Effect of the circle tunnel on induced force distribution around underground rectangular gallery using theoretical approach, experimental test and particle flow code simulation

Vahab Sarfarazi,Reza Bahrami,Shadman Mohammadi Bolbanabad,Fariborz Matinpoor 국제구조공학회 2022 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.84 No.5

In this study, the effect of circle tunnel on the force distribution around underground rectangular gallery was investigated using theoretical approach, experimental test and Particle flow code simulation (PFC). Gypsum model with dimension of 1500×1500 mm was built. Tensile strength of material was 1 MPa. Dimension of central gallery was 100 mm×200 mm and diameter of adjacent tunnel in its right side was 20 mm, 40 mm and 60 mm. Horizontal distance between tunnel wall and gallery edge were 25, 50, 75, 100 and 125 mm. using beam theory, the effect of tunnel diameter and distance between tunnel and gallery on the induced force around gallery was analyzed. In the laboratory test, the rate of loading displacement was set to 0.05 millimeter per minute. Also sensitivity analysis has been done. Using PFC2D, interaction between tunnel and gallery was simulated and its results were compared with experimental and theoretical analysis. The results show that the tensile force concentration has maximum value in center of the rectangular space. The tensile force concentration at the right side of the axisymmetric line of gallery has more than its value in the left side of the galleries axisymmetric line. The tensile force concentration was decreased by increasing the distance between tunnel and rectangular space. In whole of the configurations, the angles of micro cracks fluctuated between 75 and 105 degrees, which mean that the variations of tunnel situation have not any influence on the fracture angle.

Simulation of fracture mechanism of pre-holed concrete model under Brazilian test using PFC3D

Vahab Sarfarazi,Hadi Haeri,Alireza Bagher Shemirani 국제구조공학회 2018 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.22 No.6

In the previous studies on the porous rock strength the effect of pore number and its diameter is not explicitly defined. In this paper crack initiation, propagation and coalescence in Brazilian model disc containing a single cylindrical hole and or multiple holes have been studied numerically using PFC3D. In model with internal hole, the ratio of hole diameter to model diameter was varied between 0.03, 0.17, 0.25, 0.33, and 0.42. In model with multiple hole number of holes was different in various model, i.e., one hole, two holes, three holes, four holes, five holes, six holes, seven holes, eight holes and nine holes. Diameter of these holes was 5 mm, 10 mm and 12 mm. The pre-holed Brazilian discs are numerically tested under Brazilian test. The breakage load in the ring type disc specimens containing an internal hole with varying diameters is measured. The mechanism of cracks propagation in the wall of the ring type specimens is also studied. In the case of multi-hole Brazilian disc, the cracks propagation and b cracks coalescence are also investigated. The results shows that breaking of the pre-holed disc specimens is due to the propagation of radially induced tensile cracks initiated from the surface of the central hole and propagating toward the direction of diametrical loading. In the case of disc specimens with multiple holes, the cracks propagation and cracks coalescence may occur simultaneously in the breaking process of model under diametrical compressive loading. Finally the results shows that the failure stress and crack initiation stress decreases by increasing the hole diameter. Also, the failure stress decreases by increasing the number of hole which mobilized in failure. The results of these simulations were comprised with other experimental and numerical test results. It has been shown that the numerical and experimental results are in good agreement with each other.

Numerical simulation of the effect of bedding layer on the tensile failure mechanism of rock using PFC2D

Vahab Sarfarazi,Hadi Haeri,Mohammad Fatehi Marji 국제구조공학회 2019 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.69 No.1

In this research, the effect of bedding layer on the tensile failure mechanism of rocks has been investigated using PFC2D. For this purpose, firstly calibration of PFC2d was performed using Brazilian tensile strength. Secondly Brazilian test was performed on the bedding layer. Thickness of layers were 5 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm. in each thickness layer, layer angles changes from 0° to 90° with increment of 15°. Totally, 21 model were simulated and tested by loading rate of 0.016 mm/s. The results show that when layer angle is less than 15, tensile cracks initiates between the layers and propagate till coalesce with model boundary. Its trace is too high. With increasing the layer angle, less layer mobilizes in failure process. Also, the failure trace is very short. It’s to be noted that number of cracks decrease with increasing the layer thickness. Also, Brazilian tensile strength is minimum when bedding layer angle is between 45° and 75°. The maximum one is related to layer angle of 90°.

