Assessing the effect of governing parameters of bearing capacity determination of small piled rafts on clay soil

In the present study, a small piled raft foundation has been simulated numerically through PLAXIS 3-D software. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of governing parameters such as pile length, pile spacing, pile diameter, and number of piles on the settlement and load-bearing behavior of piled raft, so as to achieve the optimum design for small piled raft configurations. An optimized design of a piled raft is defined as a design with allowable center and differential settlements and satisfactory bearing behavior for a given raft geometry and loading. The results indicated that, with increase in pile length, pile spacing, pile diameter, and number of piles, both the center settlement ratio and differential settlement ratio decreased. The load-bearing capacity of piled raft increased with increase in pile length, pile spacing, pile diameter, and number of piles. Furthermore, the percentage load carried by the piles increased as the pile length, pile spacing, pile diameter, and number of piles increased. The bending moment and shear force in corner pile are noted to be more, and they decreased towards the center pile. With increase in pile length, the maximum raft bending moment decreased, whereas the maximum shear force in the raft increased. Further, with increase in pile spacing, pile diameter, and number of piles, the maximum bending moment and maximum shear force in the raft increased. The optimum parameters for the piled raft foundation can be selected efficiently with the consideration of maximum bending moment and maximum shear force while designing the piled raft foundation. Thus, the results of this study can be used as guidelines for achieving optimum design for small piled raft foundation.

Predicting Response of Constructed Tunnel to Adjacent Excavation with Dewatering

This paper proposes a new method for predicting the displacement and internal force of constructed tunnels induced by adjacent excavation with dewatering. In this method, the total excavation-induced additional stress on the constructed tunnel is derived by superposing the additional stresses induced by excavation unloading and dewatering effects. The additional stress induced by unloading effect is calculated using Mindlin’s solution. The additional stress induced by dewatering effect is calculated using the principle of effective stress and the Dupuit precipitation funnel curve. With the beam on elastic foundation method, the total additional stress is then used for calculating the tunnel displacement and internal force caused by adjacent excavation with dewatering. Based on three well-documented case histories, the performance of the proposed method is verified. Moreover, a parametric analysis is also performed to capture the effects of excavation depth, tunnel-to-excavation distance, initial water level, excavation plan view size, and specific yield on the responses of the constructed tunnels. The results indicate that the effect of excavation depth on the tunnel maximum vertical displacement, maximum bending moment, and maximum shear force is more significant at an excavation depth greater than the cover depth of the constructed tunnel. The tunnel maximum vertical displacement, maximum bending moment, and maximum shear force decrease nonlinearly with an increase in the tunnel-to-excavation distance and the initial water level. Among the investigated parameters, the excavation dimension in the tunnel longitudinal direction affects most the tunnel responses. The effect of specific yield on the tunnel displacement and internal force induced by adjacent excavation with dewatering becomes more obvious as increasing the initial water level and excavation depth.

Investigating the factors influencing the shear behaviour of 0/90∘ non-crimp fabrics to form a reference shear test

Technical textiles have the ability to deform under load by shearing, which distinguishes them from thin sheet materials such as paper. This particular property helps them to deform and take the shape of the complex part that they were intended to create. Draping, flexibility and handling of technical textiles are greatly affected by their shearing behaviour. In this paper, the influence that factors such as stitch (i.e., presence or absence of it), testing speed and the pre-tension force applied have on the shear behaviour of 0/90∘ technical textile is studied to form a reference test. To achieve this, 0/90∘ technical textile samples in two different forms are prepared and subjected to the Trellis picture frame test. It was observed that the presence of stitch greatly affected the critical shear angle and the maximum shear force experienced by the textile. Increase in testing speeds and pre-tension force also increased the shear force experienced by it. However, the critical shear angle decreased with the increase in testing speed, while the value of pre-tension force applied had no effect on the critical shear angle.

Bending moment analysis of super large ore carrier based on graphical interface development

In order to improve the safety of shipping process, this paper designs a graphical user interface for calculating the static water bending moment of super large ore earner. Due to the complexity of the actual loading conditions, the long hull girder and the mobility and sinking of cargo, the irregular distribution of gravity and buoyancy along the direction of the captain of the VLCC is prominent. In the actual loading process of ships, compartment loading is adopted in many cases, and the position where the maximum shear force and bending moment appear is generally not in the corresponding position. Traditional ship strength analysis methods can be divided into two kinds. One is to establish the ship’s finite element model to calculate the ship’s strength. The other is to calculate the ship’s strength according to the simple beam bending theory. In this paper, a 360m VALE MAX ore carrier is taken as an example to calculate the local bending moment of the ship at a specific position by using QT software. Compared with the ship loading manual, the error of the program is small, and the program has guiding significance in the actual shipping process.

Method to Control the Deformation of Anti-Slide Piles in Zhenzilin Landslide

Anti-slide piles were used in the region of the Zhenzilin landslide in Sichuan, China. The horizontal displacement of these piles exceeds specifications. Deterioration in bedrock properties may cause deformation, thereby causing landslide destabilization. An approach was developed for the analysis of anti-slide pile in two bedrocks with different strengths below the slip surface. A relationship has been established between the modulus of subgrade reaction of the first weak bedrock and reasonable embedded length for landfill slopes with strata of various strengths. Furthermore, the influence of embedding length on deformation has been studied to determine the reasonable embedded length, which helps reduce deformation and ensure landslide stability. The results reveal that (1) at a constant embedded length, horizontal displacement increases with the thickness of the first soft bedrock, meanwhile the maximum shear force remains constant, and the bending moment first increases followed by subsequent decrease; (2) with an increase in the embedded length, horizontal displacement and the maximum shear force of the pile in the embedded bedrock decrease, whereas the bending moment increases; (3) the maximum internal forces and horizontal displacement increase with a decrease in the subgrade reaction modulus of the first weak rock; and (4) the reasonable embedded length of an anti-slide pile increases with a decrease in the subgrade reaction modulus of the first weak bedrock. The proposed approach can be employed to design anti-slide piles in similar landslide regions to control pile-head deformation.

