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In this section, the dynamic propagation behavior of a penny-shaped interface crack in piezoelectric bimaterials is analyzed. The objective of this paper is to use the boundary conditions of the penny-shaped interface crack to study the dynamic propagation of the crack under the action of load, so as to provide some valuable implications for the fracture mechanics of the piezoelectric bimaterials and simulate the interface crack between piezoelectric bimaterials, it is necessary to establish a suitable model and give appropriate boundary conditions according to the actual situation. The elastic displacement and potential equations are constructed according to the structural characteristics of the circular crack. In the case of a given displacement or stress, the Laplace transform and Hankel transform are used to simplify the problem into an integral equation with unknown functions. According to the boundary conditions, the corresponding unknowns are obtained, and the closed solution is derived. The results show that the fracture toughness of a penny-shaped interface crack in piezoelectric bimaterials is related to the thickness of the material, the impact time, the material characteristics, and the electric field. At the same time, it can be found that different materials have different roles in the crack propagation, so it is very important to study the crack opening displacement (COD) intensity factor of the crack for safety design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: To avoid complicated material constants calculation of conventional analysis approaches, in this paper, a work is conducted on evaluation the feasibility of ultrasonic characteristic parameters in in‐situ wireless monitoring of fatigue crack propagation process in a structure. An aluminum central cracked specimen was fabricated to simulate a damaged thin plate structure. A fatigue crack growth test was conducted on the specimen under uniaxial cyclic tensile load with a constant amplitude, and the crack was vision‐based regularly detected. Simultaneously, the crack propagation was monitored in real time by a self‐developed wireless ultrasonic sensing device. Based on a crack growth behavior analysis, a relationship is established between crack length and loading cycles. Meanwhile, the evolvement of ultrasonic signals with the crack growing is investigated, and a relationship was established between the crack length and the ultrasonic characteristic parameter. Ultimately, a connection is established between the loading cycles and the ultrasonic characteristic parameter, which contains the length information of the cracks. The proposed model shows a good agreement with experimental data with correlation coefficients all higher than 0.96, which indicates the proposed method has a great potential in evaluating fatigue cracks in thin plate structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we survey sandstone tunnels using sensor testing technology and conduct an in-depth analysis and research on the model of sandstone tunnel cracking based on the theory of fracture mechanics. This paper systematically investigates the static mechanical properties, energy evolution and distribution law, acoustic emission monitoring, and digital image correlation methods of intact and jointed rock chamber enclosures (including parallel jointed rock chamber enclosures and cross jointed rock chamber enclosures) under static loads, based on physical simulation test methods and combined with other technical means such as acoustic emission monitoring and digital image correlation methods. In this paper, the effects of parallel and cross-joint angles on the static mechanical properties, energy evolution and distribution, acoustic emission variability, progressive destabilization, and their mechanisms are compared and analyzed. This paper takes fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing theory and technology research as a breakthrough, relies on major underground engineering geohazard model tests, and proposes a grating spectral reconstruction theory based on the wavelength position constraint of the spectral center and its improvement based on an in-depth analysis of the influence of fiber grating intrinsic parameters and strain distribution on the reflection spectral properties. Based on an in-depth analysis of the influence of spectral center wavelength location and strain distribution on the reflectance spectral properties, we propose the grating spectral reconstruction theory based on the spectral center wavelength location constraint and its improved genetic algorithm optimization method; realize the fast and accurate identification and rejection of the melancholy effect of fiber grating; propose the sensor numerical simulation optimization design method; develop the high sensitivity seepage pressure sensor, new strain sensor, target flow sensor, microdisplacement sensor, and multipoint displacement sensor; and build a large capacity, multi-parameter fiber grating real-time monitoring network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a data-based damage detection algorithm that uses a novel one-class kernel classifier for detection and localisation of damage is presented. The demands of wireless sensing are carefully considered in the development of this fully decentralised and automated methodology. The one-class kernel classifier proposed in this paper is trained through a faster and simpler to implement iterative procedure than other kernel classification methods, while retaining the same advantages over parametric methods, making it especially attractive for embedded damage detection. Acceleration time series at each sensor location are processed into autoregressive and continuous wavelet transform-based damage-sensitive features. Baseline values of these features are used to train the classifier, which can then classify features from new tests as damaged or undamaged, as well as outputting a localisation index, which can be used to identify the location of damage in the structure. This methodology is evaluated using acceleration data taken from a steel-frame laboratory structure under various damage scenarios. A number of parametric studies are also conducted to investigate the effect of sampling frequency and baseline data sample size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of hydrogen and how this can be widely achieved plays a significant role in the transition from fossil fuels to clean fuel. Using the existing natural gas pipeline network can be a suitable option for countries with extensive pipeline infrastructure. This study is aimed at investigating the compatibility of the existing polyethylene (PE) distribution pipe network with hydrogen. This paper utilises the cyclic pennsylvania edge notch test (CPENT) method together with material property measurements including melting point, crystallinity, and oxidative induction time (OIT) to understand the impact of exposing two different PE pipe resins to hydrogen at different exposure times. It was found that exposure to hydrogen has a noticeable impact time to failure, while the bulk crystallinity, OIT, and melting point showed little change. A change in crystal orientation was observed, and this likely accounts for the difference in time to failure when exposed to hydrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the geological condition of soft and hard rock interaction stratum, the overburden damage height can provide a quantitative support for the design of the locations of gas drainage boreholes in the roof mining fracture zone and the determination of the hydraulic fracture zone in coal seam mining. The interbedded structure of overlying mud rock and sandstone in the Lu'an mining area in Shanxi is a typical soft and hard rock interaction stratum. In view of the lack of soft rock fracture mechanics analysis and the improper calculation of the damage height of overburden rock caused by constant rock residual bulking coefficient to be used regularly in the analysis, in this paper, we constructed a fracture model of soft and hard strata by giving a quantitative classification criterion of soft and hard rocks and introducing a fracture failure criterion of soft rock strata and the space constraint condition of broken-expansion rock formation. Aiming at improving the calculation precision of overburden damage height, we presented a calculation method based on fracture mechanics analysis of soft and hard strata, which could delineate the extent of intact rock in overlying strata from bottom to top to determine the damage height of overburden rock. This research took Yuwu coal mine in Lu'an mining area as an example. Results showed that (1) by the calculation method, the overburden damage height of the N1102 fully mechanized caving face in Yuwu coal mine was 51.44 m, which was less than