Numerical modelling of a pile-supported embankment using variable inertia piles

Daniel Dias,Jérôme Grippon 국제구조공학회 2017 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.61 No.2

The increasing lack of good quality soils allowing the development of roadway, motorway, or railway networks, as well as large scale industrial facilities, necessitates the use of reinforcement techniques. Their aim is the improvement of the global performance of compressible soils, both in terms of settlement reduction and increase of the load bearing capacity. Among the various available techniques, the improvement of soils by incorporating vertical stiff piles appears to be a particularly appropriate solution, since it is easy to implement and does not require any substitution of significant soft soil volumes. The technique consists in driving a group of regularly spaced piles through a soft soil layer down to an underlying competent substratum. The surface load being thus transferred to this substratum by means of those reinforcing piles, which illustrates the case of a piled embankment. The differential settlements at the base of the embankment between the soft soil and the stiff piles lead to an “arching effect” in the embankment due to shearing mechanisms. This effect, which can be accentuated by the use of large pile caps, allows partial load transfer onto the pile, as well as surface settlement reduction, thus ensuring that the surface structure works properly. A technique for producing rigid piles has been developed to achieve in a single operation a rigid circular pile associated with a cone shaped head reversed on the place of a rigid circular pile. This technique has been used with success in a pile-supported road near Bourgoin-Jallieu (France). In this article, a numerical study based on this real case is proposed to highlight the functioning mode of this new technique in the case of industrial slabs.

Prognostic Factors and Decision Tree for Long-Term Survival in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma

Daniel Lorenzo,María Ochoa,Josep Maria Piulats,Cristina Gutiérrez,Luis Arias,Jaume Català,María Grau,Judith Peñafiel,Estefanía Cobos,Pere Garcia-Bru,Marcos Javier Rubio,Noel Padrón-Pérez,Bruno Dias,Jo 대한암학회 2018 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.50 No.4

Purpose The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the existence of a bimodal survival pattern in metastatic uveal melanoma. Secondary aims were to identify the characteristics and prognostic factors associated with long-term survival and to develop a clinical decision tree. Materials and Methods The medical records of 99 metastatic uveal melanoma patients were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were classified as either short ( 12 months) or long-term survivors (> 12 months) based on a graphical interpretation of the survival curve after diagnosis of the first metastatic lesion. Ophthalmic and oncological characteristics were assessed in both groups. Results Of the 99 patients, 62 (62.6%) were classified as short-term survivors, and 37 (37.4%) as long-term survivors. The multivariate analysis identified the following predictors of long-term survival: age  65 years (p=0.012) and unaltered serum lactate dehydrogenase levels (p=0.018); additionally, the size (smaller vs. larger) of the largest liver metastasis showed a trend towards significance (p=0.063). Based on the variables significantly associated with long-term survival, we developed a decision tree to facilitate clinical decision-making. Conclusion The findings of this study demonstrate the existence of a bimodal survival pattern in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. The presence of certain clinical characteristics at diagnosis of distant disease is associated with long-term survival. A decision tree was developed to facilitate clinical decision-making and to counsel patients about the expected course of disease.

Methodology for real-time adaptation of tunnels support using the observational method

Miranda, Tiago,Dias, Daniel,Pinheiro, Marisa,Eclaircy-Caudron, Stephanie Techno-Press 2015 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.8 No.2

The observational method in tunnel engineering allows the evaluation in real time of the actual conditions of the ground and to take measures if its behavior deviates considerably from predictions. However, it lacks a consistent and structured methodology to use the monitoring data to adapt the support system in real time. The definition of limit criteria above which adaptation is required are not defined and complex inverse analysis procedures (Rechea et al. 2008, Levasseur et al. 2010, Zentar et al. 2001, Lecampion et al. 2002, Finno and Calvello 2005, Goh 1999, Cui and Pan 2012, Deng et al. 2010, Mathew and Lehane 2013, Sharifzadeh et al. 2012, 2013) may be needed to consistently analyze the problem. In this paper a methodology for the real time adaptation of the support systems during tunneling is presented. In a first step limit criteria for displacements and stresses are proposed. The methodology uses graphics that are constructed during the project stage based on parametric calculations to assist in the process and when these graphics are not available, since it is not possible to predict every possible scenario, inverse analysis calculations are carried out. The methodology is applied to the "Bois de Peu" tunnel which is composed by two tubes with over 500 m long. High uncertainty levels existed concerning the heterogeneity of the soil and consequently in the geomechanical design parameters. The methodology was applied in four sections and the results focus on two of them. It is shown that the methodology has potential to be applied in real cases contributing for a consistent approach of a real time adaptation of the support system and highlight the importance of the existence of good quality and specific monitoring data to improve the inverse analysis procedure.

Reliability analysis of a mechanically stabilized earth wall using the surface response methodology optimized by a genetic algorithm

Hamrouni, Adam,Dias, Daniel,Sbartai, Badreddine Techno-Press 2018 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.15 No.4

A probabilistic study of a reinforced earth wall in a frictional soil using the surface response methodology (RSM) is presented. A deterministic model based on numerical simulations is used (Abdelouhab et al. 2011, 2012b) and the serviceability limit state (SLS) is considered in the analysis. The model computes the maximum horizontal displacement of the wall. The response surface methodology is utilized for the assessment of the Hasofer-Lind reliability index and is optimized by the use of a genetic algorithm. The soil friction angle and the unit weight are considered as random variables while studying the SLS. The assumption of non-normal distribution for the random variables has an important effect on the reliability index for the practical range of values of the wall horizontal displacement.

