In recent years, the desperate need for reliable clean and relatively small power demand has emerged for edge-of-grid or off-grid regions to keep pace with development demands. A salient technology that has gained much attention for this purpose is the Small Modular Reactors, i.e., SMRs. SMRs differ from conventional Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) in many aspects, specifically the enclosing structure of the reactor. The burial depth of the SMR structure is expected to reach great depths. For example, the substructure depth reaches 30 m in the SMR design proposed by NuScale (NuScale Power, 2020). Consequently, seismic analysis of deeply embedded structures with a relatively small footprint has been identified as one of the challenges to the safe implementation of SMR technology (DIS-16-04, 2016). Such structures are expected to be more sensitive to surface wave propagation and the seismic interaction with nearby substructures and nonstructural elements such as pipelines. This dissertation develops analytical and numerical methods to analyze the seismic earth pressure exerted on the SMR substructure by considering the effects of seismic surface waves, structure-soil-structure interaction (SSSI), and the interaction with nearby pipelines. The three-dimensional wave propagation theory is employed in the analysis. Solutions for the earth pressure induced by Rayleigh waves are obtained for substructures deeply embedded into homogeneous or multilayered soil profiles. In addition, the effect of thin soil layer (stiff or soft) soils in a soil profile is investigated in the presence of Rayleigh waves. Furthermore, additional earth pressure due to SSSI is examined, and a simplified procedure is proposed based on the three-dimensional wave propagation theory and a guided flow chart to track seismic wave interference. The SSSI analysis yields solutions for the optimal distance between substructures corresponding to the minimum SSSI in new designs. The interaction between substructures and nearby pipelines is explored numerically using the Spectral Element Method. SPECFEM2D software is adopted to perform the analysis, where the three-dimensional wave propagation is successfully implemented. Based on the analysis for pipelines with different configurations, general conclusions are drawn regarding the additional earth pressure on substructures and pipelines based on a comprehensive parametric study of various parameters. In addition, this research also provides an approach to determine the backfill configuration and the selection of backfill materials, which could minimize the seismic amplitudes transmitted to substructures. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are the cornerstone of recent developments in the nuclear industry. However, the SMRs technology faces several safety-related challenges, which includes the earthquake hazards related to the large embedment depth of the enclosing structure. In particular, the major concerns are about the risks related to seismic surface waves as well as the seismic interaction between nearby structural and non-structural elements (e.g., pipelines). The thesis addressed these major concerns by developing analytical and numerical methods to complement the analysis for the integrity of SMRs with sufficient seismic resistance. The solutions are verified and benchmarked using data in the literature. Future researches are suggested to further improve seismic analysis of SMRs.

The spatial patterns of bimaterial interfaces along the Parkfield section of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) and central section of the Calaveras Fault are systematically investigated with large data sets of near-fault waveforms. Different from the usage of direct P and S waves in traditional tomographic studies, a particular seismic phase named fault zone head wave (FZHW) is used to image the bimaterial fault interfaces. The results show clear variations of seismic velocities contrast both along-strike and along-depth directions in both regions, which is in general consistent with local geological setting at surface and existing 3D tomography results. In the Parkfield section of SAF, the result of velocity contrast is used to test the relationship between preferred rupture directions of M6 Parkfield earthquakes and bimaterial interface. Strong velocity contrast (~5-10%) near Middle Mountain (MM) could control the rupture directions of nearby earthquakes to SE, such as the case for 1966 M6 Parkfield earthquake. In comparison, weak velocity contrast (~0-2%) near the epicenter of the 2004 Parkfield M6 earthquake (i.e., Gold Hill) probably has no influence on controlling its rupture direction, which is consistent with the bilateral rupture of the 2004 Parkfield earthquake. In the central Calaveras Fault, a detailed analysis of the moveout between FZHWs and direct P waves revealed the existence of a complicated fault structure with velocity contrast increasing from NW to SE of station CCO. The high velocity contrast SE of station CCO could be caused by a low-velocity zone SE of station CCO. The spatio-temporal variations of seismic velocity around the central Calaveras Fault and its nearby region are investigated based on the waveform analysis of 333 repeating clusters following the 1984 ML6.2 Morgan Hill earthquake. Clear reduction of seismic velocity is shown for all repeating clusters immediately after the mainshock, followed by a logarithmic recovery. The coseismic change mostly occurs at shallow layers (top few hundred meters) for the region away from the rupture area of the mainshock, but extends much deeper around the rupture zone of the Morgan Hill earthquake. The estimated depth of the damage zone is up to 6 km in the fault based on the repeating clusters directly beneath station CCO. Finally, temporal changes around the Parkfield section of SAF are studied using recently developed ambient noise cross-correlation technique. The extracted daily empirical Green functions (EGFs) from 0.4-1.3 Hz noise records are used to estimate subtle temporal changes associated with large earthquakes from local to teleseismic distances. The results show clear coseismic reduction of seismic velocities after the 2004 M6 Parkfield earthquake, similar to the previous observation based on repeating earthquakes. However, no systematic changes have been detected for other four regional/teleseismic events that have triggered clear tremor activity in the same region. These results suggest that temporal changes associated with distance sources are very subtle or localized so that they could not be detected within the resolution of the current technique (~0.2%).