the value obtained by an actual borehole TV method as well as the numerical simulation result of 53.46 m, with a calculation accuracy about 96.22%, which is quite high for both. The calculation accuracy of the proposed method was higher than that of the three conventional theoretical methods, and it effectively solved the limitation of the fracture analysis method without the inclusion of the soft rock layer in design and the distortion problem due to the residual bulking coefficient to be improperly used in simulation. (2) There was no noticeable fractures in the broken soft rock zone, and the whole fractures were mainly low-angle rupture; the fractures in hard rock layer had obvious ruptures and multiangle cracks, and the average fracture width of soft rock was 2.8 mm smaller than that of hard rock. The fracture modes of soft rock and hard rock were mainly tensile failure and tensile shear failure, which verified the correctness of the fracture mechanics model of soft and hard rock layers constructed in this paper. (3) It is noticed that the tensile strength of rock in this method needs to be obtained through rock mechanics experiment on overlying strata in the study area, and our proposed method was applicable to the mining conditions of near horizontal coal seam. The calculation accuracy of this method meets the engineering error requirements and can be applied to the prediction of overburden damage height in near horizontal coal seam mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steel slag's physical and mechanical properties are close to natural gravel, which can replace natural aggregate with paving asphalt mixture pavement. Based on macro- and microscales, it is necessary to study the low-temperature cracking characteristics of steel slag asphalt mixture (SAM). This paper aims to study the low-temperature cracking characteristics and influence mechanism of steel slag asphalt mixture by macro- and microscale tests. This article analyzes the strain field distribution and cracks propagation law of SAM at low temperatures by the three-point bending test combined with digital image correlation (DIC). The microscopic pore characteristics of SAM were studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Based on fracture mechanics and weight function theory, the variation law of the stress intensity factor at the crack tip of the asphalt mixture with crack propagation is derived. The correlation between microscopic pores and low-temperature cracking characteristics of asphalt mixture was analyzed based on the grey correlation theory. The results show that SAM has more small and less large pores, and its total porosity is lesser than that of the basalt asphalt mixture (BAM). The initial elastic stage of SAM resisting bending deformation is longer than that of BAM, the bending strain energy density (dW/dV) is larger, and the crack penetration is slower. The horizontal strain energy density (DE) of SAM is greater than BAM, and the crack tip stress is greater. The porosity correlates well with the low-temperature crack resistance of the asphalt mixture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the mechanical properties and failure mechanism of the axial braided C/C composites, the microscopic and macroscopic mechanical properties of the composite were investigated. In view of the size effect of the samples, the properties of the samples with different thickness were tested. The strain during loading was measured by optical method, and the failure morphology was observed by SEM. The changing characteristics of stress-strain curve were analyzed, and the failure characteristics of materials and failure mechanism under various loads were obtained. It was found that brittle fracture was observed during the tensile process of axial braided C/C composites, and the main failure forms were fiber rod pulling and partial fiber rod breaking in the axial direction. Radial failure was mainly in the form of fiber bundle fracture and crack stratification propagation. When compressed, the material exhibited pseudoplastic characteristics. The radial compression sample was cut along a 45-degree bevel. The axial compression curve was in the form of double fold, the axial fiber rod was unstable, and the transverse fiber bundle was cut. During in-plane shearing, the axial fracture was brittle and the fiber rod was cut. The radial direction showed the fracture and pulling of the fiber bundle, and the material had the characteristics of pseudoplasticity. The research methods and results in this paper could provide important references for the optimization and rational application of C/C composite materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the large deformation and the dynamic fracture of roadway during the underground excavation or mining, a physical simulation and strain testing system was established, and the deformation process of surrounding body and its inner strain characteristics of the simulated roadway under loading was carried out. Results showed that the inner strain change of the measurement points can be divided into three types: the strain firstly increases and then decreases, the strain slowly increases and then increases sharply, and strain firstly reduces and then increases. The strain starting time is closely related to the failure path and boundary of tested samples. This paper suggested two criteria for determining the instability of roadways, which are a huge and faster increase of strain at the location of the roof and floor with high absolute value, or a small increase with a peak value or irregular fluctuation. This paper provides a new idea for the simulation of roadway instability and is significant in deeper understanding the deformation and destabilization of underground roadway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frost heaving damage of canal lining in cold and dry areas is one of the important causes of canal leakage. In this paper, based on the bending theory of thin plate, a mechanical model of canal lining under the action of frost heaving force is established and solved. Through parametric and engineering case analysis, the following conclusions are drawn: under the action of frost heaving force, the bending moment, shear force, and internal force of the slope plate show a nonuniform distribution, and the maximum values of bending moment Mx and normal stress σx are close to the bottom third of the slope, which is consistent with the existing research and engineering practice. Compared with the theory of beam, the results of the theory of thin plates show that the internal forces and stresses increase at the free boundary (longitudinal expansion joint). The bending moment Mxy and stress τxy are maximum at the four corners of the plate: although the numerical magnitude is lower than that of Mx, it may cause stress concentration to damage the lining plate and thus cause break. The shear force at the longitudinal expansion joint may lead to fracture of the joint material, which needs to be considered in the design process. Due to the uniform distribution of the frost heaving force on the bottom plate lining, its deflection, internal forces, and stresses also show a uniform distribution. The research results can provide scientific reference for the design and operation and maintenance of water transmission canal lining in cold areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock burst is one of the most sophisticated and threatening problems in the process of mining activities of underground coal mines, which can evolve into phenomena such as gas outburst, violent ground pressure behavior of surrounding rock of stope roadway, and high dynamic load energy event of roof overburden fracture through the interaction between various influencing factors. This paper deeply studies the causes, consequences, and disaster mechanism of "2–2 rock burst accident" in Xinjulong coal mine, gives the network diagram of the relationship between the main influencing factors of fault type rock burst and high-energy events, establishes a mechanical model on this basis, and explores the influence and evolution law of fault influencing factors on the elastic strain energy field of surrounding rock of stope roadway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the factors affecting rock mass failure, the stress state has the greatest influence on the mechanical behavior of rock. The mechanical behavior of rock depends on the change of stress path, and the stress of rock mass is closely related to deformation and failure. In order to study the influence of surrounding rock stress state on the failure mode of surrounding rock, based on the theory of elastic mechanics and fracture mechanics, this paper analyzed the stress state of surrounding rock element and crack propagation of surrounding rock, and estimated the potential failure mode of surrounding rock in different