Simulation of the tensile behaviour of layered anisotropy rocks consisting internal notch

Vahab Sarfarazi,Hadi Haeri,P. Ebneabbasi,Kourosh Bagheri 국제구조공학회 2019 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.69 No.1

In this paper, the anisotropy of tensile behaviours of layered rocks consisting internal notch has been investigated using particle flow code. For this purpose, firstly calibration of PFC2D was performed using Brazilian tensile strength. Secondly Brazilian test models consisting bedding layer was simulated numerically. Thickness of layers was 10 mm and layered angularity was 90°, 75°, 60°, 45°, 30°, 15° and 0°. The strength of bedding interface was too high. Each model was consisted of one internal notch. Notch length is 1 cm, 2 cm and 4 cm and notch angularities are 60°, 45°, 30°, 15° and 0°. Totally, 90 model were tested. The results show that failure pattern was affected by notch orientation and notch length. It’s to be noted that layer angle has not any effect on the failure pattern. Also, Brazilian tensile strength is affected by notch orientation and notch length.

Three-dimensional numerical modeling of effect of bedding layer on the tensile failure behavior in hollow disc models using Particle Flow Code (PFC3D)

Vahab Sarfarazi,Hadi Haeri 국제구조공학회 2018 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.68 No.5

This research presents the effect of anisotropy of the hollow disc mode under Brazilian test using PFC3D. The Brazilian tensile strength test was performed on the hollow disc specimens containing the bedding layers and then these specimens were numerically modeled by using the two dimensional discrete element code (PFC3D) to calibrate this computer code for the simulation of the cracks propagation and cracks coalescence in the anisotropic bedded rocks. The thickness of each layer within the specimens varied as 5 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm and the layers angles were changed as 0°, 25°, 50°, 75° and 90°. The diameter of internal hole was taken as 15 mm and the loading rate during the testing process kept as 0.016 mm/s. It has been shown that for layers angles below 25° the tensile cracks produce in between the layers and extend toward the model boundary till interact and break the specimen. The failure process of the specimen may enhance as the layer angle increases so that the Brazilian tensile strength reaches to its minimum value when the bedding layers is between 50° and 75° but its value reaches to maximum at a layer angle of 90°. The number of tensile cracks decreases as the layers thickness increases and with increasing the layers angle, less layer mobilize in the failure process.

Behavior of FRP bonded to steel under freeze thaw cycles

Vahab Toufigh,Vahid Toufigh,Hamid Saadatmanesh 국제구조공학회 2013 Steel and Composite Structures, An International J Vol.14 No.1

Fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) materials are increasingly being used for strengthening and repair of steel structures. An issue that concerns engineers in steel members which are retrofitted with FRP is stress experienced due to temperature changes. The changing temperature affects the interface bond between the FRP and Steel. This research focused on the effects of cyclical thermal loadings on the interface properties of FRP bounded to steel members. Over fifty tests were conducted to investigate the thermal effects on bonding between FRP and steel, which were cycled from temperature of -11°C (12°F) to 60°C (140°F) for 21-36 days. This investigation consisted of two test protocols, 1) the tensile test of epoxy resin, tack coat, FRP and FRP-steel plate, 2) tensile test of each FRP compound and FRP with steel after going through thermal cyclic loading. This investigation reveals an extensive reduction in the composite’s strength.

Direct and indirect methods for determination of mode I fracture toughness using PFC2D

Vahab Sarfarazi,Hadi Haeri,Alireza Bagher Shemirani 사단법인 한국계산역학회 2017 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.20 No.1

In this paper, mode I fracture toughness of rock was determined by direct and indirect methods using Particle Flow Code simulation. Direct methods are compaction tension (CT) test and hollow centre cracked quadratic sample (HCCQS). Indirect methods are notched Brazilian disk (NBD) specimen, the semi-circular bend (SCB) specimen, hollow centre cracked disc (HCCD), the single edge-notched round bar in bending (SENRBB) specimen and edge notched disk (END). It was determined that which one of indirect fracture toughness values is close to direct one. For this purpose, initially calibration of PFC was undertaken with respect to data obtained from Brazilian laboratory tests to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical models response. Furthermore, the simulated models in five introduced indirect tests were cross checked with the results from direct tests. By using numerical testing, the failure process was visually observed. Discrete element simulations demonstrated that the macro fractures in models are caused by microscopic tensile breakages on large numbers of bonded discs. Mode I fracture toughness of rock in direct test was less than other tests results. Fracture toughness resulted from semi-circular bend specimen test was close to direct test results. Therefore semi-circular bend specimen can be a proper test for determination of Mode I fracture toughness of rock in absence of direct test.

An Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding-Mode Controller Design for Walking Control with Functional Electrical Stimulation: A Computer Simulation Study

Vahab Nekoukar,Abbas Erfanian 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2011 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.9 No.6

A major challenge to developing neuroprostheses for walking and to widespread acceptance of these walking systems is the design of a robust control strategy that provides satisfactory tracking performance, to be robust against time-varying properties of neuromusculoskeletal dynamics, day-to-day variations, muscle fatigue, and external disturbances, and to be easy to apply without requiring offline identification during different experiment sessions. The lower extremities of human walking are a highly nonlinear, highly time-varying, multi-actuator, multi-segment with highly inter-segment cou-pling, and inherently unstable system. Moreover, there always exist severe structured and unstructured uncertainties such as spasticity, muscle fatigue, external disturbances, and unmodeled dynamics. Ro-bust control design for such nonlinear uncertain multi-input multi-output system still remains as an open problem. In this paper we present a novel robust control strategy that is based on combination of adaptive fuzzy control with a new well-defined sliding-mode control (SMC) with strong reachability for control of walking in paraplegic subjects. Based on the universal approximation theorem, fuzzy logic systems are employed to approximate the neuromusculoskeletal dynamics and an adaptive fuzzy controller is designed by using Lyapunov stability theory to compensate for approximation errors. The proposed control strategy has been evaluated on a planar model of bipedal locomotion as a virtual patient. The results indicate that the proposed strategy provides accurate tracking control with fast convergence during different conditions of operation, and could generate control signals to compensate the effects of muscle fatigue, system parameter variations, and external disturbances. Interesting observation is that the controller generates muscle excitation that mimic those observed during normal walking.

Study of cracks in compressed concrete specimens with a notch and two neighboring holes

Vahab, Sarfarazi,Kaveh, Asgari,Shirin, Jahanmiri,Mohammad Fatehi, Marji,Alireza Mohammadi, Khachakini Techno-Press 2022 Advances in concrete construction Vol.14 No.5

This paper investigated computationally and experimentally the interaction here between a notch as well as a micropore under uniaxial compression. Brazilian tensile strength, uniaxial tensile strength, as well as biaxial tensile strength are used to calibrate PFC2d at first. Then, uniaxial compression test was conducted which they included internal notch and micro pore. Experimental and numerical building of 9 models including notch and micro pore were conducted. Model dimensions of models are 10 cm × 10 cm × 5 cm. Joint length was 2 cm. Joints angles were 30°, 45° and 60°. The position of micro pore for all joint angles was 2cm upper than top of the joint, 2 cm upper than middle of joint and 2 cm upper than the joint lower tip, discreetly. The numerical model's dimensions were 5.4 cm × 10.8 cm. The fractures were 2 cm in length and had angularities of 30, 45, and 60 degrees. The pore had a diameter of 1 cm and was located at the top of the notch, 2 cm above the top, 2 cm above the middle, and 2 cm above the bottom tip of the joint. The uniaxial compression strength of the model material was 10 MPa. The local damping ratio was 0.7. At 0.016 mm per second, it loaded. The results show that failure pattern affects uniaxial compressive strength whereas notch orientation and pore condition impact failure pattern. From the notch tips, a two-wing fracture spreads almost parallel to the usual load until it unites with the sample edge. Additionally, two wing fractures start at the hole. Both of these cracks join the sample edge and one of them joins the notch. The number of wing cracks increased as the joint angle rose. There aren't many AE effects in the early phases of loading, but they quickly build up until the applied stress reaches its maximum. Each stress decrease was also followed by several AE effects. By raising the joint angularities from 30° to 60°, uniaxial strength was reduced. The failure strengths in both the numerical simulation and the actual test are quite similar.

Experimental and numerical simulating of the crack separation on the tensile strength of concrete

Vahab Sarfarazi,Hadi Haeri,Alireza Bagher Shemirani,Zheming Zhu,Mohammad Fatehi Marji 국제구조공학회 2018 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.66 No.5

Effects of crack separation, bridge area, on the tensile behaviour of concrete are studied experimentally and numerically through the Brazilian tensile test. The physical data obtained from the Brazilian tests are used to calibrate the two-dimensional particle flow code based on discrete element method (DEM). Then some specially designed Brazilian disc specimens containing two parallel cracks are used to perform the physical tests in the laboratory and numerically simulated to make the suitable numerical models to be tested. The experimental and numerical results of the Brazilian disc specimens are compared to conclude the validity and applicability of these models used in this research. Validation of the simulated models can be easily checked with the results of Brazilian tests performed on non-persistent cracked physical models. The Brazilian discs used in this work have a diameter of 54 mm and contain two parallel centred cracks (90° to the horizontal) loaded indirectly under the compressive line loading. The lengths of cracks are considered as; 10 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm and 40 mm, respectively. The visually observed failure process gained through numerical Brazilian tests are found to be very similar to those obtained through the experimental tests. The fracture patterns demonstrated by DEM simulations are mostly affected by the crack separation but the tensile strength of bridge area is related to the fracture pattern and failure mechanism of the testing samples. It has also been shown that when the crack lengths are less than 30 mm, the tensile cracks may initiate from the cracks tips and propagate parallel to loading direction till coalesce with the other cracks tips while when the cracks lengths are more than 30 mm, these tensile cracks may propagate through the intact concrete itself rather than that of the bridge area.