Recombinant metalloprotease as a perspective enzyme for meat tenderization

Peptidase family M9 (MEROPS database) is true collagenases and contains bacterial collagenases from Vibrio and Clostridium. One of the producers of M9A subfamily peptidase is Aeromonas salmonicida (locus - ASA_3723). The aim of the study was production of recombinant metallopeptidase Aeromonas salmonicida by transformation Pichia pastoris for further meat tenderization. Laboratory amounts of recombinant peptidase were obtained and test evaluation of enzyme activity was performed. Recombinant peptidase broke the peptide bond «Pro-Leu-Gly-Met-Trp-Ser-Arg» (one of the collagen chains, (Mw = 846.06)). The concentration of the substrate (peptide) after 180 min was 2 – fold decrease as compared with control. The maximum shear force of heat-treated samples had a 1.27 – fold decrease as compared with the control. As a result of histological studies of beef shank samples, the specific effect of the supernatant on the structure of connective tissue was established. Muscle fibers have not changed. The recombinant enzyme could be used for the meat tenderization.

Influence of Surface Preparation Method on the Bond Behavior of Externally Bonded CFRP Reinforcements in Concrete

In last decades significant investigation has been carried out in order to predict the bond strength of externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) systems with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials in concrete and, as consequence of that, many analytical expressions can be found in the literature, including in standards. However, these expressions do not account for the influence of several parameters on bond behavior such as the type of surface preparation which is a mandatory and critical task in the strengthening application. The present work gives contributions to reduce this lack of knowledge. For this purpose, an experimental program composed of single-lap shear tests was carried out, the main parameters studied being: (i) the type of concrete surface preparation (i.e., grinding and sandblasting) and (ii) the bond length. Prior to the application of the EBR CFRP system, the roughness level provided by the different methods of surface preparation was characterized by a laser sensor. Test results revealed that sandblasting concrete surface preparation yielded higher values, in terms of maximum shear force and fracture energy. Finally, existing expressions in standards were upgraded in order to account for the concrete surface roughness level in the estimation of the bond strength.

The effects of beef carcasses high voltage electrical stimulation and roasting methods on tenderness and water retention of beef

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of high voltage electrical stimulation (330 V, 17 Hz, 120 s) of beef half-carcass and heat treatment on tenderness and water holding capacity of meat. The experimental material was a semimembranosus muscle derived from Polish Holstein-Friesian heifers (n=12). In the experiment, a forced and natural air circulation ovens were used; the raw material was heated at 170ºC to obtain a final temperature from 55 to 80ºC inside the beef. Results showed that electrical stimulation improved tenderness of roasted beef, which was demonstrated in the decrease in the maximum shear force from 39 to 26%. The electrical stimulation had a negative effect on cooking losses during roasting and water content in the final product. It has also been shown that studied quality attributes of beef depends on the type of heat treatment. Beef prepared in forced air circulation oven, were characterized by lower water content and higher values of maximum shear and compression forces than those heated in natural air circulation oven.

Development of a Manually Operated Hydraulic Press and Pull

A hydraulic press and pull machine comprising of a frame, cylinder and piston, two threaded studs, hydraulic pump and hose, pulling clamp and a workpiece support was designed, fabricated and evaluated. The machine is manually operated. The maximum shear force, maximum bending moment and maximum displacement of the machine workpiece support were determined as 74.9491N, 16.6335N-m and 4.367e3mm for a simulated load of 1000N. Maximum axial, bending and torsional stresses were also determined as 0.00359, 701998 and 0.00653N/m2 respectively. performance of the developed machine was determined using seven bearings of bore diameters 24, 30, 40, 50, 65, 80 and 100mm respectively, fitted into seven corresponding shafts with shaft deviation of ±0.001mm and dismantled afterwards using three different methods: traditional hammering, the developed manual hydraulic press and pull machine and already existing electrically powered hydraulic press. The results of the experiments showed that traditional hammering is the most time consuming method of mounting and dismounting force fits, followed by the use of the developed press-pull machine while electrically powered hydraulic presses are the fastest.The machine which was fabricated with local materials will reduce the time and stress associated with installation and removal of bearings, and other forms of force fits in machine assemblies. Hence, leading to an overall improvement in the standard of machines/equipment fabricated in Nigeria

Wave Load Analysis of the Corvette Ship in the Sea Water of Indonesia

Wave load prediction of ship should be considered in the design stage of ship’s construction. The excessive of wave load might cause a structural failure of ship during operational in seaway. The bending moment might be experienced on the ship structure that it contributes to stress concentration on the particular part of construction. This paper describes the prediction of bending moment and shear forces of the warship corvette type considered to the sea condition of Indonesia. The 3D diffraction theory was adopted to analyze ship’s motion responses, bending moments, and shear forces numerically. In this numerical simulation, the variations of speed and heading angle of ship were performed with respect to environmental condition of sea state 4, 5, 6 and 7. The simulation results had shown that the maximum shear force and bending moment was occurred on the area of mid-ship.