Rui Wang , Chao-Sheng Tang , Xiao-Hua Pan , Dian-Long Wang , Zhi-Hao Dong , Xiancai Lu
{"title":"An efficient bio-stabilization technology with bio‑carbonation of reactive magnesia for soil improvement in cold regions","authors":"Rui Wang , Chao-Sheng Tang , Xiao-Hua Pan , Dian-Long Wang , Zhi-Hao Dong , Xiancai Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107779","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107779","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Low curing temperature conditions (5–15 °C) in cold regions pose major challenges for soil improvement using conventional binders, underscoring the urgent need for solutions to enhance soil strength and ensure engineering safety. This study investigated the feasibility and temperature-dependent behaviors of bio‑carbonation of reactive magnesia (BCRM) technology for soil improvement in cold regions. Unconfined compressive strength tests were conducted to explore the effects of curing temperature (<em>T</em>) and curing age (<em>t</em>) on strength enhancement. Combined with macro- (water content and dry density) and micro- (mineral composition and microstructure) analysis, the underlying mechanisms were elucidated. Experimental results showed that low <em>T</em> retarded the bio‑carbonation reaction of reactive magnesia, resulting in longer <em>t</em> required to obtain stable ultimate strength. However, despite lower increase rates, bio‑carbonized samples achieved higher ultimate strength and secant modulus at lower <em>T</em>. It was primarily attributed to the preferential formation of hydrated magnesia carbonates with higher content and crystallinity at low <em>T</em>, which enhanced the bridging and bonding performance. Comparative analyses with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) highlighted the superior efficiency of BCRM technology in stabilizing soil at low <em>T</em>, showing higher ultimate strength and shorter curing age. Notably at 5 °C, the ultimate strength of the bio‑carbonized sample cured for 12 days was up to 2.94 times that of the OPC-reinforced sample cured for 28 days. This study provides an efficient solution for soil improvement in low-temperature conditions. It is expected to enhance soil stability and hold significant implications for preventing and mitigating geological and geotechnical risks associated with soil deterioration in cold region engineering.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 107779"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142572457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shihao Xiao , Limin Zhang , Jian He , Ming Peng , Ruochen Jiang , Wenjun Lu
{"title":"Hypermobility of a Catastrophic Earthquake-Induced Loess Landslide","authors":"Shihao Xiao , Limin Zhang , Jian He , Ming Peng , Ruochen Jiang , Wenjun Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107777","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107777","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Landslide mobility refers to how far and fast a landslide can move downslope. It controls landslide impact areas and damage power. Highly mobile landslides are often initiated on slopes steeper than 30°. However, on 18 December 2023, an earthquake-induced landslide (35°52′54″N, 102°51′10″E) exhibited extraordinary mobility, with an overall travel angle of 1.5°, breaking an on-land landslide record. The landslide originated on a gentle slope (3.6°), eroded an earth dam along its travel path, and finally destroyed 51 houses and claimed 20 lives. Remote sensing and field surveys were conducted to provide morphological characteristics of the hazard chain. A numerical program, EDDA (Erosion–Deposition Debris Flow Analysis), was employed to reproduce the flow dynamics and investigate the causes of hypermobility. The findings reveal three primary causes of hypermobility: (1) liquefaction of the saturated silty loess stratum due to the combined effects of irrigation activity and seismic loading, (2) the loose and macro-pore structure of loess, and (3) confined topography and icy channel bed. The mechanisms revealed have broad implications for understanding fluidized mass movements on gentle slopes in seismically active regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 107777"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142586655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A slope stability analysis method considering the rainfall hydrology process","authors":"Jun-Hao Wang , Wen-Jie Xu , Xiao-Xiao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107775","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107775","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rainfall is one of the major factors inducing landslides. Stability analysis of the slope under the rainfall process is very important for disaster prevention and control. As a hybrid Lagrangian-Eulerian computational method, the material point method (MPM) is highly suitable for simulating the large deformation processes of geomaterials. By using a GPU-based MPM software (CoSim-MPM), a novel coupling method between the rainfall hydrology process and geomechanics is provided to analyze the influence of the rainfall on slope stability. The provided method