[Truncated abstract] Interferometric gravitational wave detectors are being built around the world with continually improving measurement sensitivities. Noise levels from sources that are intrinsic to these detectors must be reduced to a level below the gravita- tional wave signal. Seismic noise in the low frequency range, which is within the gravitational wave detection bandwidth, is a concern for earth-based detectors. This thesis presents research and development of a high performance vibration isolation system that is designed to attenuate seismic noise. The final design will be used as part of a fully working interferometer at the Australian International Gravitational Observatory (AIGO). Pendulums and springs are conventionally used for the horizontal and vertical vibration isolation components respectively. A complete system comprises of a cascade of these components, each stage dramatically improving the level of isola- tion. The residual motion at the test mass level is thus reduced but is dominated by the normal mode resonances of the chain. A simple and effective method to reduce residual motion further is to add ultra-low frequency pre-isolation stages which suspend the chain. The Roberts Linkage is a relatively new and simple geometrical structure that is implemented in the pre-isolation stages. Here we present experimental results of improving isolation based on mathematical mod- elling. The attenuation of seismic noise in the vertical direction is almost as important as that in the horizontal direction, due to cross-coupling between the two planes. To help improve the vertical performance a lightweight Euler spring that stores no static energy was implemented into the AIGO suspension system. ... Theoretical and experimental results are presented and discussed. Currently the AIGO laboratory consists of two 80 m length arms. They are aligned along the east and south directions. One of AIGO's top priorities is the installation of two complete vibration isolators in the east arm to form a Fabry-Perot cavity. Assembling two suspension systems will enable more accurate performance measurements of the tuned isolators. This would significantly reduce the measurement noise floor as well as eliminate the seismic noise spectrum due to referencing with the ground motion. The processes involved in preparing such a task is presented, including clean room preparation, tuning of each isolator stage, and local control schematics and methods. The status of the AIGO site is also presented.

Orientadores: Maria Amélia Novais Schleicher, Joerg Dietrich Wilhelm Schleicher / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Matemática Estatística e Computação Científica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-24T12:48:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Coimbra_TiagoAntonioAlves_D.pdf: 11322080 bytes, checksum: 57d63d91892a162c542c0a1d25e3c08b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: A operação para continuação de afastamento (Offset Continuation Operation - OCO) transforma um registro sísmico adquirido com um certo afastamento entre fonte e receptor, em um registro correspondente como se fosse adquirido com outro afastamento. O deslocamento de um evento sísmico sob esta operação pode ser descrito por uma equação diferencial parcial de segunda ordem. Baseado na aproximação WKBJ, deduzimos uma equação tipo iconal OCO que descreve os aspectos cinemáticos deste deslocamento em analogia a uma onda acústica, e uma equação de transporte que descreve a alteração das amplitudes. Baseado na teoria dos raios representamos uma forma de solução para a nova equação proposta. Notamos que operadores diferencias de transformação de configuração que corrigem o fator de espalhamento geométrico para qualquer afastamento, ao menos de modo assintótico, são novos na literatura. Baseados na cinemática da operação, propomos um operador de empilhamento multi-paramétrico no domínio não-migrado dos dados sísmicos. Esse empilhamento multi-paramétrico usa uma velocidade média, chamada de velocidade OCO, bem como outros parâmetros cinemáticos do campo de onda importantes. Por se basear na OCO, os tempos de trânsito usados neste empilhamento multi-paramétrico acompanham a trajetória OCO que aproxima à verdadeira trajetória do ponto de reflexão comum. Assim, os parâmetros extraídos servem para melhorar a correção do sobretempo convencional ou realizar correções correspondentes para afastamentos não nulos. Desta forma, é possível aumentar a qualidade das seções empilhadas convencionais de afastamento nulo ou até gerar seções empilhadas de outros afastamentos. Os parâmetros cinemáticos envolvidos ainda podem ser utilizado para construir um melhor modelo de velocidade. Exemplos numéricos mostram que o empilhamento usando trajetórias OCO aumenta, de forma significativa, a qualidade dos dados com uso de menos parâmetros que nos métodos clássicos / Abstract: The Offset Continuation Operation (OCO) transforms a seismic record with a certain offset between source and receiver in another record as if obtained with another offset. The displacement between a seismic event under this operation may be modeled by a second order partial differential equation. We base on the WKBJ approximation and deduce an OCO equation type-eikonal and a transport equation. The former decribes the kinematic features of this displacement, analogously to an acoustic wave, and the latter describes the change of the amplitudes. We present a solution for the proposed new equation, based on the ray theory. The differential configuration transformation operators that correct the geometric spreading for any common offset section (CO) in an asymptoptic way are a novelty in the literature. Based on the kinematics of the operation, we propose a multi-parametric stacking on the unmigrated data domain. This multi-parametric use stacking average velocity called OCO velocity and other kinematic parameters important field from waveform. Since it is based on OCO, travel times used in this multi-parametric stacking accompany OCO trajectory that approximates the true trajectory of the common reflection point (CRP). Thus, the extracted parameters are used to improve the precision of the moveout or to do corresponding corrections for nonzero offsets. Thus, it is possible to increase the quality of conventional sections stacked in zero offset or even generate stacked sections other common offsets. The kinematic parameters involved can also be used to build a velocity model better. Numerical examples show that the stacking using trajectories OCO increases, significantly, the quality of the data using fewer parameters than the classical methods / Doutorado / Matematica Aplicada / Doutor em Matemática Aplicada

