Fitness-for-purpose assessment of cracked offshore wind turbine monopile

In this paper, the procedure for flaw acceptability assessment is examined through a case study of a semi-elliptical surface crack in an offshore monopile as it grows till it forms a through thickness crack. Using the procedure prescribed in an industrial standard (BS 7910), the fracture ratio, K_r is shown to increase monotonically with increasing crack depth. The load ratio, L_r, is initially insensitive to the crack depth. However, there is a rapid increase in L_r when the crack depth to thickness ratio exceeds 80%. L_r values obtained from detailed 3D FE limit analysis using elastic-perfectly-plastic material behaviour do not exhibit the asymptotic behaviour predicted by BS 7910 as the flaw transitions from deep crack to through-thickness crack. Furthermore, K_r predicted by BS 7910 is shown to be an over-estimation for the typical dimensions of offshore monopiles. The findings suggest that a structure with a deep flaw may be identified as unacceptable based on BS 7910 when it may still possess a non-trivial amount of structural residual life. This is a concern for monopiles where crack growth as a large flaw forms a significant part of the total life.     

An improved cellular automaton with axis information for microscopic traffic simulation

Cellular Automaton (CA), an efficient dynamic modeling method that is widely used in traffic engineering, is newly introduced for traffic load modeling. This modeling method significantly addresses the modest traffic loads for long-span bridges. It does, however, require improvement to calculate precise load effects. This paper proposed an improved cellular automaton with axis information, defined as the Multi-axle Single-cell Cellular Automaton (MSCA), for the precise micro-simulation of random traffic loads on bridges. Four main ingredients of lattice, cells’ states, neighborhoods and transition rules are redefined in MSCA to generate microscopic vehicle sequences with detailed vehicle axle positions, user-defined cell sizes and time steps. The simulation methodology of MSCA is then proposed. Finally, MSCA is carefully calibrated and validated using site-specific WIM data. The results indicate: (1) the relative errors (REs) for the traffic parameters, such as volumes, speeds, weights, and headways, from MSCA are basically no more than ±10% of those of WIM data; (2) the load effects of three typical influence lines (ILs) with varied lengths of 50, 200 and 1000 m are also confidently comparable, both of which validate the rationality and precision of MSCA. Furthermore, the accurate vehicle parameters and gaps generated from MSCA can be applied not only for precise traffic loading on infrastructures but also for the accurate estimation of vehicle dynamics and safety. Hence, wide application of MSCA can potentially be expected.     

Centrifuge modelling of pipe-soil interaction in clay with crust layer

Seabed in regions, such as the Gulf of Guinea and North West Shelf of Australia, may exhibit a crust layer where the undrained shear strength can be an order of magnitude higher than that of the immediately underlying sediment. This can complicate design of steel catenary risers, where fatigue depends on the cyclic vertical stiffness of the pipe-soil interaction. Potential punch-through of the riser into the underlying soft soil may invalidate design assumptions based on the pipe-soil stiffness within the crust layer. The long-term evolution of pipe-soil stiffness within the crust layer, which exhibits similar properties to an over-consolidated soil, is also poorly understood. This paper describes centrifuge model tests undertaken in a clay sample with a crust layer, simulating the punch-through process of a pipe under load control and investigating the pipe-soil stiffness during long-term cyclic loading tests under displacement control. Results confirm that the potential for punching-through the crust layer depends strongly on the relative ratio of pipe diameter to crust layer thickness. The long-term evolution of pipe-soil stiffness showed a steady increase after an initial remoulding stage in contractile soils (normally consolidated and lightly over-consolidated), but a steady reduction in the heavily over-consolidated, more dilatant, crust. The magnitude of pipe-soil stiffness changes (during both remoulding and reconsolidation) is governed by the over-consolidation ratio of the soil and the amplitude of the cyclic displacements. This study provides insights on the relevant cyclic stiffness to consider when assessing SCR fatigue life in over-consolidated soils and soils exhibiting a superficial crust layer.     

Assessment of fatigue strength of steel butt-welded joints in as-welded condition – Alternative approaches for curve fitting and mean stress effect analysis

Experimental fatigue data for butt-welded joints in as-welded condition and under constant amplitude tensile loading (secondary bending included) were analyzed using the nominal stress system and the notch stress system. Two approaches were used; a standard fitting procedure and minimization of the sum of squared perpendicular distances from a line with a fixed and free slope. In all cases, the latter method gave better agreement between the experimental and predicted fatigue life and fatigue strength. The analyses showed both with all broken specimen data included and with reduced data that the FAT225 curve, as recommended by IIW, might be too optimistic for the notch stress approach in the case of butt-welded joints in as-welded condition. It was also found that use of the local stress ratio instead of the applied stress ratio might explain many issues concerning current observations and apparent inconsistencies in reported literature.     

混凝土在路桥桩基施工中的作用及技术

路桥桩基混凝土施工中，为了保障灌注桩混凝土的质量，必须加强对准备工作及施工工艺的重视。通过对混凝土及其施工质量要求进行分析，探讨了混凝土在路桥桩基施工中的配合比、泵送等，并阐述了路桥桩基施工技术。     

小型直喷式柴油机燃用生物质能燃料的性能研究

文章主要研究了生物质能混合燃料在柴油机上的应用,通过在一台小型直喷式柴油机上进行不同组分柴油-生物柴油-乙醇混合燃料的燃烧、油耗和排放性能对比试验,分析了乙醇含量的改变对混合燃料的发动机燃烧压力、滞燃期、放热规律、比油耗和排放的影响．     

自行车流视频识别判断方法研究

考虑算法的实时性,交通流个体识别往往采用轮廓特征来描述。由于自行车与行人的很多轮廓特征值相近,在复杂城市交通环境中,从慢行交通流中准确地识别出自行车是目前采用视频检测交通流的难点之一。通过现场视频检测获取足够的样本外轮廓数据,分析检测目标轮廓的高、宽、高宽比、面积等典型轮廓特征,发现目标轮廓高宽比特征能较好地识别出行人、自行车等慢行交通,并给出合适的取值范围。研究表明自行车高宽比能够较好地成为视频识别的依据,为自行车视频识别提供数据。     

自密实混凝土扩展度影响因素分析与评价

扩展度是表征自密实混凝土填充性的一项重要指标,同时也是混凝土工作性能的重要指标。从砂率、粉煤灰用量、微硅粉掺量三方面探讨自密实混凝土扩展度大小的影响因素。试验结果表明:砂率的大小对自密实混凝土的影响主要体现在对粗骨料的润滑,本试验条件下的合理砂率约为46%;当粉煤灰含量约占胶凝材料的30%时,粉煤灰能够与水泥充分反应,自密实混凝土的扩展度达到最大;因微硅粉对混凝土拌合物起到了保水作用,减少了拌合物发生离析、泌水的几率,使得拌合物具有较好的工作性和稳定性。因此,本试验条件下微硅粉的复拌含量为粉煤灰总量的5%较为适宜。     

纤维用量对沥青混合料高温性能影响分析

纤维材料作为混凝土的一种外加剂,可以提高混合料生产的稳定性和施工的和易性,同时可以增加成型路面的强度,特别是在SMA沥青路面中大量使用。而文中选择了高性能沥青路面superpave-13作为研究对象,通过添加不同掺量的木质纤维,在马歇尔试验方法基础上确定各自的最佳油石比。并进一步分析纤维掺量对各自最佳油石比中体积参数的影响,旨在为高性能沥青路面级配设计提供参考。