Experimental Quantification of the Evolution of the Static Mechanical Properties of Tight Sedimentary Rocks during Increasing-amplitude Load and Unload Cycling

Understanding the linearly and nonlinearly elastic behaviors of tight reservoir rocks is crucial for numerous geophysical and geomechanical applications in hydrocarbon exploration and production, geological repositories for greenhouse gases, and geothermal energy exploitation. We perform a suite of triaxial load and unload cycling tests with increasing stress amplitudes on three tight sedimentary rocks to explore the evolution of their static mechanical properties (Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio). We intend to depict the transition from linear to nonlinear elasticity by combining static measurements with dynamic measurements. The experimental results suggest that static mechanical properties increase upon load stress cycling but decrease upon unload stress cycling. Upon the increasing-amplitude unload cycling, static mechanical properties gradually decrease from values approaching dynamic properties to values closer to static properties upon load cycling. By quadratically fitting the static mechanical properties as functions of the strain amplitude in the process of unload cycling, we define a characteristic strain amplitude of about 5 × 10−5 to distinguish the linearly elasticity-dominated and nonlinearly elasticity-dominated behaviors for three tight rocks. Such transitional behavior in tight sedimentary rocks can be microscopically explained by the gradual activation of friction-controlled sliding from the beginning of the cyclic stress unload. These observations provide direct experimental evidence of the transition from linear to nonlinear elasticity for tight sedimentary rocks during the laboratory static measurements, which will facilitate understanding of the dynamic-static parameter correlation and the modeling of rock deformations in geoscience or geoengineering applications.

Empirical Formulas of Shear Modulus and Damping Ratio for Geopolymer-Stabilized Coarse-Grained Soils

The contribution of gravel fraction on the maximum shear modulus (Gmax), dynamic shear modulus ratio (G/Gmax), and damping ratio (λ) of cementitious coarse-grained soils has not been fully understood yet. Large-scale triaxial cyclic tests for geopolymer-stabilized coarse-grained soils (GSCGSs) were conducted with different volumetric block proportions (VBPs) under various confining pressures (CPs) for investigating their dynamic behaviors and energy dissipation mechanisms. Results indicate that the Gmax of GSCGS increases linearly with VBPs but nonlinearly with CP. High VBPs will probably result in a gentle decrease in G/Gmax and a rapid increase in normalized λ (λnor), while the opposite is the case for a high CP. With the shear strain amplitude being normalized, the G/Gmax and λnor are distributed in a narrow band with low dispersion and thus can be well-described by empirical functions of the normalized shear strain amplitude.

Strain Rate Effect on Static and Dynamic Behaviors of Eastern Canada Fine Grained Soils

The assessment of the strain rate effect on the geotechnical properties of soils constitutes an important step toward a more accurate analysis of their response. This study presents the experimental results of monotonic and cyclic simple shear tests performed to examine the strain rate effect on the behavior of eastern Canada soils. Eight natural soils sampled from different locations in eastern Canada were used in this study. The tests were performed on a simple shear device using a strain-controlled mode. In addition to the obtained experimental results, published data in the literature were used to draw the conclusions of this study. Analysis of the data indicates that the undrained shear strength increases proportionally with the strain rate by approximately 10–17% per log cycle of . The results also show that the secant shear modulus G increases with the strain rate, especially at large strain amplitude. Moreover, the analysis of the data revealed that the magnitude of the strain rate effect seems to be correlated with the shear strain amplitude and plasticity index (Ip). A practical application of the outcomes on the backbone curves is given in which illustrates the influence of and on the strain rate effect.

DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING WELDED STRUCTURES

the main goal of this article is to obtain welded permanent joints of modern thermally hardened aluminum and aluminum-lithium alloys made by laser welding, having mechanical characteristics (temporary tensile resistance, yield strength, elongation at break) and structural-phase composition close to or equal to the base alloy. It is shown for the first time that by controlling the parameters of heat treatment of samples with a welded joint of all studied aluminum-lithium alloys, it is possible to purposefully influence the formation of the specified mechanical properties of the weld by changing the structural and phase composition of the weld. The evolution of the struc-tural and phase composition of welded joints of thermally hardened aluminum and aluminum-lithium alloys has been investigated using modern independent diagnostic methods: for the first time, the use of synchrotron radia-tion diffractometry in combination with high-resolution transmission, scanning electron and optical microscopy. The dependences of the increment of deformation under cyclic loading with amplitudes exceeding the elastic limit on temperature are established. For untreated welded joints, it was found that at +85 C, the inhomogeneity of the deformation increment increases, and its speed increases by 8 times for alloy 1461, 5 times for alloy 1420 and 1.5 times for alloy 1441. At a temperature of -60 0C, alloys 1420 and 1461 have hardening stages, during which the value of deformation decreases at given boundary stress values. At +20 0C, there is a uniform increment of defor-mation and an increase in the amplitude of deformation with an increase in the amplitude of stress. At +85 0C, the strain amplitude does not change with increasing stress amplitude, its value is 0.55-0.5 of the strain amplitude at +20 0C. Based on the research results, technological techniques have been developed that allow obtaining me-chanical characteristics and structural-phase compositions of welded joints close to the main alloy during laser welding of aviation thermally hardened aluminum and aluminum-lithium alloys of the Al-Mg-Cu. Al-Mg-Li, Al-Cu-Mg-Li, Al-Cu-Li systems.

Low-cycle fatigue life evaluation of buckling-restrained braces based on cumulative plastic deformation curves

To quantitatively evaluate the low-cycle fatigue life of buckling-restrained braces (BRBs), an evaluation method for BRBs based on the combination of the CPD curves and CPD measurement meter (CMM) is established herein. The difference between two CPD curves (i.e., the CPD curves under constant strain amplitude loading history (C-CPD) and under random strain amplitude loading history (R-CPD)), and their selection criteria to evaluate the low-cycle fatigue life of BRBs are discussed. An example under the variable strain amplitude (VSA) loading history and an example under the multiple earthquakes are carried out. Finally, the CPD limit values of BRBs in the ANSI/AISC 341-10 and FEMA-450 are discussed by statistical analysis of the test results of BRBs. The analysis results show that the C-CPD curve can be used to evaluate the low-cycle fatigue life of BRBs under the VSA loading, and the R-CPD curve can be used to evaluate the low-cycle fatigue life of BRBs under the multiple earthquakes. The degree of reliability of the current CPD limit value is not enough. A CPD limit curve is recommended in this study to quantify the low-cycle fatigue performance of BRBs.

Modified Bouc-Wen Model Based on Fractional Derivative and Application in Magnetorheological Elastomer

To accurately characterize the mechanical behavior of magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) under a wide range of strain amplitude, excitation frequency, and magnetic field, the viscoelastic fractional derivative was introduced, and a modified Bouc-Wen model based on fractional derivative for MRE in a nonlinear viscoelastic region was established. The Bouc-Wen model can accurately describe the hysteretic characteristics of the MRE nonlinear viscoelastic region, but it cannot accurately simulate magneto-viscoelasticity and frequency dependence. The fractional derivative can express this characteristic with fewer parameters and higher accuracy. The model’s validity was verified by fitting the experimental data of stress and strain measured in shear mode. By analyzing the coupling relationship between the model parameters and strain amplitude, frequency, and magnetic flux densities, a method of parameter identification under multi-loading conditions was proposed, and the modified model parameters were identified. The results reveal that the modified Bouc-Wen model can accurately characterize the mechanical properties of the nonlinear viscoelastic region of MRE, and the fitting accuracy is significantly improved compared with the Bouc-Wen model. The expression of the model parameters obtained from the method of parameter identification under multi-loading conditions is accurate in a wide range of strain amplitude, frequency, and magnetic flux density. The fitness values of simulation data and experimental data under identified and non-identified conditions exceed 90%, showcasing the effectiveness of the modified Bouc-Wen model and the feasibility of the parameter identification method under multi-loading conditions.