Det sker dagligen olyckor i trafiken runt om i världen och för att göra vägarna säkrare krävs utredning om vad som orsakar olyckorna. I Sverige sker idag dokumentation av olycksplatsen enbart med bilder och skisser i 2D. Att i stället ha en dokumentation i 3D över olycksplatsen gör det lättare att i efterhand studera och analysera vad som skett på platsen. Dokumentation i 3D kan göras med flera metoder, och i denna studie har terrester laserskanning samt s.k. fotobaserad skanning som baseras på bildmatchning testats och utvärderats för dokumentation av trafikolyckor. För att testa respektive metod placerades två bilar mot varandra för att simulera en krocksituation. Först laserskannades bilarna med en multistation, Leica MS50, från fyra stationer med upplösning på 10 mm på 50 m i horisontal- och vertikalled. För att testa olika upplösningar laserskannades även bakluckan på den ena bilen från två stationer med en upplösning på 5 mm respektive 15 mm. Den fotobaserade skanningen utfördes med en digitalkamera, Nikon D7000, där bilderna togs runt om bilarna från tre olika vyer med övertäckning på minst 70 % mellan bilderna. Efter skanning importerades laserskanningsdata till programvaran GEO och bilderna från den fotobaserade skanningen till programvaran Agisoft PhotoScan för bearbetning. En 3D-modell skapades även utifrån den fotobaserade skanningen. Resultatet av laserskanningen gav ett tydligt och jämnt punktmoln med endast ett fåtal felaktiga punkter. Bilarnas glasrutor gav dock inga returer vilket resulterade i att inga punkter skapades på glasrutornas ytor. Resultatet av den fotobaserade skanningen gav ett relativt tydligt och översiktligt punktmoln men med flertalet felaktiga punkter. Den ena bilen, som var vit, genererade fler felaktiga punkter p.g.a. dålig textur jämfört med den andra bilen, som var röd. Laserskanning är en mycket användbar metod för dokumentation av trafikolyckor eftersom metoden är relativt snabb och ger en korrekt avbildning av olycksplatsen. Den fotobaserade skanningen bedöms inte vara helt tillförlitlig eftersom den har flera brister i punktmolnet. Det kan vara gynnsamt för Polisen eller Trafikverket att investera i laserskanning eftersom dokumentation i 3D ger en tydlig överblick av olycksplatsen samtidigt som detaljer kan studeras, vilket är fördelaktigt i utredningssyfte.

<p>Observations of structural damage following recent major earthquakes have indicated that ground motion characteristics have a significant effect on the damage of building structures. An analytical study is undertaken to investigate the effect of ground motion characteristics on the inelastic response of multistorey reinforced concrete frame structures and to evaluate the seismic performance of reinforced concrete frame structures designed in conformance with current Canadian seismic provisions. In addition, the possibility of using simplified analysis procedures to estimate inelastic response is studied for regular building frames subjected to different types of earthquake ground motions.</p> <p>An earthquake data set consisting of 45 horizontal components of strong motion records is selected and subdivided into three groups representative of seismic ground motions having low, intermediate, and high peak acceleration-to-velocity (A/V) ratios. This data set is analyzed to investigate the significance of the A/V ratio as a parameter to indicate the dynamic characteristics of earthquake ground motions resulting from different seismic environments. Four regular moment resisting reinforced concrete building frames having different fundamental periods are designed for combined gravity and seismic effects determined in accordance with the 1985 edition of the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC 1985). The structural members are proportioned and detailed to satisfy the requirements of the 1984 edition of the Canadian Concrete Code (CAN3-A23.3-H84). These four frames are used as structural models having very short, short, moderate, and long fundamental periods.</p> <p>To gain insight into the inelastic behaviour of the designed frames, the inelastic static responses of the frames to monotonically increased lateral loading are examined first. Following this inelastic static analysis, the inelastic dynamic responses of the frames to the three A/V groups of earthquake accelerograms are analyzed statistically. In addition, the elastic dynamic responses of the frames to the three A/V groups of earthquake records are obtained to provide a reference for the evaluation of the inelastic dynamic responses. In the course of the dynamic analyses, overall energy indices are defined for multistorey building frames and their numerical computation is implemented in a computer program.</p> <p>A simplified analysis procedure is proposed to estimate both overall and localized inelastic deformations for regular building frames. This simplified analysis procedure is evaluated based on a comparison of the inelastic deformational demands estimated from the procedure with the statistical results obtained from the inelastic dynamic analysis of the frames.