areas of a phosphate mine in Yichang. The results showed that: the surrounding rock element is affected by the gradient stress, and a larger stress gradient corresponds to a larger principal stress ratio and variation direction of the surrounding rock. The failure mode of surrounding rock is affected by the coupling effect of principal stress ratio and principal stress direction. Under the action of certain crack angle and appropriate confining pressure, different fracture mechanisms may occur in the surrounding rock compression. But the partition of surrounding rock failure mode region can predict the surrounding rock failure mode to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The skeleton formed by coarse aggregate has an important influence on the macroscopic mechanical properties of concrete, especially the fracture properties. Based on mesomechanics and fracture mechanics, this paper conducts theoretical simulations and experimental studies on the mechanical and fracture properties of coarse aggregate interlocking concrete through the theory of mesomechanics homogenization as well as compressive strength tests, flexural strength tests, axial compressive strength tests, elastic modulus tests, and fracture toughness tests. The results show that when the coarse aggregate is within a certain volume increase, the fracture energy and ultimate strength of concrete are significantly improved. At the same time, the proposed mesomechanics calculation model has high accuracy for calculating the fracture characteristics of concrete when the coarse aggregate increment is less than 20%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous in-depth development of oil and gas resources, unconventional oil and gas resources show great potential. In recent years, 70% of the proven oil and gas resources in China are unconventional oil and gas resources. Therefore, the development of unconventional oil and gas resources has a huge impact on the increase in the production capacity of the oil and gas resources in China. Staged fracturing of horizontal wells is the main technical measure to improve unconventional oil and gas production stimulation. In the fracturing process, the soluble bridge plug technology can not only effectively solve the problems of large investment in drilling and grinding of composite bridge plugs, high risks, self-locking of oil, casing deformation, etc., causing the bridge plug to be unable to be drilled and remove and affect subsequent production but also can successfully make up for the problems of subsequent production. The large-diameter bridge plug cannot achieve the full diameter of the wellbore and cannot carry out operations such as postproduction logging and refracturing, which can ensure the integrity of the wellbore to the greatest extent. In this paper, HNBR was used to modify MPU to prepare HNBR/MPU soluble rubber, and the effect of blending ratio on the vulcanization characteristics, mechanical properties, compatibility, thermal stability, and degradation behavior of composites was studied. The results showed that with the increase in the amount of HNBR, the degree of cross-linking of the composite material decreased gradually, and the mechanical properties decreased slightly. With the increase in the amount of HNBR, the thermal stability of the material decreases. The use of HNBR greatly reduced the degradation rate of MPU. When the amount of HNBR was changed from 20 phr to 40 phr, the tensile strength retention rate of the composite after soaking increased from 14.73% to 39.72%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fracture characteristics of reactive powder concrete in different volume content of steel fiber are researched in this paper, combining with the photoelastic coating method and the mathematical analytical software MATLAB. More precisely, the wholly integrated initiation, stable propagation, and final failure stages of precast cracks in three-point bending specimens of reactive powder concrete in different volume content of steel fiber are directly recorded and systematically analyzed. Besides, the photoelastic fringe distribution graphs from the vicinity of the precast cracks of specimens are obtained. Based on the experimental results and fracture mechanics theory, the mechanical property of reactive powder concrete, fracture energy, ductility index, initial fracture toughness, and unstable fracture toughness are quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The research achievements indicate that there is a stable crack propagation process before the instability failure of the three-point bending beam specimen of reactive powder concrete. The fracture process of the structure includes three stages, namely, the crack initiation, stable propagation, and instability failure. The order of the photoelastic fringe, critical effective crack length, crack initiation load, and maximum load of test parameters in the three-point bending beam specimen of reactive powder concrete increases with the increase of the fiber volume ratio. Based on the numerical treatment for the whole curves of each specimen group, the softening curve and the double fracture parameters of reactive powder concrete are obtained. Besides, the calculated critical effective joint length, initiation toughness, toughness increment, and unstable fracture toughness increase with the increase of the steel fiber volume ratio, by analyzing the measured initiation load, maximum load, and critical effective joint length. The research results can be treated as an important basis and reference for the engineering design and safety assessment of reactive powder concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The damage induced pressurized thermal shock (PTS) may pose to a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is a critical safety requirement assessed as part of the ageing management programme of pressurized water reactors (PWRs). A number of researches have studied PTS initiated mainly by postulated accidents such as loss of coolant accidents (LOCAs). However, investigations on PTS-induced threat on RPV caused by inadvertent actuation of the safety injection, a frequent anticipated transient, have not been thoroughly studied. In this paper, a simplified multistep analysis method is applied to study the thermomechanical status of a two-loop PWR under PTS loads caused by inadvertent actuation of the safety injection system. A direct-coupling thermomechanical analysis is performed using a three-dimensional (3D) RPV finite element model. A 3D finite element submodel (consisting of the highiest stress concentration area in the RPV) and an assumed crack are then used to perform fracture mechanics analysis. Subsequently, the critical integrity parameter-stress intensity factor (SIF) is estimated based on FRANC3D-M-integral method coupled in the multistep simulation. The material fracture toughness of the vessel is computed based on the master curve method with experimental fracture toughness data. The results obtained from the direct coupling stress analysis in comparison with sequential coupling approach demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed multistep method. Also, comparing SIF results obtained with that calculated based on the conventional virtual crack-closure technique (VCCT) and extended finite element method (XFEM) show good agreement. This study provides a useful basis for future studies on anticipated transient-induced crack propagation and remaining service life prediction of ageing reactor pressure vessels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crude oil distribution in thick oil reservoirs is vertically heterogeneous; therefore, there is usually a dominant sublayer where oil resources are higher than that in other sublayers. The region of hydraulic fracture away from the dominant sublayer plays a negative role in production. In order to enhance efficiency of hydraulic fracturing, the hydraulic fracture height should be restricted around the dominant sublayer and the artificial interlayer is believed as an effective method. However, the propagation mechanism of fracture affected by artificial interlayer has been rarely investigated, which restricts the advance of optimization of artificial interlayer. In this paper, the impact of artificial interlayer on vertical propagation of hydraulic fracture is analyzed by hydraulic fracturing experiments and then the mechanism of artificial interlayer affecting propagation of hydraulic fracture is discussed. Based on the understanding of experimental observations and theory of fracture mechanics, the theoretical model of stress intensity factor for the fracture affected by artificial interlayer is proposed. The experimental data shows that the artificial interlayer can significantly decrease the hydraulic fracture height and the corresponding decrease magnitude of hydraulic fracture