Tunnel Seismic Prediction (TSP) is a geophysical investigation method used to predict the rock conditions ahead of the tunnel face. The method has been used in different types of rock and rock conditions. The Swedish Transport Administration, Trafikverket, has used the investigation method in multiple locations in the large infrastructure project E4 The Stockholm Bypass. The method is however rather new to Swedish rock conditions, and there is therefore a need to evaluate the method to assess its strengths and weaknesses. In this thesis, the TSP method is compared to other investigation methods used in the Stockholm Bypass project at the location Sätra-Kungshatt where the tunnels cross underneath Lake Mälaren. The investigation methods include geological mapping and Measurement While Drilling (MWD). The TSP results are also compared to the engineering geological prognosis. An evaluation of how the seismic primary and secondary waves, Vp and Vs, correlates to rock quality was carried out, and a linear regression analysis was performed to determine if the wave velocities found using the TSP method correlate with the Q value retrieved through the geological mapping. It was found that the TSP method is capable of detecting weaker zones of rock mass, however no correlation between the wave velocities and the Q value used to describe the quality of the rock mass was found. When comparing the TSP results to the MWD results, it was found that the methods could be used as complements to each other as the different methods sometimes detected weakness zones where the other method did not. As the geology in this location of Stockholm Bypass overall was found to be complex with rather poor rock mass quality, it could be concluded that the TSP method might be better suited for less complex geology where the contrast in rock quality is greater. / Tunnel Seismic Prediction (TSP) är en geofysisk undersökningsmetod för att tillhandhålla en prognos av berget framför tunnelstuffen. Metoden har använts i olika typer av berg och bergförhållanden. I Sverige har metoden använts av Trafikverket vid flertalet tillfällen i infrastrukturprojektet E4 Förbifart Stockholm. Metoden är dock relativt ny för de svenska bergförhållandena, vilket gör att det finns ett behov av att utvärdera metodens styrkor och svagheter i dessa förhållanden. I detta masterprojekt har resultaten som tillhandahållits från TSP-metoden jämförts med resultat från andra undersökningsmetoder som använts vid vattenpassagen vid Sätra-Kungshatt där tunneln korsar under Mälaren. Dessa undersökningsmetoder inkluderar geologisk kartering och Measurement While Drilling (MWD). TSP-resultaten har även jämförts med den ingenjörsgeologiska prognosen för området. Vikt har lagts på hur den seismiska primärvågen, Vp, och sekundärvågen, Vs, förhåller sig till den karterade bergkvaliteten. En regressionsanalys har även utförts för att avgöra om resultaten från TSP-metoden korrelerar med resultaten från den geologiska karteringen. Jämförelsen mellan de olika undersökningsmetoderna visade på att TSP kan påvisa svaghetszoner i bergmassan. Dock kunde ingen korrelation mellan våghastigheterna och Q värdet påvisas. Jämförelsen mellan TSP och MWD visade att de båda metoderna generellt visade liknande resultat. Dock kunde vissa avvikelser mellan resultaten från metoderna hittas, vilket göra att metoderna skulle kunna användas som komplement till varandra. Detta då de olika metoderna ibland kunde identifiera svaghetszoner som den andra metoden inte kunde identifiera. De svåra geologiska förhållandena på platsen kan ha bidragit till att TSP-resultaten över lag är relativt svårtolkade, vilket gör att TSP-metoden möjligtvis är bättre lämpad för mindre komplexa bergförhållanden där kontrasten mellan bra och dålig bergkvalitet är tydligare.

