub-structure is challenging as the visual picture of the sub-structure and its condition is not well known and the state of the structure or foundation can be inferred only through its static and dynamic response. The concept of wave propagation involves dynamic impedance and whenever a wave encounters a changing impedance (due to loss of stiffness), a reflecting wave is generated with the total strain energy forked as reflected as well as refracted portions. Among many frequency domain methods, the Spectral Finite Element method (SFEM) has been found suitable for analysis of wave propagation in real engineering structures as the formulation is based on dynamic equilibrium under harmonic steady state excitation. The feasibility of the axial wave propagation technique is studied through numerical simulations using Elementary rod theory and higher order Love rod theory under SFEM and ABAQUS dynamic explicit analysis with experimental validation exercise. Towards simulating the damage scenario in a pile element, dis-continuity (impedance mismatch) is induced by varying its cross-sectional area along its length. Both experimental and computational investigations are performed under pulse-echo and pitch-catch configuration methods. Analytical and experimental results are in good agreement.