considers both the influence of surface runoff and infiltration during the rainfall, and is able to simulate the whole process of water migration, deformation and failure of the slope. To perform the quantitative analysis of slope stability during the rainfall process, the strength reduction method (SRM) is introduced. And Qianling slope, Beijing, China, is taken as an application example, which was unstable during an intense rainfall in 2023. Based on the numerical results and field investigations, the mechanisms of slope deformation and failure under rainfall is analyzed. The results indicate that the provided method has robust advantages and efficiency in slope stability analysis during the rainfall, which can give an intuitive and comprehensive simulation of the entire process of slope deformation and failure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 107775"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Insight into failure mechanisms of rainfall induced mudstone landslide controlled by structural planes: From laboratory experiments","authors":"Kun Li , Ping Sun , Haojie Wang , Jian Ren","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107774","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107774","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The role of structural planes in controlling mudstone landslides is a key issue in the study of geo-disasters in the Loess Plateau of China. In this study, the effects of sliding-control structures on the mechanisms of mudstone landslides are investigated via three model experiments with different slope structures. The results show that the hydrological response and failure mode of the experimental slope vary with the structural conditions. The vertical joints serve as preferential seepage paths, which accelerate rainfall infiltration, resulting in earlier responses of volumetric water content and pore water pressure. With the incorporation of vertical joints, the slope failure mode tends to transform from shallow failure to deep-seated failure. The presence of a weak interlayer leads to significant increases in the velocity and runout of the sliding mass. The variation in the slope failure extent and deformation characteristics with varying sliding-control structures further changes the temporal and spatial distributions of volumetric water content and pore water pressure. The different slope failure modes correspond to different sliding-control mechanisms, which are dominated by the types of structural planes and their interactions with hydrological responses. In the action of these mechanisms, pore water pressure and seepage force play significant roles in the reduction of effective stress and shear strength.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 107774"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142553839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhen-lei Wei, Xuan-mei Fan, Jie Yang, Zong-shuo Zhang, Cheng-bin Zou
{"title":"Evaluating the thresholds for predicting post-earthquake debris flows: Comparison of meteorological, hydro-meteorological and critical discharge approaches","authors":"Zhen-lei Wei, Xuan-mei Fan, Jie Yang, Zong-shuo Zhang, Cheng-bin Zou","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107773","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107773","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Post-earthquake debris flows pose significant hazards in mountainous regions following large seismic events. Evaluating the thresholds for predicting the occurrence of these flows is crucial. However, the absenting of comparison for different predicting methods hampers progress in improving and updating predictions for debris flows. In this study, based on on-site measurements of post-earthquake debris flows in an active catchment during the first year following the 2022 Luding Ms6.8 earthquake, 30 debris-flow events were identified and observed. We established and compared three distinct methods—namely, the meteorological approach, the hydro-meteorological approach, and the critical discharge approach for predicting the occurrence of post-earthquake debris flows. Additionally, we introduced a factor called absolute energy to improve the accuracy of the traditional meteorological approach. Absolute energy is defined as the sum of squared values within a time series. Our findings indicate that the hydro-meteorological model outperforms others in predicting post-earthquake debris flows, whereas the meteorological approaches especially the intensity–duration (<em>I–D</em>) thresholds exhibit suboptimal performance. Furthermore, the updated meteorological model incorporating absolute energy demonstrates improved predictive capability compared to traditional meteorological approaches like intensity–duration (<em>I–D</em>) thresholds. We argue that this comparative analysis will aid in selecting the suitable method for predicting post-earthquake debris flows.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 107773"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142553840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dingfeng Cao , Hong-hu Zhu , Wu Zhu , Zhixia Liu , He Wang , Jinghong Wu