height depends on the thickness of artificial interlayer, proppant size, and fracture fluid pumping rate. The dominant mechanism of artificial interlayer restricting hydraulic fracture height is that the drop of fluid pressure induced by the artificial interlayer decreases the stress intensity factor at fracture tip. Based on the theory of fracture mechanics, the stress intensity factor at fracture tip is built and it can consider key factors shown by experimental observations. The fracture height solution from this model is consistent with experimental data, so this model can be used to optimize properties of artificial interlayer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in situ stress has an important influence on fracture propagation and fault stability in deep formation. However, the development of oil and gas resources can only be determined according to the existing state of in situ stress in most cases. It is passive acceptance of existing in situ stress. Unfortunately, in some cases, the in situ stress conditions are not conducive to resource development. If the in situ stress can be interfered in some ways, the stress can be adjusted to a more favorable state. In order to explore the method of artificial interference, this paper established the calculation method of the in situ stress around the cracks based on fracture mechanics at first and obtained the redistribution law of the in situ stress. Based on the obtained redistribution law, attempts were made to interfere with the surrounding in situ stress by water injection in the preexisting crack. On this basis, the artificial stress intervention was applied. The results show that artificial interference of stress can effectively be achieved by water injection in the fracture. And changing the fluid pressure in the crack is the most effective way. By stress artificial intervention, critical pressure for water channelling in fractured reservoirs, directional propagation of cracks in hydraulic fracturing, and stress adjustment on the structural plane were applied. This study provides guidance for artificial stress intervention in the exploitation of the underground resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Displacement discontinuities method (DDM) is convenient for and efficient at dealing with discontinuity problems such as fracture and fault. However, the known method of ease iteration is not available for nonlinear joint surface problems. This paper introduces Barton-Bandis nonlinear joint deformation failure criterion, figures out the propagation model of joint through the maximum energy release rate theory of rock fracture mechanics, and establishes three-dimensional nonlinear displacement discontinuity model for rock joint. This paper gives results of the joint propagation pattern and its distribution law under tension and compression with different parameters and side pressure coefficients via compiled program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deformation and fracture of brittle materials, especially crack propagation, have drawn wide attention in recent years. But dynamic crack propagation under impact loading was not well understood. In this paper, we experimentally tested Brazilian disk (BD) fine sandstone specimens containing pre-cracks under cyclic impact loading by the Φ 74 mm diameter split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) test device. The pre-cracked specimens were named central straight through crack flattened Brazilian disk (CSCFBD). By using the low air-pressure loading conditions (0.1 MPa, equal to the impact velocity of 3.76 m/s), a series of dynamic impact tests were detected successfully, and the effects of pre-cracks on dynamic properties were analyzed. Experimental results show that the multiple cracks mostly initiate at/or near the pre-crack tips and then propagate in different paths and directions varying by inclination angles, leading to the ultimate failure. Compared to static or quasi-static loading, dynamic crack propagation and fracture behavior are obviously different. Furthermore, we characterized the crack propagation paths, directions, and fracture patterns and discussed the influences of the pre-cracks during the breakage process. We concluded that the results obtained are significant in investigating the failure mechanism and mechanical properties of brittle materials under impact loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a comprehensive model to calculate the rock fracture pressure by the theory of double effective stress of porous medium is established, which considers such effective factors as the crustal stress field, hydration stress field, temperature field, tectonic stress field, the porosity of rock, and additional stress field generated by seepage of drilling fluid. This new model is applicable to predict the fracture pressure of different types of rocks. Using the experimental parameters of field fracturing and the experimental results of three-axis compression of rock cores with different water contents, we may get the calculated fracture pressure. Compared with the measured fracture pressure in the oilfield, the result calculated in the present study shows good agreement. Besides, the effects of water contents on the tensile strength and fracture pressure are analyzed. Results show that both the tensile strength and fracture pressure decrease with the increase of water contents, which is due to the reduction of the mechanical properties of rocks by hydration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperature can change the mechanical properties of granite, with significant nonlinear characteristics, and at the same time change its microstructure. Therefore, two kinds of granites are used in this paper: one is normal temperature granite and the other is granite treated at 600°C, and a detailed comparative study is made. The fracture toughness of two kinds of rocks was tested by fracture tests, and the results were analyzed by a nonlinear fracture mechanics model (SEL). At the same time, in order to understand the influence of high temperature on the mineral composition and microstructure of granite, XRD, optical microscope, and SEM were used to observe the mineral composition, microcracks, and fracture morphology of granite. The results show the following: (1) high temperature significantly changes the fracture mechanics parameters of granite. The fracture toughness of granite treated at 600°C is significantly lower than that of untreated granite, which is reduced by more than 60%. (2) No obvious size effect was found in the untreated granite, while the size effect of the granite after treatment at 600°C was significant. (3) The granite after high-temperature treatment showed strong nonlinear characteristics, and the SEL can reasonably describe and explain its nonlinear fracture characteristics. (4) The brittleness of the granite treated at 600°C decreased and the ductility increased. The microscopic morphology of the fracture was rough, with obvious steps and rivers. The microcracks and porosity had increased significantly, but the main components did not change significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking raw coal and briquette coal samples with preset center holes as research objects, this paper makes a systematic analysis and research of crack evolution laws of the two different coal samples under the local load. The results show that the raw coal and briquette coal samples are different mainly in number, dimension, and complexity of the internal microstructures, so it is not right to replace raw coal with briquette coal when performing observational study of the crack evolution of microstructures; under the effect of local load, local property, randomness of crack initiation position, and crack initiation stress of raw coal samples are greater than those of briquette coal samples; law of instantaneous maximum effective cut-through rate of raw coal samples is more complex than that of briquette coals; under the effect of uniformly distributed load, end effect factor Fe, sample microstructure influencing factor Fs, and preset center hole factor Fh are the major factors influencing crack growth, among which the amplified end effect factor Fe and sample microstructure influencing factor Fs are dominant factors; under the effect of local load, local load influencing factor Fp, end effect factor Fe, sample microstructure influencing factor Fs, and preset center hole factor Fs are the major factors influencing crack growth, among which the local load influencing factor Fp, end effect factor Fe, and sample microstructure influencing factor Fs are dominant factors. Compared with briquette coal samples, raw coal samples are more sensitive to influencing factors, such as local load influencing factor Fp, end effect factor Fe, sample microstructure influencing factor Fs, and preset center hole factor