Abstract This study investigates the impact of blast-induced vibration on the stability of the Zhuyuan accumulation body at Hancheng North Station along the Menghua Railway. Based on engineering geological data, shear strength parameters of slip zones were optimized through iterative parameter inversion under both natural and saturated conditions. The stability was evaluated using a transient pseudo-static limit equilibrium framework under four conditions: self-weight, rainfall, blasting, and rainfall-plus-blasting. Vibration attenuation was modeled via the Sadovskii formula calibrated for shallow and deep-hole patterns. Unlike conventional pseudo-static analyses that directly adopt laboratory parameters, this study introduces a data-driven inversion procedure strictly constrained by field deformation observations and quantifies the distinct contributions of hydrologic softening versus transient blast inertia. Results indicate that while the accumulation body remains stable under natural conditions, intense rainfall serves as the primary destabilizing factor, bringing critical sections to a limit equilibrium state. Blast-induced vibration causes only minor and reversible safety factor fluctuations (< 0.5%), confirming that stability is predominantly governed by the long-term hydro-mechanical state of the rock-soil mass rather than transient inertial effects.
Abstract Residual stresses in complex-geometry components are affected by material properties, geometric constraints, and manufacturing processes, while curved surfaces, internal holes, fillets, and welded joints increase the uncertainty of X-ray diffraction peak-position determination. In this study, XRD was used to measure surface residual stresses in steel, aluminum alloy, and titanium alloy tubular specimens, welded joints, and complex process regions. Measurement reliability was evaluated through peak-shape processing, repeatability assessment, and comparison of shot-peening simulations with layer-removal measurements. A total of 456 data points were obtained, covering an overall stress range of -233.0 to 158.0 MPa. The overall repeatability deviation was within ±25 MPa under the adopted measurement and processing conditions, although this aggregate value does not represent a uniform limit for all component types or local geometries. The stress ranges of the tubular specimens, welded joints, and complex process regions were -95.7 to 158.0 MPa, -49.0 to 74.3 MPa, and -233.0 to 65.0 MPa, respectively, with the complex regions showing the greatest scatter. Peak-shape analysis of the aluminum alloy yielded m = 1.8, indicating a line shape between Cauchy and Gaussian profiles. At 120 m/s, the simulated surface and maximum compressive residual stresses were -580 and -1113 MPa, respectively, while the measured maximum values at 0.45 and 0.65 mmA were -1074 and -1086 MPa. These results indicate that the adopted XRD procedure applies to surface and near-surface residual-stress evaluation in complex-geometry components, provided that peak quality and local accessibility are carefully considered.
Abstract To address the cracking issues observed in miter gates during their long-term service in navigation locks, a numerical simulation method was adopted to systematically analyze the distribution characteristics, hazard mechanisms, and development trends of the cracks. A detailed finite element model of the gate, incorporating the actual cracks, was developed. This model was used to calculate and analyze the gate’s stress and displacement responses as well as its fatigue life. The results revealed severe stress concentration at the crack tips, indicating a risk of unstable crack propagation. Based on this analysis, two remedial measures were proposed: comprehensive local repair and gate lattice reinforcement. The effectiveness of these measures was verified through further simulation. The simulations demonstrated that after reinforcement, the gate’s load-bearing capacity and durability were effectively restored. The findings of this research provide a scientific basis for ensuring the safe operation and guiding future modifications of navigation locks.
Abstract A probabilistic model of crack propagation rate for 15-5PH precipitation-hardening stainless steel is established based on statistical theory. Fatigue crack propagation tests are carried out on middle tension specimens to obtain crack propagation rate curves under three stress ratios R = −1, 0.5 and 0.06. A novel crack propagation model is developed by combining the probabilistic distribution characteristics of material constants in the Paris law with the one-sided tolerance limit factor method. Goodness-of-fit tests and reliability verification are implemented with experimental data. The results reveal that the proposed model can characterize the probabilistic distribution of crack propagation rate and calculate the confidence interval under specified reliability and confidence levels. This probabilistic model provides theoretical support for damage tolerance and the life prediction of critical aerospace structural components with high reliability requirements.
Abstract In this paper, X80 steel is selected as the research material, and two kinds of X80 steel specimens are designed for fatigue tests, including flat plates with central inclined cracks and stiffened pipelines equipped with crack-arrest stiffeners. A 3D numerical model based on the extended finite element method (XFEM) is established on the ABAQUS platform, and the crack growth a-N curves as well as fatigue lives obtained from numerical simulations and physical tests are compared. The results reveal that the relative errors between the XFEM-predicted fatigue life and the average experimental life of flat plate specimens with 30° and 60° inclined cracks are 4.5% and 2.6%, respectively. The relative error of simulated fatigue life for the stiffened pipeline structure is 6.0%, and the numerically derived curves are highly consistent with the evolution law of crack propagation observed in experiments. This study verifies that XFEM can accurately predict the fatigue crack growth path and fatigue life of X80 steel components, which provides an efficient and reliable numerical analysis tool for fatigue performance evaluation and structural safety operation and maintenance of steel weld joints and complex stiffened components.
