Failure of a Test Embankment On a Sensitive Champlain Clay Deposit

1974 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. La Rochelle ◽  
B. Trak ◽  
F. Tavenas ◽  
M. Roy

The present paper reports on the failure of a test embankment built on a soft, sensitive, and cemented clay in Saint-Alban, Quebec. The embankment was built as a first stage of a research program aimed at studying the short and long term behavior of embankments on soft clay foundations.A complete description of the embankment, of the instrumentation, and of the failure is given, followed by the analysis of the failure performed on the basis of different assumptions of fill behavior and of vane strength values mobilized in the clay crust. The analyses show that the assumptions of full mobilization of friction in the fill seems to be the most representative of the fill behavior in the present case and that a suitable factor of safety is obtained only when a reduction of vane strength is assumed to act in the crust.A new approach based on the residual undrained strength is suggested and seems to offer some potential as a valuable means of analyzing the stability of embankments on clay foundations.

2021 ◽  
pp. 107385842199668
Author(s):  
Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory

Social interactions are powerful determinants of learning. Yet the field of neuroplasticity is deeply rooted in probing changes occurring in synapses, brain structures, and networks within an individual brain. Here I synthesize disparate findings on network neuroplasticity and mechanisms of social interactions to propose a new approach for understanding interaction-based learning that focuses on the dynamics of interbrain coupling. I argue that the facilitation effect of social interactions on learning may be explained by interbrain plasticity, defined here as the short- and long-term experience-dependent changes in interbrain coupling. The interbrain plasticity approach may radically change our understanding of how we learn in social interactions.


1974 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
René Marche ◽  
Robert Chapuis

The horizontal displacements measured at the toe of eight embankments are analyzed as a function of the factor of safety. The embankments are built on layers of soft clay. Only the undrained stage is studied.When the factor of safety of the embankments is higher than about 1.4, the horizontal displacements on the ground surface, at the toe of the embankment seem to follow an elastic law which is highly dependent on the ratio of the thickness of the soft layer to the width of the embankment. When the factor of safety is lower than about 1.4, the horizontal displacements do not follow an elastic law, they increase considerably. Consequently, it is suggested that the horizontal displacements be precisely measured at the toe of embankments during construction. These measurements are simple and sensitive to the approach of failure, they can be efficiently used to control the stability of embankments. This study also gives some information concerning the variation of horizontal displacements versus depth.


1987 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 286-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Sonneborn ◽  
M.P. Garhart ◽  
C.A. Grady

Studies of line profile variability of the ultraviolet 1550 Angstrom resonance transitions of C IV in Be stars (Sonneborn et al. 1986; Grady, et al. 1986a,b) have prompted an investigation into the short- and long-term behavior of the C IV lines in other types of B stars. We present examples of two well-studied Be stars, Omega Orionis and 66 Ophiuchi, and two non-Be stars, Beta Cephei and the standard star Zeta Cassiopeiae. Zeta Cas is also known to be a 53 Per variable (see Cox 1983). The IUE SWP high-dispersion spectra of Beta Cep and Zeta Cas have been obtained from the IUE archives. It has been known for some years that the C IV line profiles in Beta Cep vary in a time scale of several days (Fishel and Sparks, 1980). However, it came as a surprise to discover C IV variability in Zeta Cas. Available data allow us to set an upper limit of several months for the time scale of Zeta Cas C IV variability. The principal difference between the C IV variability in Be and non-Be stars appears to be the magnitude and velocity range of the effect.