Overpressure, or abnormally low effective pressures, is hazardous in drilling operations and construction of sea-bottom facilities in deepwater environments. Estimation of the locations of overpressure can improve safety in these operations and significantly reduce overall project costs. Propagation velocities of both seismic P and S wave are sensitive to bulk elastic parameters and density of the sediments, which can be related to porosity, pore fluid content, lithology, and effective pressures. Overpressured areas can be analyzed using 4C seismic reflection data, which includes P-P and P-SV reflections. In this thesis, the effects on compressional (P) and shear (S) wave velocities are investigated to estimate the magnitude and location of excess pore pressure utilizing Eaton’s approach for pressure prediction (Eaton, 1969). Eaton’s (1969) method relates changes in pore pressure to changes in seismic P-wave velocity. The underlying assumption of this method utilizes the ratio of observed P-wave velocity obtained from areas of both normal and abnormal pressure. This velocity ratio evaluated through an empirically determined exponent is then related to the ratio of effective stress under normal and abnormal pressure conditions. Effective stress in a normal pressured condition is greater than the effective stress value in abnormally overpressured conditions. Due to an increased sensitivity of variations in effective pressure to seismic interval velocity, Ebrom et al. (2003) employ a modified Eaton equation to incorporate the S-wave velocity in pore pressure prediction. The data preparation and subsequent observations of seismic P and S wave velocity estimates in this thesis represent a preliminary analysis for pore pressure prediction. Six 2D receiver gathers in the regional dip direction are extracted from six individual ocean-bottom 4C seismic recording nodes for P-P and P-SV velocity analysis. The receiver gathers employed have minimal pre-processing procedures applied. The main processing steps applied were: water bottom mute, 2D rotation of horizontal components to SV and SH orientation, deconvolution, and frequency filtering. Most the processing was performed in Matlab with a volume of scripts designed by research scientists from the University of Texas, Bureau of Economic Geology. In this thesis, fluid pressure prediction is estimated utilizing several 4C multicomponent ocean-bottom nodes in the Atlantis Field in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Velocity analysis is performed through a ray tracing approach utilizing P-P and P-SV registration. A modified Eaton’s Algorithm is then used for pore pressure prediction using both P and S wave velocity values. I was able to successfully observe both compressional and shear wave velocities to sediment depths of approximately 800 m below the seafloor. Using Hamilton (1972, 1976) and Eberhart-Phillips et al. (1989) regressions as background depth dependent velocity values and well-log derived background effective pressure values from deepwater Gulf of Mexico, I am able to solve for predicted effective pressure for the study area. The results show that the Atlantis subsurface study area experiences a degree of overpressure. / text

Nondestructive testing is used extensively throughout the industry for quality assessment and detection of defects in engineering materials. The range and variety of anomalies is enormous and critical assessment of their location and size is often complicated. Depending upon final operational considerations, some of these anomalies may be critical and their detection and classification is therefore of importance. Despite the several advantages of using Nondestructive testing for flaw detection, the conventional NDT techniques based on the heuristic experience-based pattern identification methods have many drawbacks in terms of cost, length and result in erratic analysis and thus lead to discrepancies in results. The use of several statistical and soft computing techniques in the evaluation and classification operations result in the development of an automatic decision support system for defect characterization that offers the possibility of an impartial standardized performance. The present work evaluates the application of both supervised and unsupervised classification techniques for flaw detection and classification in a semi-infinite half space. Finite element models to simulate the MASW test in the presence and absence of voids were developed using the commercial package LS-DYNA. To simulate anomalies, voids of different sizes were inserted on elastic medium. Features for the discrimination of received responses were extracted in time and frequency domains by applying suitable transformations. The compact feature vector is then classified by different techniques: supervised classification (backpropagation neural network, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, k-nearest neighbor classifier, linear discriminate classifier) and unsupervised classification (fuzzy c-means clustering). The classification results show that the performance of k-nearest Neighbor Classifier proved superior when compared with the other techniques with an overall accuracy of 94% in detection of presence of voids and an accuracy of 81% in determining the size of the void in the medium. The assessment of the various classifiers’ performance proved to be valuable in comparing the different techniques and establishing the applicability of simplified classification methods such as k-NN in defect characterization. The obtained classification accuracies for the detection and classification of voids are very encouraging, showing the suitability of the proposed approach to the development of a decision support system for non-destructive testing of materials for defect characterization.