Fh, and can aggravate the influence of these factors on the crack growth; the paper also puts forward a method for describing local load based on a coupling mechanical model of uniaxial compression and local shear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel hybrid image processing method is proposed to obtain the crack tip location, crack propagation path, displacement, strain fields, and plastic zone size of crack tip region under high-frequency resonant loading in this paper. An ordinary CCD camera is used to collect a series of crack images on one side of the compact tension (CT) specimen; meanwhile, a high-speed digital camera is used to acquire a series of digital speckle images of the other side of the specimen under the loading conditions at regular time intervals. Digital image processing (DIP) method is used to determine the macroscopic crack position. Digital image correlation (DIC) method is applied to obtain the displacement, strain fields, and plastic zone size of crack tip region. The characteristic digital speckle images of one stress cycle are obtained by data fitting and image matching method. Accordingly, the displacement/strain fields of crack tip region within one stress cycle and the displacement and strain amplitude fields with different crack lengths are obtained and analyzed. The obtained results are compared with the measured results of ordinary methods and show a good match. The success of this method will help to obtain better insight into and understanding of the fatigue and failure behavior of metal material with mode I crack under high-frequency resonant loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of the crack in an object is a critical problem for the health monitoring of a transparent object. The real-time and quantitative measurement of the crack-tip stress intensity factor (SIF) remains an open issue. In this paper, an approach for real-time and quantitative measurement for the SIFs of a Mode I crack is presented based on digital holographic interferometry (DHI). A transmission digital holographic system is established to measure the phase difference of an object wave during loading. The expression to achieve the SIF from the phase difference is formulated. To enhance the accuracy of measurement, calibrated phase unwrapping based on least-squares and iteration and median filtering is applied to retrieve the actual phase from the noisy wrapped one. The SIFs of the Mode I crack in a transparent polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) specimen are measured by this approach. The results are compared with the theoretical ones to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The leakage amount is an important indicator evaluating the seepage behavior of a dam. Due to the complex behavior, crack development judgment and leakage behavior identification for concrete gravity dams remain a challenging task. The paper is concerned with comprehensive investigation of leakage problems for concrete gravity dams with penetrating cracks. A case study on Shimantan Reservoir Dam was taken to examine the utilization of the comprehensive investigation method. Deficiency investigations were undertaken to identify the nature and sources of defects responsible for the serious leakage. Based on the information acquired from field visual inspections and ground‐penetrating radar tests, it is apparent that several transverse cracks penetrate the dam crest and propagate downward into the dam body. The results of the remedial grouting, X‐ray diffraction analyses and water injection tests reflect the appearance of penetrating leakage paths in the dam body. Subsequently, 2 behavior models including the special hydrostatic‐seasonal‐time model and the inverse analysis model were conducted to distinguish the contribution of penetrating cracks to leakage amount. The special hydrostatic‐seasonal‐time model was modified to address the influence of leakage flow in real microcracks in concrete dams based on the Navier–Stokes equation. The result shows that the proposed models provide an acceptable accuracy in analyzing leakage monitoring data for gravity dams with penetrating cracks. Leakage flow in penetrating cracks plays a dominant role in the dam seepage field. The execution flow in this paper could be readily employed in investigations of similar problems of concrete dams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a novel study on crack detection of industrial explosives. The proposed algorithm consists of the following steps: (1) image preprocessing was performed according to the defect features of industrial explosives cartridge, and we developed an improved visual attention based algorithm. This proposed algorithm features a parametric analysis that can be implemented on the image according to the conspicuous maps with the introduction of the concept of defect discrimination ξ; (2) as compared with other algorithms, our method can realize real-time multitarget detection function; (3) a new analysis method, the IPV-WEN algorithm, was proposed to analyze the cartridge defects based on performance indices. Through comparison and experimentation, it was revealed that this method can achieve a detection accuracy of 97.9%, with detection time of 34.51 ms, which satisfied the requirement in the industrial explosives production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The durability of in-service reinforced concrete bridges will be greatly reduced under the action of corrosion and the repeated load such as vehicles. In this paper, six reinforced concrete beams were cast and subjected to sustained load test for one year, and then, the alternating test of corrosion and fatigue load were carried out with the damaged concrete beams. The long-term deflection, fatigue lifetime, failure modes, and crack growth were investigated under different corrosion and fatigue working conditions. The fracture section of steel bars was scanned by electron microscopy at the end of fatigue test. The results indicate that the deflection of the beams will continue to increase under a long-term load. The chloride salt in the beam has little influence on the deflection performance, but will shorten the fatigue lifetime due to the corrosion of the steel bars. Moreover, the corrosion environment can accelerate the rusting of the beam bar and reduce the fatigue lifetime, the accumulation of deflection damage and crack damage, and other fatigue characteristics. The crack initiation-propagation-fracture stage of steel bars occurs in the process of fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical behaviors of granular materials have high complexity. Since the mechanical behaviors of granular materials are difficult to describe theoretically, in this paper, the flow and fracture characteristics of granular materials were discussed by the experimental method. An experimental method was firstly proposed to identify the mechanical behaviors of granular materials under extra loading. An experimental device, which can be used to monitor force and displacement between particles, was invented. The uniaxial compression experiments of granular particles with different materials and grades were carried out, and the overall and local force between particles was obtained and investigated. Due to the flow of particles, the overall force rises in a fluctuating manner and the local force is not distributed evenly. Then, the particle fragments were sieved layer by layer. It was confirmed that the particles and loading strength have great influences on fractures of granular materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydraulic fracturing (HF) test has been widely used to determine in situ stress. The use of a conventional continuum method for this purpose has raised considerable controversies concerning field tests, particularly in the determination of the maximum horizontal principal stress under preexisting fractures. Fracture mechanics methods are very promising when considering preexisting cracks. However, most fracture mechanics methods do not include the effects of confinement on fracture parameters that depend on confining stress. In the present paper, we proposed a modified approach based on fracture mechanics for stress determination considering the relation between fracture toughness and confining stress based on the Rummel and Abou-Sayed methods. Then, we conducted true triaxial hydraulic fracturing tests under different stress ratios for granite and sandstone specimens to verify the proposed approach. The observed typical pressure-time curves indicate that in the conducted hydraulic fracturing tests, the steady fracture growth was attained. Moreover, we demonstrated that the stress ratios influence crack orientations. The horizontal maximum principal stresses determined using the modified Rummel method achieve the lowest relative error compared with other considered