1978 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 402-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Byrne ◽  
V. F. Castellucci ◽  
T. J. Carew ◽  
E. R. Kandel

1. A weak or moderate-intensity tactile stimulus delivered to the siphon skin of Aplysia californica elicits a defensive reflex withdrawal of the gill and siphon into the mantle cavity. The reflex undergoes both short- and long-term habituation and sensitization and has, therefore, been used as a model system to examine various forms of learning. In this paper we describe studies of the response properties of the sensory and motor neurons of the reflex during repeated stimulation at rates that produce habituation. 2. The sensory neurons are slowly adapting mechanoreceptor cells whose frequency of discharge is a monotonic function of controlled-force punctate stimuli delivered to the skin. The majority of the stimulus-response relations could best be described by exponential functions. 3. We examined the stability of the sensory neuron responses in two ways; with punctate stimuli of varying intensity and with water jets of varying intensity. 4. With repeated punctate stimulation at rates which produce habituation in the intact animal the mechanoreceptor discharge showed no decrement. This stability was observed over a 10-fold range of intensities. 5. Weak or moderate intensity water-jet stimuli to the skin also gave stable responses but stronger stimuli caused the mechanoreceptor response to fatigue. 6. We examined the stability of the motor responses by using intracellular depolarizing current pulses to produce repetitive bursts of action potentials in gill motor neurons while monitoring the gill contractions with a strain gauge, photocell, or videotape recorder. The photocell and strain gauge were alternatively used in the same experiment. Gill contractions monitored with the photocell were stable, whereas those monitored by the strain gauge showed decrement. An independent measure of gill contraction, videotape recording, confirmed the results obtained with the photocell and showed that the gill contractions following repeated intracellular depolarization of the motor neurons were stable.


2018 ◽  
Vol 162 ◽  
pp. 01013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaymaa Tareq Kadhim ◽  
Ziad Bashar Fouad

Use of stone column technique to improve soft foundation soils under roadway embankments has proven to increase the bearing capacity and reduce the potential settlement. The potential contribution of stone columns to the stability of roadway embankments against general (i.e. deep-seated) failure needs to be thoroughly investigated. Therefore, a two-dimensional finite difference model implemented by FLAC/SLOPE 7.0 software, was employed in this study to assess the stability of a roadway embankment fill built on a soft soil deposit improved by stone column technique. The stability factor of safety was obtained numerically under both short-term and long-term conditions with the presence of water table. Two methods were adopted to convert the three-dimensional model into plane strain condition: column wall and equivalent improved ground methods. The effect of various parameters was studied to evaluate their influence on the factor of safety against embankment instability. For instance, the column diameter, columns’ spacing, soft soil properties for short-term and long-term conditions, and the height and friction angle of the embankment fill. The results of this study are developed in several design charts.


1984 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eberhard Freude ◽  
Bernd Grambow ◽  
Werner Lutze ◽  
Harald Rabe ◽  
Rodney C. Ewing

During the past ten years extensive data have been determined for the corrosion of nuclear waste forms in short-term laboratory experiments (usually less than one year). The long-term behavior of glass has been inferred by: (1) the acceleration of corrosion rates at high temperatures [1]; (2) the use of high surface areas of the glass to small volumes of solution [1]; and the analysis of natural glasses altered over long periods of geologic time [2, 3]. The most recent efforts have concentrated on understanding the mechanisms of corrosion [1, 4, 5]. The corrosion mechanism may be used to make long-term extrapolations of the “stability” of the waste form. In this paper, we consider a linear time dependence for the corrosion under near saturation conditions and use a rate equation in the QTERM code [6, 7, 8] to model the long-term behavior of the German glass, C-31−3EC [9], JSS A [10, 11] and SRL TDS 131 [1]. The data base for C-31−3EC has been published elsewhere [9, 12, 13, 14], and we include experimental work completed by Rabe for boron and silica, at 200°C.


1997 ◽  
Vol 506 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Kawamura ◽  
Y. Ichikawa ◽  
M. Nakano ◽  
K. Kitayama ◽  
H. Kawamura

ABSTRACTFor predicting the long-term behavior of bentonite, we present a new and unified simulation procedure of Molecular Dynamics Method (MD) and Homogenization Analysis (HA). The MD is applied to establish molecular-scale bentonite properties and the HA is introduced to extrapolate the molecular model to the bulk-scale continuum model.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document