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p dir="ltr">A key challenge in the assessment of the stability of fractures in rock is the identification of precursory geophysical signatures of shear failure. Accurate estimation and prediction of shear failure along rock discontinuities is crucial to prevent failure of geotechnical structures and potential natural hazards, such as landslides and earthquakes. Active seismic monitoring, such as compressional (P) and shear (S) waves, has been used to monitor the evolution of contact area and contact stress along rock discontinuities. Past laboratory experiments determined that changes in the amplitude of the transmitted, reflected, and converted P- and S-waves can be used to assess local changes in contact area and fracture specific stiffness, and to identify precursory events to shear failure of rock fractures. Those studies have identified the peaks (maxima or minima) in wave amplitudes as the seismic precursors to shear failure. Past studies were performed on dry artificial rock discontinuities with homogeneous and well-matched contact surfaces. However, in nature, rock discontinuities are not always homogeneous and well-matched, and are often found below the water table. In addition, at large depths, e.g. in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), fractures are subjected to high temperatures.</p><p dir="ltr">The objectives of this research are to: (1) characterize the geophysical response of rock fractures during shear for dry and saturated conditions at room temperature, and saturated conditions at elevated temperatures; and (2) detect and identify seismic signatures of shear failure/slip for each of the three conditions. To achieve the goal of the research, a novel shear test apparatus was designed and built to test saturated jointed rock specimens under normal and shear loading, with a back pressure and at elevated temperatures, while also being capable of housing seismic transducers to monitor simultaneously the mechanical and geophysical response of the rock joints during shear. The system consisted of a sealed and heated pressure chamber and a biaxial compression frame. The pressure chamber was also used to perform B-value tests on cylindrical rock specimens to determine the minimum magnitude of back pressure required for fluid saturation.</p><p dir="ltr">Laboratory direct shear tests were performed on tension-induced fractures in Indiana limestone and Sierra White granite specimens with non-homogeneous rough contact surfaces. The contact surfaces were created by axial splitting of prismatic rock blocks. Shear tests were conducted on the rock fractures at a constant displacement rate in the pressure chamber, which enabled control of effective normal stress, pore water pressure, and temperature. During the tests, transmitted and converted P- and S-waves propagated across rock fractures and their changes in wave amplitude were monitored to assess the evolution of local contact areas during shear and detect precursory changes in wave amplitudes prior to shear failure.</p><p dir="ltr">Seismic precursors were observed in the wave amplitude data from all tests conducted under the three conditions. Precursors were most identifiable in the transmitted S-wave data. For all three conditions, the transmitted S-wave showed the same form of a seismic precursor; a peak (maximum) in wave amplitude was observed prior to the peak shear strength, as local contact surfaces interlocked and failed before macroscopic shear failure. However, the transmitted P-wave and converted waves (P-to-S and S-to-P) exhibited different behavior compared to the transmitted S-wave and depended on the test conditions. While, for dry conditions, the transmitted P-wave and converted waves still exhibited seismic precursors as peaks in their wave amplitudes, they did not display an observable peak for saturated fractures at room temperature, but rather either a very slight increase or a continuous reduction in amplitude. Instead of observable peaks, an abrupt change in the rate of reduction in the transmitted P-wave and converted amplitudes was observed that either coincided or occurred close to the peak in the transmitted S-wave amplitude. Thus, an onset of dramatic change in the reduction rate can be also taken as a seismic precursor to shear failure. This phenomenon can be explained by the large stiffness of the highly incompressible fluid, water, which leads to a decrease in P-wave sensitivity to changes in the normal fracture stiffness that arise from rock asperities under saturated conditions.</p><p dir="ltr">Even though the seismic wave amplitude generally contains a seismic precursor to shear failure, some exceptions exist: the wave amplitudes also depend on the local characteristics of the frictional area. No peak or seismic precursor in wave amplitude is observed prior to failure when the contact area between the fractures surfaces decreases because of dilation/opening. In addition, a delay peak in amplitude after shear failure may be observed when the fracture surfaces contain an initial large void or aperture in the region probed by the sensor. These exceptions may occur at a relatively low effective normal stress (2 MPa) and may disappear when a better contact has been established between the fracture surfaces by increasing the effective stress. Direct shear tests under an effective stress of 6 MPa, but at 50^oC, showed that both the transmitted P-waves and converted waves exhibited peaks in their amplitudes prior to the failure. However, these exceptions still require further exploration for the systematic identification and detection of seismic precursors.</p><p dir="ltr">The research shows that seismic monitoring is an effective tool to monitor the shear behavior of discontinuities, to provide an assessment of the local behavior of the frictional surface under the transducer, and to predict failure of the discontinuity. It can be used for dry, saturated discontinuities and for a wide range of pore pressures and temperatures. Other potential applications include fault monitoring, and even possibly earthquake prediction with additional research.</p>