stress estimation approaches. This modified fracture mechanics method could be used as a potential alternative approach to obtain a considerably more precise estimation of the maximum horizontal stress in hydraulic fracturing stress determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new approach has been developed for predicting the hydraulic and mechanical relationship of individual fractures subjected to normal stress and compression-shear stress. Considering that the closure process of rough fracture subjected to normal stress can be divided into two phases (linear behavior and nonlinear behavior), a relationship between normal stress and fracture aperture is derived through the minimum potential energy principle. Then, a formulation for calculating fracture permeability during shearing and compression processes is developed. Furthermore, a formulation for determining fracture aperture during the crack growth process is obtained, which is further implanted into the permeability model to predict the hydraulic behavior of fractured rock during fracture propagation. This new model not only considers the normal deformation of the fracture but also, and more importantly, integrates the effect of fracture propagation and shear dilation. Theoretical studies demonstrate that fracture permeability increases nonlinearly during fracture propagation. At last, experimental results and analytic results are compared to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed models, and satisfactory agreements are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel algorithm for bridge damage detection based on the mode shapes estimated from a passing vehicle. The bridge response at the moving coordinate is measured from an instrumented vehicle with laser vibrometers and accelerometers. A modified version of the Short Time Frequency Domain Decomposition method is applied to the measured responses. The bridge mode shape is estimated with high resolution, which is appropriate for damage detection. A damage index based on mode shape squares is used to detect the presence and location of the damage. A numerical case study of a half-car model passing over a bridge is described in this paper, which validates the performance of the proposed approach. Several damage scenarios are considered including different locations and severities. It is shown that the presence and location of the damage can be detected with acceptable accuracy when the vehicle is moving very slowly. In addition, the performance of the method using higher vehicle speeds is investigated and shows that the approach works well for speeds up to 8 m/s. The sensitivity of the algorithm to measurement noise is also studied by adding several levels of noise to the responses measured on the vehicle. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper begins with presenting a mathematical model for contaminant transport in the fractured vuggy porous media of a species of contaminant (PCP). Two phases are numerically simulated for a process of contaminant and clean water infiltrated in the fractured vuggy porous media by coupling mixed finite element (MFE) method and finite volume method (FVM), both of which are locally conservative, to approximate the model. A hybrid mixed finite element (HMFE) method is applied to approximate the velocity field for the model. The convection and diffusion terms are approached by FVM and the standard MFE, respectively. The pressure distribution and temporary evolution of the concentration profiles are obtained for two phases. The average effluent concentration on the outflow boundary is obtained at different time and shows some different features from the matrix porous media. The temporal multiscale phenomena of the effluent concentration on the outlet are observed. The results show how the different distribution of the vugs and the fractures impacts on the contaminant transport and the effluent concentration on the outlet. This paper sheds light on certain features of karstic groundwater are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coating often plays a role in monitoring and protecting substrates in engineering applications. Interface cracks between the coating and the substrate can lead to crack growth under the action of external loading and will cause device failure. In this paper, the behavior of a fine-grained piezoelectric coating/substrate with a Griffith interface crack under steady-state thermal loading is studied. The temperature field, displacement field, and electric field of the coupling of thermal and electromechanical problems are constructed via integral transformation and the principle of superposition. Thus, problems are transformed into a system of singular integral equations, and the expressions of thermal intensity factor, thermal stress intensity factor, and electric displacement intensity factor are obtained. We used a numerical calculation and a system of singular equations to obtain the relationship of strength factor with material parameters, coating thickness, and crack size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zirconia grinding fixtures have been widely used in semiconductor industry to improve the quality and precision of the products. For maximizing the service life and minimizing the risks of accidental damage, it is critical to have a better understanding of the fatigue life of zirconia grinding fixtures. To this end, a boundary element method is developed in this paper to investigate their crack growth and fatigue life. To validate the proposed method, the stress intensity factor of a typical plate structure with initial cracks is considered. On this basis, Paris Law is employed in the boundary element model to further study the crack growth and stress distributions in the zirconia fixture under cyclic loads. Numerical results show that stress concentration occurs at the pillar of the fixture, and crack growth is perpendicular to the loading direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow and fracture of granular materials under external loads is a complex mechanical process, and the research on its law is still in the exploratory stage. In this paper, the flow and fracture law of granular materials is taken as the research object, and numerical algorithm compilation and program development are combined to study. Taking full advantage of the existing algorithms and developing new ones based on the existing DEM theory, a numerical simulation program for the flow and fracture of granular materials is developed. The flow and fracture process of concrete spherical granular system with diameter of 4 cm under loading rate of 70 mm/min and end of loading of 50 kN is taken as an example to verify the simulation program. At the same time, the loading experiment of the concrete spherical particle system under the same simulation conditions was also carried out. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results in three aspects: the generation location of the particle system, the relationship between the whole load and displacement, and the degree of particle breakage. The results show that the numerical simulation is in good agreement with the experimental results, which verifies the reliability of the numerical algorithm and the simulation program, and can provide support for the study of the flow and fracture process of granular materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a finite element model for the particle-impact target is established for the abrasion erosion failure behavior of 20# steel used in natural gas gathering pipelines. The JC plastic model and failure criterion are used in the model to simulate the failure and damage of the material, and the reliability of the model was verified by comparison with experimental data. The dynamic behavior of particle erosion was studied by using this model. The changes of energy, stress, and morphology at the microscopic level were analyzed. The influence of particle shape, particle size, impact velocity, and impact angle on the erosion rate of 20# steel was obtained. The model is further used to study the influence mechanism of stress interference on erosion damage behavior under multiparticle random drop impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slow strain rate tensile test (SSRT) is a common means to investigate stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in key engineering structural materials of light-water reactors, and it is an important task to real-time monitor the crack growing length and rate of the specimen during the test. Because the specimen is placed in an autoclave with high-pressure and high-temperature water environment-simulated light-water reactor, the current potential drop method, which includes current potential drop (DCPD) and alternating current potential drop (ACPD), is the main means to real-time monitor crack growth rate in the