Large-strain numerical solution for coupled self-weight consolidation and contaminant transport considering nonlinear compressibility and permeability

Based on the one-dimensional (1D) consolidation equation and advection-dispersion transport equation, this paper presents a large-strain numerical solution for coupled self-weight consolidation and contaminant transport in saturated deforming porous media considering nonlinear compressibility and permeability relationships. The finite difference method is used to solve the governing equations for consolidation and transport. The proposed numerical solution for consolidation accounts for vertical strain, soil self-weight, and nonlinearly changing compressibility and hydraulic conductivity during consolidation. The solution for solute transport accounts for advection, diffusion, mechanical dispersion, linear and nonlinear equilibrium sorption, and porosity-dependent effective diffusion coefficient. The proposed numerical solution is verified against a self-weight consolidation field tank test, an analytical solution in the literature, and the CST1 numerical model. Using the verified solution, a series of parametric study is conducted to investigate the effect of several important parameters on the contaminant transport process for confined disposal of dredged contaminated sediments. The results indicate that the consolidation process and contaminant transport process induced by soil self-weight- can be very different from those induced by the more traditional external surcharge loading. Treating the self-weight loading as traditional external surcharge loading can underestimate the rate of contaminant outflow, especially in the early times. The compressibility and permeability relationships of sediment and the type of loading (i.e., self-weight loading versus external surcharge loading) can all significantly affect the contaminant transport process for confined disposal of dredged contaminated sediment.     

Non-axisymmetric consolidation of poroelastic multilayered materials with anisotropic permeability and compressible constituents

This paper presents an analytical layer-element solution to non-axisymmetric consolidation of multilayered poroelastic materials with anisotropic permeability and compressible constituents. By applying Fourier expansions, Hankel transforms and Laplace transforms to the state variables involved in the governing equations of poroelasticity with respect to the circumferential, radial and time coordinates, respectively, the analytical layer-element (i.e. a symmetric stiffness matrix) is derived, which describes the relationship between the transformed generalized stresses and displacements at the surface (z = 0) and those at an arbitrary depth z, considering the corresponding boundary and continuity conditions at the layer interfaces, the global stiffness matrix of a multilayered system is assembled in the transformed domain. The actual solutions in the physical domain are acquired by applying numerical quadrature schemes for the inversion of the Laplace–Hankel transform. Finally, numerical calculation is presented to investigate the influence of layering and poroelastic material parameters on consolidation process.     

Analytical layer-element solutions of Biot’s consolidation with anisotropic permeability and incompressible fluid and solid constituents

Based on the governing equations of 2D plane-strain Biot’s consolidation, the relationship between generalized displacements and stresses of a single soil layer with anisotropic permeability and incompressible fluid and solid constituents is described by an analytical layer-element, which is deduced in the Laplace–Fourier transform domain by using the eigenvalue approach. Taking the boundary conditions and the continuity of the soil layers into consideration, a global stiffness matrix is subsequently assembled and solved. As to the 3D case, the same derivation is employed after the application of a decoupling transformation. The actual solutions in the physical domain can further be acquired by inverting the Laplace–Fourier transform. Finally, numerical examples are carried out to verify the presented theory and discuss the influence of the anisotropic permeability on the consolidation behavior.     

Analytical prediction of tunneling-induced ground movements and liner deformation in saturated soils considering influences of shield air pressure

Complex underground constructions in urban areas require strict predictions for ground movements and liner deformation induced by shield-driven tunneling, in which the complex interaction mechanics between ground and liner play a substantial role. Previous studies, however, provided little information on the ground-liner interaction and less attention to the effects of groundwater and compressed air during the shield operation. This paper presents a closed-form analytical solution for predicting long- and short-term ground deformation and liner internal forces induced by tunneling in saturated soils in which shield excavation effects with and without air pressure are both considered. The oval-shaped convergence deformation pattern is incorporated as the boundary condition of displacements around the tunnel section. This paper also investigates the difference between uniform radial and oval-shaped convergence deformation patterns on the ground and tunnel responses. Generally, the predicted ground movements by the oval-shaped deformation pattern aligns well with measured data of actual tunnels with and without considering the shield air pressure. It is comparatively observed that the shield excavation under air pressure obtains larger ground deformation than the non-pressure condition, and the long-term ground settlements induced by tunneling in saturated soils are confidently larger than the short-term. Moreover, the effects of sensitive parameters, including the shield air pressure, the long- and short-term effects on the tunneling-induced ground movements are assessed based on the oval-shaped deformation pattern. Furthermore, parametric analyses are conducted to measure the influences of concerned tunneling coefficients on the liner displacements and internal forces, namely, soil Young's modulus, soil unit weight, coefficient of lateral soil pressure, tunnel radius, tunnel buried depth and gap parameter. In summary, the analytical approach proposed in this research provides an effective insight into the ground-liner interaction mechanics related with the shield air pressure, which can serve as an alternative approach in the preliminary design for conservatively estimating the excavation influences caused by tunneling in saturated soils.     