With rising awareness that future generations may not have access to the resources and quality of life that exist today, sustainable development has become a priority within civil engineering. One important component of sustainable development is environmental stewardship, which concerns both the resources taken from the environment, and the wastes and byproducts emitted to the environment. To facilitate more sustainable development, environmental accounting is necessary within civil and geotechnical engineering design and construction. Historically, geotechnical practice has focused on maximizing design performance while minimizing monetary costs, and well established methods exist for quantifying these factors. Quantitative consideration of environmental consequences has seldom played a large role in geotechnical design and construction, and clear guidelines and a methodology for such an assessment are not available within the geotechnical profession. Therefore, this research has focused on establishing a method for quantitative streamlined environmental Life Cycle Analysis of energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for geotechnical ground improvement works, known as the Streamlined Energy and Emissions Assessment Model (SEEAM). The boundaries for the SEEAM extend from raw material extraction through the completion of construction, including the energy and CO2 emissions associated with construction materials, construction site operations, and the transportation of construction materials and wastes. The methodology relies on energy and CO2 emissions coefficients, which represent typical industry average values and not necessarily the specific processes contributing to a project. Therefore, there is uncertainty in SEEAM analyses, which is addressed via a Monte Carlo simulation framework that assumes the energy and CO2 emissions coefficients each follow a lognormal distribution. Data sets of total energy and CO2 emissions generated by the Monte Carlo simulation framework with the SEEAM may be used to statistically compare the energy and CO2 emissions of different geotechnical design alternatives. Such comparisons can help facilitate designing for minimum environmental consequences, thus advancing sustainable development within geotechnical engineering. For clarity, the development and application of the SEEAM is illustrated using two different geotechnical case history projects, including rehabilitation of levee LPV 111 in New Orleans, LA, and the construction of foundations for a replacement dormitory on the Virginia Tech campus. / Ph. D.

Changes in climatic regimes and land use have led to increases in wildfire activities around the world. Wildfires are now happening more frequently, at higher altitudes, and higher severities. Adverse impacts of wildfires can last years after the fire has been contained through post-fire geohazards, such as shallow landslides. Post-wildfire shallow landslides are often mobilized by rainfall and due to fire-induced changes in soil and land cover properties and near-surface processes. This study aims to develop a physics-based framework to evaluate the stability of burned hillslopes against rainfall-triggered shallow landslides. A coupled hydromechanical infiltration model is developed by employing a closed-form solution of the Richards equation. The model is integrated into an infinite slope stability analysis to capture the effect of temporal changes in the pressure head profile of an unsaturated vegetated slope on its stability. The proposed model considers the antecedent condition of soil and vegetation cover, the time-varying nature of rainfall intensity, and wildfire-induced changes in soil properties, root reinforcement, transpiration rate, and canopy interception. The efficacy of the proposed framework is illustrated through modeling a case study in the Las Lomas watershed in California, USA. The watershed was a part of a larger area that was burned in the San Gabriel Complex Fire (consisting of two separate fires, the Fish Fire and the Reservoir Fire) in 2016. Three years later, during a heavy rainstorm in January 2019, the affected area, including the Las Lomas watershed, experienced widespread landslides. The proposed framework is then integrated into a geographic information system (GIS) to generate a susceptibility map of post-wildfire rainfall-triggered shallow landslides. The applicability of the proposed framework at a regional scale is tested for the entire area affected by the San Gabriel Complex Fire to model the observed shallow landslides within the boundaries of the Fish Fire and the Reservoir Fire. The findings of this study can be used to warn the community of post-wildfire shallow landslides activities.