SCC test. As a supplementary means to obtain the crack growth rate during the test, the SSRT process of nickel-based Alloy 600 CT specimens is investigated by using the elastic-plastic finite element method (EPFEM) in this paper. Based on the consideration that both the elastic-plastic deformation and crack length of the specimen would affect the relationship between the load and the displacement of the loading point during the SSRT test, the relationship between the loading point displacement caused by crack propagation ΔLc and plastic deformation ΔLp is separated by EPFEM. Then, the SCC crack growth rate and the real-time crack length are obtained. This proposed approach could be used to improve the test results in the SSRT test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of coal mining and the continuous expansion of mining intensity, large dip angle comprehensive mechanized coal mining as an important development direction and goal has become a worldwide research topic in the coal industry. The working face faces many production problems that need to be solved, such as the large-angle downhill mining, the large-angle uphill mining, and other complicated geological conditions (such as skew, anticline, and fault). In view of the above problems, with the specific conditions of Xinji No. 2 Mine, through the physical similarity simulation, the research on the roof movement law of the fully mechanized mining face under the mining conditions of large dip angle (depression angle and elevation angle are more than 40° and 20°, respectively) is studied. The distribution law of abutment pressure, movement law, and distribution range of water-conducting fracture zone after mining are emphasized. Meanwhile, the paper analyzes and compares the related mining pressure law of inclined longwall fully mechanized mining face under general conditions, forming a systematic, comprehensive, and scientific understanding of the law of mining pressure under such conditions. This achievement is of great significance to the prevention and control of water, support design, safety production, environmental improvement, improvement of enterprise efficiency, and advancement of coal science and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to accurately identify and quantitatively calculate the surface cracks of rock mass under SHPB impact loading, an automatic crack detection algorithm was proposed and evaluated by the experiment. In SHPB experiment, cracks on the rock surface can effectively reflect its current state and better analyze the damage process. Firstly, the SHPB system was used to impact 12 groups of rock specimens under different impact velocities. A high-frame camera with 50,000 FPS was used to capture the damage process of the rock mass; using the manual annotation method, we got a dataset of SHPB damage images including a total of 310 original images and 310 corresponding cracked annotations. Secondly, a deep convolution network model named CrackSHPB was designed based on a deep learning algorithm. The algorithm can automatically identify the crack on the rock surface during impact damage process and further provide a quantitative result of cracks, crack area. Finally, after the crack on the rock surface in each frame image was identified automatically through the model, cracks were quantitatively analyzed by the proposed algorithm, the growth rate of cracks was calculated, and their evolution law was concluded. The crack identification algorithm proposed in this paper can provide a more accurate quantitative method for rock damage by cracks on the rock surface, and evolution law can further explain the failure process of rock at high strain rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diamond-shape inverted nine-spot well pattern is widely used in developing low-permeability reservoirs with fractures. However, production wells with equal fracture lengths will lead to nonuniform displacement, especially in anisotropic reservoir. Previous researches mainly focused on equal-length fractures, while studies on the unequal-length fractures which can dramatically improve the development efficiency were little. In this paper, a corresponding numerical model with unequal length of fracture designed in the edge and the corner wells was built in a low-permeability anisotropic reservoir. The main objective was to examine and evaluate the effects of anisotropic permeability and fracture parameter on the waterflooding in the diamond-shape inverted nine-spot well pattern. The results indicate that different fractures penetration ratio and anisotropic permeability both result in different development efficiency. Fracture of the edge well are more easily to be water breakthrough, while the increase of penetration ratio of injection well effectively enhance oil recovery. Moreover, the most optimal penetration ratios of production well fractures under different kx : ky are determined. With the increase of kx : ky, the optimized penetration ratio of corner wells fracture decrease, while that of the edge wells increase. Setting unequal length fractures in low-permeability anisotropic reservoirs can effectively improve the oil displacement efficiency in the waterflooding process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-thick hard sandstone roofs present high thickness, poor delamination, and wide caving range. The strata pressure of the working face during actual mining increases, having a significant influence on the safe mining of the working face. Especially, in the mining areas of western China, the fully mechanized mining faces with high mining height and high-strength mining are more prominent. Understanding the fractures and stress evolution characteristics of the ultra-thick hard sandstone roof during actual mining is of high significance to control the dynamic pressure on the working face. In this paper, the typical ultra-thick hard sandstone roof of the Xiaojihan coal mine was taken as an example. The structural and chemical composition characteristics were analyzed. Besides, the fracture characteristics of ultra-thick hard roof during the working face mining were analyzed. Moreover, the fracture structure consistency was verified through physical simulation and a field measurement method. Finally, the stress evolution laws in the ultra-thick hard sandstone roof fracture were studied through numerical simulation. The findings demonstrated that (1) the ultra-thick hard sandstone roof was composed of inlaid coarse minerals, which had compact structure, while the Protodyakonov hardness reached up to 3.07; (2) under the high-strength mining condition of fully mechanized mining face with large mining height, the ultra-thick hard sandstone roof had the characteristics of brittle fracture, with a caving span of 12 m; (3) under the high-strength mining condition of fully mechanized mining face with large mining height, the ultra-thick hard sandstone roof followed the stress evolution laws that were more sensitive to the neighboring goaf. Therefore, it was necessary to reduce the fracture span or layering of ultra-thick hard sandstone roof through the manual intervention method adoption or increase either the strength of coal pillar or supporting body, to resist the impact generated during ultra-thick hard sandstone roof fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to characterize the dynamic process of the crack growth in the weld of oil and gas pipelines, a mathematical model of fluid-solid-magnetic multifield coupling was constructed in this paper. Based on this model, the bidirectional fluid-solid coupling and unidirectional magnetic structure coupling caused by the weld deformation were achieved by dynamic application of the fluid permeation pressure, calculating the internal crack growth in the pipe weld, reconstructing the computational grid near the internal crack, and discussing the characteristics of the magnetic leakage field in the process of the internal crack growth in pipe weld. Thus, a fluid-solid-magnetic coupling algorithm for the internal crack growth in pipe welds considering fluid permeation pressure is established. According to the characteristics of the internal crack opening distance, internal crack growth length, crack tip energy release rate, peak values of magnetic induction intensity level, and vertical component, the process of the internal crack growth is measured. The results show that the fluid osmotic pressure accelerates the process of the internal crack growth and this algorithm can solve the problem of the characterization and evaluation of crack growth in pipe welds under fluid-solid-magnetic coupling action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Crack occurrence and propagation are among critical factors that affect the performance and lifespan of civil infrastructures such as bridges, pipelines, and so on. As a consequence, numerous crack detection and characterization techniques have been researched and developed in the past decades in the areas of SHM and non-destructive evaluation (NDE). The significant amount of performed studies and the large number of publications give rise to the need to systematize, condensate, and summarize this enormous effort. The aims of this paper are to summarize the knowledge about cracking and its sources, review both existing and emerging methods for crack detection and characterization, and identify the advantages and challenges for these methods. In general, this paper identifies two sensing approaches (direct and indirect) and two data analysis approaches (model-based and model-free or data-driven) along with a range of associated technologies. The advantages and challenges of each approach and technology are discussed and summarized, and the future research needs are identified. This paper is intended to serve as a reference for researchers who are interested in crack detection and characterization as well as for those who are generally interested in SHM and NDE. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study to simulate the performance of steel-plate composite bridge under various blasting loads. The multi-Euler domain method based on the fully coupled Lagrange and Euler models is adopted for the structural analysis of explosion process with the commercial software Autodyn. Due to the difference of material characteristics and space distribution between the concrete and steel part, the most adverse position is estimated to be above and below detonation. A remarkable difference between these two explosive denotations for steel-concrete composite bridge is noted, and the failure mode above denotation is the damage of local concrete deck, with the compression mode near the denotation point showing a standard trigonometric curve. The failure mode below denotation includes damage of steel girders and concrete failure near junction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple fractured horizontal wells have been widely used to develop unconventional tight gas reservoirs. Currently, many well testing models were established to study the performance of fractured horizontal wells in tight gas reservoirs. However, none of these models thoroughly takes stress-sensitivity of natural fractures and variable conductivity of artificial fractures into consideration. Based on the consideration of stress-sensitivity of natural fractures and variable conductivity of artificial fractures, a novel well testing model for fractured horizontal well in tight gas reservoirs is proposed. And the semianalytical solution of this new model is obtained by dividing the artificial fracture into different segments under the integrative methods of Laplace transformation, point source function, perturbation theory, superposition principle, and Stehfest numerical inversion. After validation, the semianalytical solution is consistent with that of Zerzar’s model (2004). Also, typical pressure and pressure derivative curves are plotted. According to typical curves, seven regimes can be derived, namely, bilinear flow, linear flow, early-time pseudoradial flow, biradial flow, intermediate-time pseudoradial flow, and pseudo-steady state interporosity flow, and late-time pseudoradial flow can be identified. In addition, this paper analyzes the impact on pressure and pressure derivative curves exerted by variable conductivity and stress-sensibility. The results show that variable conductivity mainly affects the early flow regimes, including bilinear flow, linear flow, and early-time radial flow, while the stress-sensitivity mainly affects the later flow regimes, including intermediate-time pseudoradial flow, pseudo-steady state interporosity flow, and late-time pseudoradial flow. The typical curves will ascend with the increasing of stress-sensitivity coefficient. The research provides a method for precise prediction of formation parameters and has a significant impact on the tight gas reservoir development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper predicts the possibility of water inrush from a confined aquifer under the action of mining activities and water pressure. The study uses numerical analyses to evaluate stress redistribution and crack growth which result from coal extraction operations. Two models are presented in this study. By simplifying the distribution of the disturbed vertical stress on the coal seam and floor around a working face, a model is established to analyze the additional stresses in the floor strata induced by mining activities. And some distribution features of all the additional stress components are described. By using the superposition principle in fracture mechanics, another model is developed to analyze the crack growth in the floor strata under the action of disturbed stresses and water pressure. And the stress intensity factors at the crack tip are presented and the process of crack growth is obtained in the advancement of a working face. Because of discretizing only loading areas and crack surfaces, the present methods can obtain the accurate numerical results. Finally, some suggestions are made for preventing the water inrush from a confined aquifer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Cracking of the concrete structures is the major problem in the structural health and durability, and there is a critical need for continuous monitoring and assessing structural integrity. In order to monitor structures, traditional sensors are being used, which have some drawbacks, such only taking recording at specifically determined points. However, it has been shown that unless any existing damage is located at a point of high stress or has severely compromised the integrity of a structure, damages might be undetected. In order to have a more detailed understanding on the behavior of fiber‐reinforced concretes (FRC), their mechanical performance should be evaluated together with local fracture phenomena, such as crack propagation and localization. Because cracking is a major problem in the design and durability of structural elements. In this paper, propagation of cracks in FRC beams under 4‐point bending test is analyzed in detail with an image processing technique, Digital Image Correlation (DIC). DIC technique is applied to further identify fracture parameters such as crack width evolution and crack patterns at different stages of loading, which enables a detailed evaluation of the relationship between fracture parameters and resulting mechanical performance. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to enable the translation of global mechanical response of the FRC beams from the local fracture process, with a detailed characterization of cracks both experimentally and also with DIC analysis, which can be used for structural health monitoring of FRC beams, in terms early stage crack determination and crack monitoring through the lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of shear displacement on the directivity of permeability in fractures is studied in this paper. The studied fracture surface has 3D self-affine fractal characteristics that are created using the modified successive random addition (SRA) method. Fluid flow through the fracture is simulated using the COMSOL Multiphysics code based on the finite element method (FEM) by changing the angle between the shear direction and macroscopic flow direction. The evolutions of the aperture distribution and flow paths with changes in shear displacement are investigated, and the change in the equivalent permeability is evaluated. The results show that the mean aperture and its deviation for rough fractures increase as the shear displacement increases, and this change is accompanied by an increase in void spaces and decreasing contact areas between the upper and lower fracture surfaces. The flow paths become more tortuous, and the channeling flow effect occurs during the shear process. The equivalent permeability of the fractures varies as the inclination between the shear direction and macroscopic flow direction changes. The permeability with the largest magnitude exists in the direction perpendicular to the shear direction, and the permeability with the smallest magnitude exists in the direction parallel to the shear direction. The equivalent permeability of the fractures at other inclinations varies between the smallest and greatest values. Notably, larger inclinations correspond to higher permeability magnitudes. The ratio of the directional permeability to the permeability in the direction parallel to the shear direction varies between 1.03 and 2.71. This ratio tends to decrease as the shear displacement and JRC increase, which indicates that the directivity of the permeability is more obvious for fractures with smaller JRCs and smaller shear displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]