X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) scanning has been widely used for medical diagnosis. This technique is now attracting increasing interest as a tool in non-destructive testing in engineering. This book reports the early results of research into this application, with particular reference to deformation and failure of geomaterials. Presenting papers of the International Workshop on X-CT for Geomaterials at Kumamoto, Japan in 2003. The book is intended for researchers and professionals in the fields of geotechnical engineering, soil, rock and concrete engineering, and geology.

This book brings together a total of 48 contributions (including 5 keynote papers) which were presented at the 2nd International Workshop on the Application of X-ray CT for Geomaterials (GeoX 2006) held in Aussois, France, on 4-7 October, 2006. The contributions cover a wide range of topics, from fundamental characterization of material behavior to applications in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering. Recent advances of X-ray technology, hardware and software are also discussed. As such, this will be valuable reading for anyone interested in the application of X-ray CT to geomaterials from both fundamental and applied perspectives.

This title discusses a broad range of issues related to the use of computed tomography in geomaterials and geomechanics. The contributions cover a wide range of topics, including deformation and strain localization in soils, rocks and sediments; fracture and damage assessment in rocks, asphalt and concrete; transport in porous media; oil and gas exploration and production; neutron tomography and other novel experimental and analytical techniques; image-based computational modeling; and software and visualization tools. As such, this will be valuable reading for anyone interested in the application of computed tomography to geomaterials from both fundamental and applied perspectives.

This book is intended as a reference book for advanced graduate students and research engineers in rock mass structural mechanics related to civil engineering, mining, etc. The term of bimrocks (bimsoils, SRM, RSA) is used to describe the mixture of fine particles and larger blocks, such as mélanges, coarse pyroclastic rocks, breccias, colluviums and alluviums, fault rocks, and conglomerates, etc. Bimrock is especially different from the general soil and rock material, and the detection of the damage and fracture is still wide open to innovative research. Globally, there is widespread interest in investigating the geomechanical behaviors of bimrocks, such as deformation and strength characteristics, damage and fracture evolution and stability prediction of bimrock construction. However, the meso-structure factors control the whole mechanical properties of bimrocks, the source of the macroscopic deformation phenomenon is the meso-structural changes. During civil or mining engineering construction, the bimrock is often exposed to complex stress disturbance, such as environmental and human-induced loading acting on rock that is cyclic in nature. Typical forms of stress disturbance include blasting vibration, earthquake, excavation, drilling and vehicle loading, etc. Usually, the stress disturbance condition is inferred as a kind of dynamic loading and differs dramatically from those under static loads. Therefore, evaluation of the mesoscopic physical and mechanical properties, together with advanced testing technique, is attractive research topics in its fatigue mechanics. As a result, comprehensive macroscopic and mesoscopic experimental investigations should be conducted to reveal the damage and fracturing mechanical behaviors of bimrock exposed to cyclic and fatigue loads.

Geomaterials derived from the Earth’s crust and used in construction after appropriate processing are among the earliest raw materials exploited, processed and used by humans. Their numerous functional properties include accessibility, workability and serviceability, and these are explored within this volume. In modern society, sustainable use of raw materials, specifically those exploited in large volumes such as geomaterials for construction, raises questions of reducing extraction of primary resources and thus minimizing impacts on natural systems, and also employment of materials and technologies to lower emissions of deleterious substances into the atmosphere. This will be possible only if we fully understand the properties, processing and mode of use of traditional geomaterials. Although most of the papers within this volume were written by geologists, the contributions will also be of interest to those working in cultural heritage, monument conservation, civil engineering and architecture.

Instabilities Modeling in Geomechanics describes complex mechanisms which are frequently met in earthquake nucleation, geothermal energy production, nuclear waste disposal and CO2 sequestration. These mechanisms involve systems of non-linear differential equations that express the evolution of the geosystem (e.g. strain localization, temperature runaway, pore pressure build-up, etc.) at different length and time scales. In order to study the evolution of a system and possible instabilities, it is essential to know the mathematical properties of the governing equations. Therefore, questions of the existence, uniqueness and stability of solutions naturally arise. This book particularly explores bifurcation theory and stability analysis, which are robust and rigorous mathematical tools that allow us to study the behavior of complex geosystems, without even explicitly solving the governing equations. The contents are organized into 10 chapters which illustrate the application of these methods in various fields of geomechanics.

The last decades have shown a remarkable increase in the number of heavy rains, typhoons and earthquakes. These natural phenomena are the main causes for geohazards. As a result the mitigation of geohazards has become a major research topic in geotechnical engineering, and in recent years simulation-based predictions and monitoring tools have been

The book gathers the peer-reviewed contributions presented at the 3rd International Conference on Application of Superabsorbent Polymers (SAP) and Other New Admixtures towards Smart Concrete, held in Skukuza, South Africa, on November 25-27, 2019. It features papers focusing on the behavior of SAP in concrete (in particular the absorption behavior) as well as the effect of SAP on fresh and hardened concrete properties. It also covers topics such as other modern admixtures, in particular rheology-modifying admixtures, including the recently emerging field of bio- or waste-derived admixtures. The conference builds on the experience and summarizes the activities of the RILEM Technical Committee 260-RSC "Recommendations for Use of Superabsorbent Polymers in Concrete Construction" and addresses other prominent research activities in the field of concrete admixtures.

Self-healing materials are man-made materials which have the built-in capability to repair damage. Failure in materials is often caused by the occurrence of small microcracks throughout the material. In self-healing materials phenomena are triggered to counteract these microcracks. These processes are ideally triggered by the occurrence of damage itself. Thus far, the self-healing capacity of cement-based materials has been considered as something "extra". This could be called passive self-healing, since it was not a designed feature of the material, but an inherent property of it. Centuries-old buildings have been said to have survived these centuries because of the inherent self-healing capacity of the binders used for cementing building blocks together. In this State-of-the-Art Report a closer look is taken at self-healing phenomena in cement-based materials. It is shown what options are available to design for this effect rather than have it occur as a "coincidental extra".

Significant advancements in the experimental analysis of soils and shales have been achieved during the last few decades. Outstanding progress in the field has led to the theoretical development of geomechanical theories and important engineering applications. This book provides the reader with an overview of recent advances in a variety of advanced experimental techniques and results for the analysis of the behaviour of geomaterials under multiphysical testing conditions. Modern trends in experimental geomechanics for soils and shales are discussed, including testing materials in variably saturated conditions, non-isothermal experiments, micro-scale investigations and image analysis techniques. Six theme papers from leading researchers in experimental geomechanics are also included. This book is intended for postgraduate students, researchers and practitioners in fields where multiphysical testing of soils and shales plays a fundamental role, such as unsaturated soil and rock mechanics, petroleum engineering, nuclear waste storage engineering, unconventional energy resources and CO2 geological sequestration.