1,720,972 research outputs found
Influence of grass roots on shear strength of pyroclastic soils
This paper investigates the effects of indigenous vegetation on the shear strength of loose pyroclastic soils of the Campania region (southern Italy); these soils are frequently affected by shallow landslides 1–2 m deep that experience static liquefaction during the post-failure stage. Perennial graminae grasses were seeded in a one-dimensional column 2 m high and filled by pyroclastic soils, allowing the root to grow under atmospheric conditions. A noninvasive sampling procedure was adopted to take the vegetated soil samples, in which the roots were in their natural geometrical distribution. For each rooted sample, the root biomass, RM, was measured and the root volume density, RVD, was calculated. Isotropic consolidated triaxial tests in both drained and undrained conditions were performed on the rooted specimens, as well as on bare specimens as a control. The obtained results showed that the roots generally provided an increment to the soil strength. In drained conditions a reduction in the volumetric deformation was observed, which, under undrained conditions, was reflected in a general reduction of the excess pore-water pressures with a possible inhibition of the static liquefaction occurrence. This study highlights the potential role of grass roots as bio-engineering practice for stabilizing shallow covers of pyroclastic soils
The influence of suction on stiffness, shear strength, viscosity and collapse of some volcanic ashy soils.
Investigating the Effects of Fire on Rooted Pyroclastic Soil Properties by Laboratory Burning Treatments
Sperimentazione sulla risposta idraulica di terreni piroclastici radicati con graminacee.
Experimental Analysis of the Fire-Induced Effects on the Physical, Mechanical, and Hydraulic Properties of Sloping Pyroclastic Soils
The paper investigates the changes in the physical, mechanical, and hydraulic properties of coarse-grained pyroclastic soils, considered under both wildfire-burned and laboratory heating conditions. The soil samples were collected on Mount “Le Porche” in the municipality of Siano (Campania Region, Southern Italy), hit by wildfires on 20 September 2019. The area is prone to fast-moving landslides, as testified by the disastrous events of 5–6 May 1998. The experimental results show that the analyzed surficial samples exhibited (i) grain size distribution variations due to the disaggregation of gravelly and sandy particles (mostly of pumice nature), (ii) chromatic changes ranging from black to reddish, (iii) changes in specific gravity in low-severity fire-burned soil samples different from those exposed to laboratory heating treatments; (iv) progressive reductions of shear strength, associated with a decrease in the cohesive contribution offered by the soil-root systems and, for more severe burns, even in the soil friction angle, and (v) changes in soil-water retention capacity. Although the analyses deserve further deepening, the appropriate knowledge on these issues could provide key inputs for geotechnical analyses dealing with landslide susceptibility on fire-affected slopes in unsaturated conditions
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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