{"title":"Frozen and unfrozen moisture content estimation in coral calcareous sand during artificial freezing","authors":"Dingfeng Cao , Hong-hu Zhu , Wu Zhu , Zhixia Liu , He Wang , Jinghong Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107770","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107770","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In tropical areas where coral calcareous sands are prevalent, artificial freezing techniques are frequently employed during construction. However, the fundamental thermodynamic behaviors and moisture dynamics of calcareous sands under freezing conditions are poorly understood. Therefore, we conducted laboratory tests and developed a numerical model to capture the total moisture, liquid water, and ice contents of calcareous sand during artificial freezing. The thermal fiber Bragg grating (T − FBG) and frequency − domain reflectometry methods were used in the study. Freezing characteristic curves were quantitatively analyzed with taking into account the initial moisture content and ambient temperature. The results indicate that T − FBG effectively estimates the total moisture content in unfrozen and frozen calcareous sand, as well as ice content in frozen soil, with less than 0.029 m<sup>3</sup>/m<sup>3</sup> error. Ice melting induced by T − FBG heating is affected by the initial moisture content, heating duration, power, and ambient temperature. However, the maximum change is below 0.008 m<sup>3</sup>/m<sup>3</sup>, which is negligible. The van Genuchten model accurately describes the liquid moisture–temperature relationship of unsaturated calcareous sand, with an <em>R</em><sup>2</sup> exceeding 0.98. The residual–initial moisture content relationship follows a quadratic function. During freezing, the temperature reduction aligns with the Kozlowski model, and the liquid moisture–temperature relationship follows a cubic polynomial function.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 107770"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142531979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Helena Seivane , Martin Schimmel , David Martí , Pilar Sánchez-Pastor
{"title":"Rayleigh wave ellipticity from ambient noise: A practical method for monitoring seismic velocity variations in the near-surface","authors":"Helena Seivane , Martin Schimmel , David Martí , Pilar Sánchez-Pastor","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107768","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107768","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the feasibility and limitations of using Rayleigh wave (Rg) ellipticity for noise-based seismic monitoring at near-surface depths (4–70 m). We use the degree of polarization (DOP) method to extract the Rayleigh wave ellipticity from seismic noise recordings, employing normalized cross-correlation and cross-covariance coefficients to quantify ellipticity variations over time. Synthetic models and field data from three distinct case studies—Garner Valley, California; Riotinto mine, Spain; and the 2011 submarine volcanic eruption on El Hierro Island, Canary Islands—validate our approach. In these field applications, our method effectively tracks the seasonality of the shallow groundwater levels in Garner Valley, monitors pore pressure variations at the tailings dam of Riotinto mine, and detects volcanic induced changes on El Hierro, demonstrating robust performance even with variable noise sources. Our results indicate that Rayleigh wave ellipticity is a versatile tool for subsurface monitoring, capable of detecting velocity changes across a broad depth range. Our methodology represents a new independent and non-interferometric approach that enhances the detection of subsurface changes while improving resolution and exploration depth in seismic monitoring techniques.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 107768"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142531929","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Can satellite InSAR innovate the way of large landslide early warning?","authors":"Peng Zeng, Bing Feng, Keren Dai, Tianbin Li, Xuanmei Fan, Xiaoping Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107771","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107771","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Predicting landslide failure times is an essential component in landslide risk management. Although in-situ sensor-supported landslide early warning systems are still predominantly used, their high cost makes it impractical to monitor all the landslides, thereby posing a major challenge for the effective landslide risk management. Hence, this study investigated this problem from an earth observation perspective and proposed a probabilistic landslide failure time prediction framework integrating Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) monitoring information. Accordingly, 30 historical landslides that occurred between 2016 and 2021 in central and western China were collected to evaluate the feasibility of the aforementioned framework. Based on the landslide dataset, the performance of the satellite InSAR technology for landslide failure time prediction is evaluated systematically from an application perspective. It was evident