On December 22nd, 2003, the Mw=6.5 San Simeon earthquake occurred 12 kilometers east of San Simeon, California, causing damage to buildings, roads, and other infrastructure throughout the central coast. The community of Oceano, 80 kilometers southeast of the epicenter, experienced damage to foundations, roads, and utilities due to liquefaction and lateral spreading. The unique geologic environment in Oceano caused a local amplification of ground motions, liquefaction, and lateral spreading. This study entailed developing ten liquefaction case histories from Oceano during the 2003 San Simeon earthquake. Four of the ten case histories are liquefaction cases and six are non-liquefaction cases, with Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR) ranging from 0.17 to 0.43 and average corrected cone tip resistance (qc1) ranging from 2.67 to 23.53 kN/m^2. Subsurface data used to represent the geologic conditions in each case history included CPT soundings provided by the United States Geological Survey (Holzer et al., 2004). Ground motion data used to represent the earthquake conditions in each case history included the nearest relatively free field ground motion recordings from the SLO Rec Center Seismic Monitoring Station provided by the PEER strong motion center (PEER Ground Motions Database, 2003). CPT soundings were grouped together to develop representative case histories, allowing for averaging of parameters. The stratum with the single highest potential for liquefaction was selected and used as the ‘critical layer’ in each case history. To accurately represent the ground motion felt by each critical layer, a site response model was used to calculate average shear stress, which was used to calculate Cyclic Stress Ratio. The site response model was built using DEEPSOIL V6.1 with measured seismic shear wave velocities. Velocities were measured using passive geophysical methods in conjunction with Spatial Autocorrelation (SPAC) methods to process the data into shear wave velocity profiles. Measured velocities ranged from approximately 117 to 469 meters per second at depths ranging from 0 to 50 meters below the ground and were normally dispersive.

Studying the effects of extreme conditions, such as high temperatures and low humidity, on soil properties is important to various disciplines, including geotechnical engineering, soil science, waste management, crop management, and ceramics. The goal of this research is to investigate the effect of environmental and geometrical factors on microstructure, desiccation cracking, and CO2 flux in clays. The objectives of this research are threefold. (1) Understand the effects of temperature on the microstructure of clay soils; (2) develop a standardized procedure for studying desiccation cracking in a laboratory setting with reliable and repeatable results; and (3) develop an environmental chamber capable of monitoring CO2 flux through a soil sample large enough to accommodate a fully developed crack network. To accomplish these objectives, an array of laboratory testing was conducted. First, this study examines the effects of extreme temperatures on the microstructural properties of clay using FESEM, cation-exchange capacity (CEC) tests, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analyzer. Second, a standardized procedure for producing accurate and repeatable laboratory tests on the desiccation cracking of soils is presented. The procedure includes specifications for sample collection, material preparation and characterization (including microstructural properties), and the determination of a representative elemental area (REA) for a fully developed crack network. Finally, a new climatic chamber capable of controlling temperature and relative humidity is designed and tested. The chamber can monitor CO2 flux through a fully developed crack network, enabling fundamental research on the relationship between desiccation cracking and the oxidation of soil organic carbon. The key findings indicate a dependency of soil microstructure on temperature changes. CEC and BET surface area significantly decrease with temperatures beyond 100ºC, indicating a relationship that needs further study. Additionally, compacted and slurry cracking behavior was found to be sensitive to boundary geometry and sample thickness. A REA was identified for each slurry sample thickness. The procedures of this research can be repeated for other soil types and used to connect existing and future research to improve understanding of desiccation cracking behavior, and to study the effects of desiccation cracking on other important geo-environmental phenomena.

As climate change escalates and the demands for energy resources increase, modern geotechnical engineering must tackle critical challenges to ensure sustainable development and enhance the resilience of infrastructure in society. The coupled chemo-hydro-mechanical processes in multiphase materials present significant challenges in geotechnical engineering, particularly for applications like carbon sequestration, geological disposal of nuclear waste, and hydraulic fracturing with reactive fluids, all of which involve highly heterogeneous and strongly anisotropic multiphysics environments. This dissertation introduces a multiphysical computational framework specifically designed to address the challenges associated with these unconventional applications. In this dissertation, we consider not only the local multiphysical coupling effects in the constitutive model but also the nonlocal effects arising from pore fluid flow, chemical species convection and diffusion, chemical reactions occurring in both solid and fluid constituents, and damage due to fluid pressure acting on fractures in the solid. We have integrated all these physical processes and developed a single unified model capable of handling the complex hydro-chemo-mechanical responses of geomaterials under varying geochemical conditions, confining pressures, and external loading scenarios. This computational framework offers a comprehensive simulation tool to investigate the long-term stability of geomaterials, which is determined by the intensity of chemical reactions under specific temperature and pressure conditions (assuming an isothermal condition in this dissertation), as well as the sustainability of geotechnical infrastructure in erosive environments driven by both mechanical and chemical processes. Three key aspects of engineering applications related to the effects of chemical reactions in geotechnical engineering are addressed. Firstly, we have integrated a complete calcite