2D numerical investigations of twin tunnel interaction

Do, Ngoc Anh,Dias, Daniel,Oreste, Pierpaolo,Djeran-Maigre, Irini Techno-Press 2014 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.6 No.3

The development of transportation in large cities requires the construction of twin tunnels located at shallow depth. As far as twin tunnels excavated in parallel are concerned, most of the cases reported in literature focused on considering the effect of the ground condition, tunnel size, depth, surface loads, the relative position between two tunnels, and construction process on the structural lining forces. However, the effect of the segment joints was not taken into account. Numerical investigation performed in this study using the $FLAC^{3D}$ finite difference element program made it possible to include considerable influences of the segment joints and tunnel distance on the structural lining forces induced in twin tunnels. The structural lining forces induced in the first tunnel through various phases are considerably affected by the second tunnel construction process. Their values induced in a segmental lining are always lower than those obtained in a continuous lining. However, the influence of joint distribution in the second tunnel on the structural forces induced in the first tunnel is insignificant. The critical influence distance between two tunnels is about two tunnel diameters.

The ratio standard is not adequate for scaling handgrip strength in judo athletes and nonathletes

Wladymir Külkamp,Jonathan Ache-Dias,Rafael Lima Kons,Daniele Detanico,Juliano Dal Pupo 한국운동재활학회 2020 JER Vol.16 No.2

Seismic response of a rigid foundation embedded in a viscoelastic soil by taking into account the soil-foundation interaction

Salah Messioud,Badreddine Sbartai,Daniel Dias 국제구조공학회 2016 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.58 No.5

This study analyses the seismic response of a three-dimensional (3-D) rigid massless square foundation resting or embedded in a viscoelastic soil limited by rigid bedrock. The foundation is subjected to harmonic oblique seismic waves P, SV, SH and R. The key step is the characterization of the soil-foundation interaction by computing the impedance matrix and the input motion matrix. A 3-D frequency boundary element method (BEM) in conjunction with the thin layer method (TLM) is adapted for the seismic analysis of the foundation. The dynamic response of the rigid foundation is solved from the wave equations by taking into account the soil-foundation interaction. The solution is formulated using the frequency BEM with the Green’s function obtained from the TLM. This approach has been applied to analyze the effect of soilstructure interaction on the seismic response of the foundation as a function of the kind of incident waves, the angles of incident waves, the wave’s frequencies and the embedding of foundation. The parametric results show that the non-vertical incident waves, the embedment of foundation, and the wave’s frequencies have important impact on the dynamic response of rigid foundations.

“UFO: Unidentified Flying Object in the Heart”: An Unusual Sighting of a Cardiac Calcified Amorphous Tumour

Mariana Ribeiro Silva,Nuno Dias-Ferreira,Daniel Martins,Alberto Rodrigues,Ricardo Fontes-Carvalho 한국심초음파학회 2023 Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging (J Cardiovasc Im Vol.31 No.3

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Numerical investigation of segmental tunnel linings-comparison between the hyperstatic reaction method and a 3D numerical model

Do, Ngoc Anh,Dias, Daniel,Oreste, Pierpaolo Techno-Press 2018 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.14 No.3

This paper has the aim of estimating the applicability of a numerical approach to the Hyperstatic Reaction Method (HRM) for the analysis of segmental tunnel linings. For this purpose, a simplified three-dimensional (3D) numerical model, using the $FLAC^{3D}$ finite difference software, has been developed, which allows analysing in a rigorous way the effect of the lining segmentation on the overall behaviour of the lining. Comparisons between the results obtained with the HRM and those determined by means of the simplified 3D numerical model show that the proposed HRM method can be used to investigate the behaviour of a segmental tunnel lining.

Stress and strain state in the segmental linings during mechanized tunnelling

Do, Ngoc-Anh,Oreste, Pierpaolo,Dias, Daniel,Antonello, Croce,Djeran-Maigre, Irini,Livio, Locatelli Techno-Press 2014 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.7 No.1

The application of the mechanized tunnelling has been extended in recent years. There are at present different approaches that are used in the design of segmental tunnel linings supported in mechanized tunnels. Even though segmental lining is utilized for mechanized tunnels, its behaviour is still quite unclear under in situ stress and there is a lack of data regarding the distribution of stresses inside segmental linings. So far no single effective calculation method exists for segmental lining design. The lack of clear solutions makes the use of segmental lining to be more expensive due to the adoption of greater safety factors. Therefore, a particular attention must be given in order to obtain data from monitored tunnels which permits to validate design methods. In this study, strain measurements, which were conducted during the construction of twin tunnels in the Bologna-Florence railway line, have been presented. The behaviour of segmental lining during the excavation and the influence of a new tunnel excavation on an existing tunnel have been shown through the measured data. The data are then compared with the results obtained with Einstein and Schwartz's method and Duddeck and Erdmann's method, which permits to highlight the fact that the two analytical methods underestimate structural forces induced in the segmental lining and then must be used with caution.