that eleven landslides (36.67 %) were captured by InSAR with accelerated deformation signals before failure, and monitoring data from eight (26.67 %) of them provided enough information for their failure time prediction. Further, a probabilistic method integrating the conventional inverse velocity model and sequential Bayesian updating was proposed to dynamically predict the most likely failure time and related confidence interval. Case studies showed that the proposed method could successfully predict the failure time of the eight landslides, thus demonstrating the feasibility of the framework. Although the current long revisit period of satellites constrains their performance practically, this problem can be solved by advancements in future satellite missions. Thus, we believe that the InSAR era is imminent and will bring substantial values for large landslide early warning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"342 ","pages":"Article 107771"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qian Xia , Wenwu Chen , Yimin Tang , Liufang Li , Li Wang , Peiran Liu , Shaoran Zhang
{"title":"Surface weathering of the cliff at Bingling Temple Grottoes: A cultural relic on the Bank of Reservoir in NW China","authors":"Qian Xia , Wenwu Chen , Yimin Tang , Liufang Li , Li Wang , Peiran Liu , Shaoran Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107767","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107767","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The world cultural heritage Bingling Temple Grottoes (BTG) is a typical sandstone cultural relic on the bank of Liujiaxia Reservoir in the semi-arid region of northwest China. After the construction of the Liujiaxia Reservoir, the changes in the hydrogeological and climatic conditions in the small region have accelerated the weathering process of the cliff bottom. However, the influence of the water reservoir on rock surface weathering remains further understanding. In this study, we quantified the degree of surface weathering of a representative cliff in the BTG. Several typical in-situ tests were carried out, including peeling test, hardness test, and ultrasonic measurement, further supplemented by X-ray diffraction analysis. Despite good correlation among indices for the same lithology, the test results were insufficient for cross-lithology weathering evaluation. Consequently, the modified TOPSIS method was introduced to evaluate weathering across different strata. TOPSIS scores reveal altitude-related variations in weathering degree. Overall, the surface weathering degree of the cliff intensifies from top to bottom. The upper section (> 1743 m) of the cliff is primarily mechanically damaged, in contrast to the bottom layer (influenced by reservoir water level changes), which exhibits severe deterioration and intense chemical weathering related to water. Our study provides experience and methodological reference to the preservation of cultural relics and enhances the understanding of surface weathering of stone heritages on the bank of the reservoir in the semi-arid region of NW China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 107767"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142531930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dian-Qing Li , Hang-Hang Zang , Xiao-Song Tang , Guan Rong
{"title":"Efficient Bayesian updating for deformation prediction of high rock slopes induced by excavation with monitoring data","authors":"Dian-Qing Li , Hang-Hang Zang , Xiao-Song Tang , Guan Rong","doi":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107772","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107772","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study develops an efficient Bayesian updating method with monitoring data for predicting the deformation of high rock slopes induced by excavation. The importance ranking based on random forest is introduced to identify the key rock parameters as random variables in the Bayesian updating. The surrogate models using support vector machine are constructed to approximate the physical numerical models using FLAC3D for evaluating slope deformation. A practical example involving deformation prediction of the excavated left-bank rock slope for the well-known Baihetan hydropower station in southwest China is presented. The results indicate that the developed Bayesian updating method can efficiently and accurately update the posterior distributions of rock parameters and predict the deformation of high rock slopes induced by excavation. Incorporating the monitoring data of displacement into the Bayesian updating can effectively reduce the uncertainty of rock parameters and displacement prediction. As a result, the displacement predictions made by the Bayesian updating are closer to the monitoring data than the prior displacement predictions. In addition, incorporating more monitoring data of displacement from the previous excavation stages produces more accurate displacement predictions for subsequent excavation stages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11567,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Geology","volume":"342 ","pages":"Article 107772"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}