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.     

Protective effect of polymer coating on the circular steel plate response to near-field underwater explosions

To understand the intrinsic strong interaction between the soft coating and near-field underwater explosion, a series of comparative live fire tests are implemented. Nine steel circular plates with three configurations (i.e. rubber coated plate, foam coated plate and bare plate) are tested using 1.5 g PETN detonator. The stand-off between the plate center and explosive charge is ranged from 3.41 to 1.14 times of the maximum bubble radius. The transient strain history of the plate and acceleration history of the metal base fixture are monitored. The whole explosion process including local cavitation and bubble motion is recorded by an APX-RS high speed camera. Test results show that the compressibility of coating layer is the dominative factor that controls its protective performance in the shock wave loading phase. The more compressible foam coating distinctly reduce the shock wave intensity by local cavitation before enters the densification phase, while the explosion bubble shape and even the direction of water jet can also be changed. But the attenuation performance in the bubble loading phase is not as optimistic as that in the shock wave phase because more deformation space is required while the core has often entered the densification phase.     

Bottleneck congestion and distribution of work start times: The economics of staggered work hours revisited

Since the seminal work of Henderson (Henderson, J.V., 1981. The economics of staggered work hours. Journal of Urban Economics 9 (3), 349–364), a number of studies have examined the effect of staggered work hours by analyzing models of work start time choice that consider the trade-off between negative congestion externalities and positive production externalities. However, these studies employed flow congestion models to describe traffic congestion. This study develops a model of work start time choice with bottleneck congestion and discloses the intrinsic properties of the model. To this end, this study extends Henderson’s model to incorporate bottleneck congestion. By utilizing the properties of a potential game, we characterize equilibrium and optimal distributions of work start times. We also show that Pigouvian tax/subsidy policies generally yield multiple equilibria and that the first-best optimum must be a stable equilibrium under Pigouvian policies, whereas the second-best optimum in which policymakers cannot eliminate queuing congestion can be unstable.     

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．     

预应力锚索抗滑桩结构在处治滑坡中的应用

文章结合鹰阳关-莲塘二级公路K54+800处滑坡采用预应力锚索结构施工实践,介绍了预应力锚索抗滑桩结构在滑坡处治中的注意事项及使用效果.     

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。