Non-linear analysis of the consolidation of an elastic saturated soil with incompressible fluid and variable permeability by FEM

Research interest in the mechanical behaviour of soils is growing as a result of an increasing number of geomechanical problems involving consolidation effects. The main aim of this paper is to validate and to solve a model for consolidation of an elastic saturated soil with incompressible fluid and variable permeability. Firstly, we prove the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the variational problem corresponding to an initial and boundary value problem (IBVP): a special case of the Biot’s ‘consolidation of clay’ model (where the applied forces depend on time). Secondly, we prove the convergence of the method using a technique based on the proof of solution’s existence. Finally, we then solved this constitutive model by the finite element method (FEM) employing repeated fixed point techniques in order to obtain the results for displacement and pore water pressure. The pore fluid is considered incompressible. The results of the numerical experiments are compared with analytical solutions and, in cases where such solutions do not exist, with experimental data. Therefore, the model can be used for quantitative predictions of consolidation behaviour of soils with permeability dependent on the settlement.     

Weakly wandering sets and compressibility in descriptive setting

A Borel automorphismT on a standard Borel space \(\left( {X,\mathbb{B}} \right)\) is constructed such that (a) there is no probability measure invariant underT and (b) there is no Borel setW weakly wandering underT and which generates the invariant setX.     

Interactions between compressibility and heat release in turbulent mixing layers

Reduced turbulence activity and growth rate of a compressible mixing layer when the convective Mach number increases, are well-known phenomena. Heat release due to combustion has similar effects and important implications for applications such as scramjet engines the efficiency of which depends on a proper mixing of oxidizer and fuel. To understand the underlying mechanisms, highly resolved DNS of inert and reacting, temporally evolving mixing layers at different convective Mach numbers and Reynolds numbers ensuring a self-similar state are performed and analyzed with a particular focus on the pressure-strain correlations in the Reynolds-stress transport equations. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Elementary differences between the degrees of unsolvability and degrees of compressibility

Given two infinite binary sequences A,B we say that B can compress at least as well as A if the prefix-free Kolmogorov complexity relative to B of any binary string is at most as much as the prefix-free Kolmogorov complexity relative to A, modulo a constant. This relation, introduced in Nies (2005) [14] and denoted by A≤_LKB, is a measure of relative compressing power of oracles, in the same way that Turing reducibility is a measure of relative information. The equivalence classes induced by ≤_LK are called LK degrees (or degrees of compressibility) and there is a least degree containing the oracles which can only compress as much as a computable oracle, also called the ‘low for K’ sets. A well-known result from Nies (2005) [14] states that these coincide with the K-trivial sets, which are the ones whose initial segments have minimal prefix-free Kolmogorov complexity.We show that with respect to ≤_LK, given any non-trivial sets X,Y there is a computably enumerable set A which is not K-trivial and it is below X,Y. This shows that the local structures of and Turing degrees are not elementarily equivalent to the corresponding local structures in the LK degrees. It also shows that there is no pair of sets computable from the halting problem which forms a minimal pair in the LK degrees; this is sharp in terms of the jump, as it is known that there are sets computable from which form a minimal pair in the LK degrees. We also show that the structure of LK degrees below the LK degree of the halting problem is not elementarily equivalent to the or structures of LK degrees. The proofs introduce a new technique of permitting below a set that is not K-trivial, which is likely to have wider applications.     

Re-assignment and consolidation of credit authorizations

When a customer is granted several credit lines with different risk levels, the bank usually stipulates an authorization for each credit line and a total authorization; moreover authorizations are sometimes given for sets of credit lines. The purpose of the paper is, given a set of credit lines with corresponding authorizations, and a customer's current credit utilizations, to find new utilizations of greatest risk to the bank, within the credit authorization limits and with regard to the current utilizations. These new utilizations, used as re-assigned authorizations enable the bank to assess the risks relative to residual commitment and possible overstepping for each credit line. Furthermore these risks can be aggregated over a set of customers for each credit line. An algorithm has been developed to compute these re-assigned authorizations; it is based on classical linear programming methods. This paper describes this algorithm and recommends its use to consolidate risks.     

Some problems in automatic process grouping and file consolidation

The purpose of this paper is to define the operations for process grouping and file consolidation, and also the circumstances under which these operations can be applied, with sufficient accuracy so that they could be performed by a computer program used for system design. The usual consolidation of standing files is made in three steps, using precise matrix operations. Concerning the problem of losing many possibilities for later process grouping when consolidating standing files, two solutions are given. The first uses a matrix, which gives information about the relations between the different update versions of the same file. In the second a matrix is used, which gives information about the precedence relations caused by the original relations of the system, to indicate when the change of the execution order of two processes is possible.     

Variation of the structure and permeability of tensioned fiber layers during impregnation with a thermoplastic polymer melt

The influence of displacements of tensioned fibers on the impregnation of fibrous layers with a polymer melt and on the final composite structure is studied. Using computer simulation, it is shown that, during impregnation, the structure of tensioned fibrous layers changes considerably depending on the initial arrangement and tensioning of fibers. The consolidated regions formed under the melt front move inside the impregnated layer with the advancing melt front. Displacement of the tensioned fibers as well as the formation of “washouts” favors the impregnation of internal layers, but cause significant inhomogeneity of the polymer structure. The surface (on the side of the melt flow) regions are more saturated with the polymer than the internal ones. A difference in the melt percolation mechanisms at various impregnation regimes is revealed. The effective permeability coefficients of a tensioned fiber layer are not constant but depend on the conditions and regimes of impregnation. Submitted to the 11th Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, June 11–15, 2000). Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 259–270, March–April, 2000.