Nondestructive testing is used extensively throughout the industry for quality assessment and detection of defects in engineering materials. The range and variety of anomalies is enormous and critical assessment of their location and size is often complicated. Depending upon final operational considerations, some of these anomalies may be critical and their detection and classification is therefore of importance. Despite the several advantages of using Nondestructive testing for flaw detection, the conventional NDT techniques based on the heuristic experience-based pattern identification methods have many drawbacks in terms of cost, length and result in erratic analysis and thus lead to discrepancies in results. The use of several statistical and soft computing techniques in the evaluation and classification operations result in the development of an automatic decision support system for defect characterization that offers the possibility of an impartial standardized performance. The present work evaluates the application of both supervised and unsupervised classification techniques for flaw detection and classification in a semi-infinite half space. Finite element models to simulate the MASW test in the presence and absence of voids were developed using the commercial package LS-DYNA. To simulate anomalies, voids of different sizes were inserted on elastic medium. Features for the discrimination of received responses were extracted in time and frequency domains by applying suitable transformations. The compact feature vector is then classified by different techniques: supervised classification (backpropagation neural network, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, k-nearest neighbor classifier, linear discriminate classifier) and unsupervised classification (fuzzy c-means clustering). The classification results show that the performance of k-nearest Neighbor Classifier proved superior when compared with the other techniques with an overall accuracy of 94% in detection of presence of voids and an accuracy of 81% in determining the size of the void in the medium. The assessment of the various classifiers’ performance proved to be valuable in comparing the different techniques and establishing the applicability of simplified classification methods such as k-NN in defect characterization. The obtained classification accuracies for the detection and classification of voids are very encouraging, showing the suitability of the proposed approach to the development of a decision support system for non-destructive testing of materials for defect characterization.

Our knowledge of elastic wave propagation in general heterogeneous media with complex geological structures comes principally from numerical simulations. In this dissertation, I demonstrate through rigorous theoretical analyses and comprehensive numerical experiments that the Fourier method is a suitable method of choice for large scale 3D seismic modeling and imaging problems, due to its high accuracy and computational efficiency. The most attractive feature of the Fourier method is its ability to produce highly accurate solutions on relatively coarser grids, compared with other numerical methods for solving wave equations. To further advance the Fourier method, I identify two aspects of the method to focus on in this work, i.e., its implementation on modern clusters of computers and efficient high-order time stepping schemes. I propose two new parallel algorithms to improve the efficiency of the Fourier method on distributed memory systems using MPI. The first algorithm employs non-blocking all-to-all communications to optimize the conventional parallel Fourier modeling workflows by overlapping communication with computation. With a carefully designed communication-computation overlapping mechanism, a large amount of communication overhead can be concealed when implementing different kinds of wave equations. The second algorithm combines the advantages of both the Fourier method and the finite difference method by using convolutional high-order finite difference operators to evaluate the spatial derivatives in the decomposed direction. The high-order convolutional finite difference method guarantees a satisfactory accuracy and provides the flexibility of using non-blocking point-to-point communications for efficient interprocessor data exchange and the possibility of overlapping communication and computation. As a result, this hybrid method achieves an optimized balance between numerical accuracy and computational efficiency. To improve the overall accuracy of time domain Fourier simulations, I propose a family of new high-order time stepping schemes, based on a novel algorithm for designing time integration operators, to reduce temporal derivative discretization errors in a cost-effective fashion. I explore the pseudo-analytical method and propose high-order formulations to further improve its accuracy and ability to deal with spatial heterogeneities. I also extend the pseudo-analytical method to solve the variable-density acoustic and elastic wave equations. I thoroughly examine the finite difference method by conducting complete numerical dispersion and stability analyses. I comprehensively compare the finite difference method with the Fourier method and provide a series of detailed benchmarking tests of these two methods under a number of different simulation configurations. The Fourier method outperforms the finite difference method, in terms of both accuracy and efficiency, for both the theoretical studies and the numerical experiments, which provides solid evidence that the Fourier method is a superior scheme for large scale seismic modeling and imaging problems. / text

Orientadores: João Marcos Travassos Romano, Leonardo Tomazeli Duarte / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T23:21:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Zanetti_RicardoAntonio_M.pdf: 21586747 bytes, checksum: 452b3dadea31fa37e922d925b45c10be (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: : O Resumo poderá ser visualizado no texto completo da tese digital / Abstract: : The complete Abstract is available with the full electronic / Mestrado / Telecomunicações e Telemática / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica