This paper is focused on soil subsidence of small extend and amplitude caused by tunnel boring or the collapse of underground cavities, whether natural or man-made. The impact of the movements of the ground on existing structures is generally dramatic. It is therefore necessary to accurately predict these movements (settlements and horizontal extension or compression displacements). Even though...

We present a physically intuitive model of ice-lens formation and growth during the freezing of soils and other dense, particulate suspensions. Motivated by experimental evidence, we consider the growth of an ice-filled crack in a freezing soil. At low temperatures, ice in the crack exerts large pressures on the crack walls that will eventually cause the crack to split open. We show that the cr...

[1] Shallow landslides are a significant hazard in steep, soil-mantled landscapes. During intense rainfall events, the distribution of shallow landslides is controlled by variations in landscape gradient, the frictional and cohesive properties of soil and roots, and the subsurface hydrologic response. While gradients can be estimated from digital elevation models, information on soil and root p...

Failure of dams due to overtopping is among the most frequent forms of embankment failures. Owing to massive and wide spread damage to structures and loss of lives associated with a dam failure, the subject has drawn the attention of scientists. The study also becomes essential for damage assessment and for development of early warning system of people downstream of the embankment. The rate of ...

We have established the cohesive law for interfaces between a carbon nanotube (CNT) and polymer that are not well bonded and are characterized by the van der Waals force. The tensile cohesive strength and cohesive energy are given in terms of the area density of carbon nanotube and volume density of polymer, as well as the parameters in the van der Waals force. For a CNT in an infinite polymer,...

A common practice in civil engineering during earthworks is the usual replacement of cohesive soils (fine soils), excavated earthworks, with non-cohesive (coarse soils). Until recently, such a procedure was dictated primarily by economic and technical reasons. From an point view, ease access therefore low cost using instead crucial. The reason is, above all, compacting fine (as opposed to soils...

The paper analyzes the problem of initial compaction a non-cohesive soil sample on example dry silty sand samples. Two different methodologies were used: I) dynamic - using split Hopkinson pressure bar and II) vibration vibrating shaker. A better result process was obtained for with an value 0.5 (small difference in both methods comparable results). also includes numerical analysis calibration ...

Restoration of species-rich grasslands on ex-arable land can help the conservation of biodiversity but faces three big challenges: absence of target plant propagules, high residual soil fertility and restoration of soil communities. Seed additions and top soil removal can solve some of these constraints, but restoring beneficial biotic soil conditions remains a challenge. Here we test the hypot...

Plant-soil feedbacks and interspecific competition are ubiquitous interactions that strongly influence the performance of plants. Yet few studies have examined whether the strength of these interactions corresponds with the abundance of plant species in the field, or whether feedbacks and competition interact in ways that either ameliorate or exacerbate their effects in isolation. We sampled so...