reaction system into poromechanics to couple pore geochemistry with poroelasticity theory. This integration is capable of predicting the geomechanical response essential for long-term stability analysis in \ch{CO2} sequestration engineering. Key features of this model include a multi-field finite element approach, local-equilibrium explicit geochemistry characterization of the calcite dissolution/precipitation reaction system, a robust algorithm for sequentially coupling pore geochemistry with poromechanics, and strategies to enhance the computational efficiency of solvers. Secondly, for applications involving acid working fluids in hydraulic fracturing, we have extended and adapted previous models within the phase field method framework. This extended integration effectively addresses the effects of chemically assisted fracturing in hydraulic fracturing operations. The key innovations of this model are the implementation of the phase field method to capture crack behaviors with poromechanics, the modeling of acid fluid transport in porous media and fractures, and its application to multiple mineral reaction systems. Thirdly, we have proposed a constitutive model that incorporates pore geochemistry and the pressure dissolution effect into internal variables, effectively capturing the chemical reactions contributing to softening in geomaterials. This model effectively illustrates and predicts chemically induced weathering or damage in granular porous media, such as sinkholes and subsidence. Derivations of a thermodynamically-based degradation index consider the influences of pore geochemistry and contact forces between grains and bonds. The model also proposes cross-scale relationships that consider reaction effects from individual particle sizes to particle aggregates. Furthermore, these relationships are incorporated into classical Cam-Clay-type models, along with the derivation of a consistent tangent modulus. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis presents the comprehensive behaviors of geomaterials under mechanical, fluid, and chemical interactions, which result in displacement and cracking. Since there is no existing software or simulation tool that includes all the physical behaviors considered in this dissertation, the development and implementation of these physical mechanisms, followed by testing and analysis for engineering problems, constitutes the main contribution of this work. The newly developed simulation tool ranges from simulating the mechanical behavior of porous media saturated with water and reactive fluid to modeling the seepage of water/reactive fluid that triggers damage (cracks) in the porous media. This simulation tool can effectively analyze engineering problems that focus on the interactions between the working fluid and the host solid matrix under complex solution conditions. Examples include modeling carbon sequestration in saline aquifers and the storage of nuclear waste in subsurface repositories etc. The simulation tool proposed in this thesis incorporates rigorous mathematical derivations, efficient and accurate multiscale discretization techniques, robust non-iterative and iterative numerical coupling strategies, and thorough comparisons between numerical results and experimental/laboratory data. Simultaneously, it is important to recognize the model's limitations. Although the model assumes local equilibrium and interactions between physical mechanisms, it cannot fully capture all behaviors under these assumptions due to the restrictions in our understanding and potential constraints of numerical methods.

Underwater explosions pose a significant threat to waterborne infrastructure though destructive pressure waves that can travel significant distances through the water. However, the use of bubble screens can attenuate the peak pressure and energy flux created by explosions to safe levels. This study investigates the prediction of pressure wave characteristics based on accumulated data, the damage potential of underwater explosions based on applied loads and effective material strength, and the bubble screen parameters required to prevent damage. The results were compiled to form a procedure for the design and implementation of a bubble screen the protection of waterborne infrastructure.

This study is focused on developing a method to predict the dynamic behavior of mine tailings dams under earthquake loading. Tailings dams are a by-product of coal mining and processing activities. Mine tailings impoundments are prone to instability and failure under seismic loading as a result of the mechanical behavior of the tailings. Due to the existence of potential seismic sources in close proximity to the coal mining regions in the United States, it is necessary to assess the post-earthquake stability of these tailings dams. To develop the aforementioned methodology, 34 cyclic triaxial tests along with vane shear tests were performed on undisturbed mine tailings specimens from two impoundments in Kentucky. Therefore, the liquefaction resistance and the residual shear strength of the specimens were measured. The laboratory cyclic strength curves for the coal mine specimens were produced, and the relationship between plasticity, density, cyclic stress ratio, and number of cycles to liquefaction were identified. The samples from the Big Branch impoundment were generally loose samples, while the Abner Fork specimens were dense samples, older and slightly cemented. The data suggest that the number of loading cycles required to initiate liquefaction in mine tailings, NL, decreases with increasing CSR and with decreasing density. This trend is similar to what is typically observed in soil. For a number of selected specimens, using the results of a series of small-strain cyclic triaxial tests, the shear modulus reduction curves and damping ratio plots were created. The data obtained from laboratory experiments were correlated to the previously recorded geotechnical field data from the two impoundments. The field parameters including the SPT blow counts (N1)60, corrected CPT cone tip resistance (qt), and shear wave velocity (vs), were correlated to the laboratory measured cyclic resistance ratio (CRR). The results indicate that in general, the higher the (N1)60 and the tip resistance (qt), the higher the CSR was. Ultimately, practitioners will be able to use these correlations along with common state-of-practice geotechnical field methods to predict cyclic resistance in fine tailings to assess the liquefaction potential and post-earthquake stability of the impoundment structures.