Simulation of fracture contact mechanics in deformable fractured media is of paramount important in computational mechanics. Previous studies have revealed that compressive loading may produce mode II fractures, which is quite different from mode I fractures induced by tensile loading. Furthermore, fractures can cross each other. This will increase the complexity of their network deformation under different loading types significantly. In this work, a stabilized mixed-finite element (FE) scheme with Lagrange multipliers is proposed in the framework of variational formulation, which is able to simulate frictional contact, shear failure (mode II) and opening (mode I) of multiple crossing fractures. A novel treatment is devised to guarantee physical solutions at the intersection of crossing fractures. A preconditioner is introduced to re-scale the saddle-point algebraic system and to preserve the numerical robustness. Then, a solution strategy is designed to calculate the unknowns, displacement and Lagrange multipliers, in one algebraic system. Later, numerical tests are conducted to study mechanical behaviors of fractured media. Benchmark study is performed to verify the presented mixed-FE scheme. A deformable medium with crossing fractures is simulated under mixed-mode loading types. The characteristics of fracture contact, surface sliding, opening and variation of stress intensity factor are analyzed. Simulation results show that the curve of slippage induced by compression, as well as the opening induced by internal fluid pressure, along the fracture length holds a parabolic shape. The diagonal contact point, at the intersecting position of the crossing fractures, is studied in detail, specially under different stress states. Finally, the impact of intersecting fractures on frictional contact mechanics is investigated for different loading conditions.

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The past decades have witnessed an increasing interest in numerical simulation for flow in fractured porous media. To date, most studies have focused on 2D or pseudo-3D computational models, where the impact of 3D complex structures on seepage has not been fully addressed. This work presents a method for modeling seepage in 3D heterogeneous porous media. The complex structures, typically the stochastic discrete fractures and inclusions, are able to be simulated. A mesh strategy is proposed to discretize the complex domain. In particular, a treatment on the intersected elements is developed to ensure a conforming mesh. Then, numerical discretization is provided, in which the flux interactions of fractures, inclusions and surrounding rock matrix are included. Numerical tests are performed to analyze the hydraulic characteristics of 3D fractured media. First, the developed framework is validated by comparing numerical solutions with the results of embedded discrete fracture model. Next, the effects of orientation, aperture and radius of fractures on fluid flow and equivalent permeability tensor are analyzed. The variations of pressure distribution are studied in heterogeneous and homogeneous media. Finally, the hydraulic properties of a medium with complex structures are investigated to show the difference of hydraulic feature between fractures and inclusions.

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This work investigates numerical method and equivalent continuum approach (ECA) of fluid flow in fractured porous media. The commonly used discrete fracture model (DFM) without upscaling needs full discretization of all fractures. It enjoys the merit of capturing each fracture accurately but will get in trouble with mesh partition and low computational efficiency, especially when a complex geometry is involved. In this study, we develop an efficient implicit scheme with adaptive iteration, in which an improved ECA is devised and then integrated in this scheme. Numerical studies show that the proposed numerical scheme improves the convergence condition and computational efficiency. Then, a test is conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of using superposition principle of permeability tensor in upscaling. Based on these, different strategies are applied to simulate fluid flow in fracture networks with a complex geometry. It is demonstrated that the proposed ECA is able to reproduce the results computed by DFM. The accuracy depends on resolution of background grids. The presented method enjoys a low computational cost and desirable convergence performance compared with the standard DFM in which equivalent continuum is not considered.@en

Temperature variation is an essential factor to influence the stability of concrete structure. In contrast to the uniform distribution of temperature in most existing approaches, this paper aims to study the natural temperature distribution in concrete structure and analyze its impact on structural mechanical behaviors in field. As a case study, an underwater shield tunnel is investigated using the presented method. Firstly, temperature sensors are installed in different positions to achieve real-time monitoring in field. Then, a statistical model is derived by monitoring data to describe temperature variation. As a core component of the approach, the devised statistical model is integrated into our program to determine the external loads imposed on model. Finally, the mechanical behaviors of concrete structure are discussed under uneven temperature distribution. Analytical results indicated the magnitudes of temperature distribution is related to different positions of structure, in which the significant distinctions can be observed at upper and lower of tunnel as well as the inside and outside structures. Also, the tensile stress of tunnel lining increases with the rise of temperature, for instance, in this case study per temperature rising would lead to an increment 25.3 KPa of tensile stress. As a promising application, the analytical results provide an assessment of concrete structure stability.

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Shield tunneling is one of the most important technologies for building of underground engineering. Many grouting holes were prefabricated for the requirement of backfill grouting, which is easy to induce local damages and potential disasters, such as leakage and cracking. Accordingly, an integrated workflow for damage detection and stability evaluation was performed based on nondestructive testing (NDT) and numerical simulation. As a case study, this method was applied to an underwater shield tunnel. Firstly, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was used to detect the conditions in grouting holes. Then, the infrared camera was used to determine the damaged positions induced by grouting holes. According to NDT results, the numerical models were developed to analyze the mechanical behaviors of structure. It indicated the geophysical inversion results are consistent with field conditions. The influence area increases with a significant value of water pressure, and stress magnitude would increase to 45KPa if the increment of water pressure reaches to 10KPa. As a promising application, structure stability was evaluated in the light of analytical results.

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The investigation of concrete structural performance is crucial to maintain the stability of infrastructure. In order to assess structural stability, this work focuses on the development of an integrated framework to detect damaged conditions in the field and analyze their effect on mechanical performance through nondestructive testing (NDT) technology and numerical models. First, a ground penetrating radar (GPR) and an infrared camera work collaboratively to identify the damaged positions of the concrete structure, with parameters calibrated by laboratory experiments. Then, a finite element model is established to study structural mechanical performance based on field conditions and detected results. In addition, the influenced regions induced by local damage are studied under different boundary conditions. As a case study, the devised method was employed in the Nanjing Yangtze River tunnel for stability assessment and disaster prevention. The detected results of the damaged conditions agree well with the actual conditions in the field. Numerical results show that the circumferential stress component is more significant than that observed longitudinally. The effect of local damage on stress implies a positive correlation with the rise of water pressure, in which the maximum stress response to the variation of water level is 45KPa per meter.

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Settlement behavior plays an important role for the stability of underwater tunnel due to the different responses of fractured surrounding rock to external load. In contrast to the traditional analysis method based on continuum mechanics, the presented numerical model using improved hybrid finite element was performed to study the settlement behaviors of structure, and structural health monitoring system (SHMS) was introduced for field verification. The Nanjing Yangtze River tunnel, a typical underwater shield tunnel was selected as a case study for numerical simulation and real-time monitoring. First, an improved numerical model was developed on the basic of our previous research, which considers the impact of natural geological fractures on structure stability. Then, numerical investigation was applied to study the displacement of settlement under different boundary conditions. The differences between intact and fractured surrounding rock were discussed, which denote the response of fractured surrounding rock is significantly larger. To verify the numerical results, SHMS was employed in this project to monitor its mechanical behaviors. On the basis of the mass monitoring data, the analytical method was introduced to investigate the response of tunnel settlement to water pressure, which agreed well with the results obtained from the model of fractured surrounding rock.

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