Res High

Research Highlights of the Department Earthquake Engineering
a) Seismic Hazard Estimation and Microzonation of Indian Cities A spate of earthquakes in the recent past, causing extensive damage has heightened the sensitivity of engineers and planners to the looming seismic risk in densely populated Indian cities. Although considered to be part of the stable continental interior, many spots in the Indian shield are known to have generated moderate magnitude (M 6) earthquakes in the recent and historic past. Microzonation of Bangalore city is a project that puts together a wide range of data to evaluate the future seismic hazard of Bangalore. Studies recommend the upgradation of the southern part of Karnataka as zone III in the seismic zoning map of India. A microzonation map of Bangalore is generated using data from 950 boreholes drilled in various parts of the city, a much required data for planning the developmental activities (Figure 1). Based on the available information on distribution and dimensions of the suspected faults, ground motions have been simulated and the expected Peak Ground Accelerations (PGA) at rock depths are calculated within a distance of 220 square km area of Bangalore. For the Bangalore city, the maximum PGA at rock depth is estimated to be around 0.15g. Maps showing variations in PGA at ground level considering site response, sediment thickness, bedrock configuration as well as amplification maps are developed in GIS format.
Figure 1: Microzonation map for Bangalore city Delhi city is in a seismically active region and hence it is important to understand the existing earthquake hazard to the city on a scientific basis. This study, after discussing the seismotectonic status of the city and its environs, presents probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of an area of 30 km by 40 km with its centre at India Gate, Delhi city. The quantified hazard in terms of the rock level peak ground acceleration value is mapped on a grid size of 1 km by 1 km, for a return period of 2500 years. In engineering parlance, this corresponds to a probability of exceedance of 2% in a design life of 50 years. This map can be used as the basis for further site-specific studies at soft soil deposits. An engineering approach to estimate the existing seismic hazard for Mumbai city has been developed. After assembling a catalogue of past earthquakes and analyzing the database statistically, the recurrence relation for the control region is found out. This is used to compute the probability of ground motion that can be induced by each of the twenty-three
known faults that exist around the city. Final results are presented in the form of peak ground acceleration and response spectra, for two different return periods. These results can be directly used by engineers as basic inputs in earthquake-resistant design of structures in and around Mumbai. b) Engineering Modeling of Earthquake Source In the absence of strong motion records, ground motion during the earthquake on 26th January, 2001 in Kutch, India earthquake has been estimated by analytical methods. A contour map of peak ground acceleration (PGA) values in the near source region is provided. These results are validated by comparing them with spectral response recorder data and field observations. It is found that very near the epicenter, PGA would have exceeded 0.6 g. A set of three aftershock records have been used as empirical Greens functions to simulate ground acceleration time history and 5% damped response spectrum at Bhuj City. It is found that at Bhuj, PGA would have been 0.31 g0.37 g. It is demonstrated that source mechanism models can be effectively used to understand spatial variability of large-scale ground movements near urban areas due to the rupture of active faults. Strong motion array records are analyzed in this study to identify and map the source zone of four past earthquakes. The source is represented as a sequence of double couples evolving as ramp functions, triggering at different instants, distributed in a region yet to be mapped. The known surface level ground motion time histories are treated as responses to the unknown double couples on the fault surface. The location, orientation, magnitude, and rise time of the double couples are found by minimizing the mean square error between analytical solution and instrumental data. Numerical results are presented for Chi-Chi, Imperial Valley, San Fernando, and Uttarakashi earthquakes. Results obtained are in good agreement with field investigations and those obtained from conventional finite fault source inversions. c) Seismic Site Characterization A piezovibrocone has been developed for site characterization (Figure 2a). The system consists of four anchor rods, one hand controlled loading unit, one power pack mounted on two wheeler trolley. It has a cylindrical friction sleeve of 150 cm2 surface area, capped with a 600 apex angle conical tip of 15 cm2 cross sectional area. A load cell is kept at the tip to measure the cone resistance (qc). Another load cell is also kept in friction sleeve to measure the sleeve friction (fs), which is the local friction between the soil and shaft of the probe. Several cone penetration tests have been performed using the piezovibrocone for geotechnical site characterization. The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) and MASW tests have been also performed at these locations (Figure 2b) and the results are compared. Relationships have been developed between the in-situ shear wave velocity Vs, SPT value N70 and cone penetration resistance qc for a specific site.
Figure 2b: Site classification based on SPT -N values By using the bender and extender elements tests in resonant column apparatus (Figure 3a), with the measurements of the travel times of the shear (S) and primary (P) waves, the variation of Poisson ratio () was determined for dry sands with respect to changes in relative densities and effective confining pressures (3). The tests were performed for three different ranges of the particle sizes. The magnitude of the Poisson ratio was observed to decrease invariably with an increase in both the relative density and the effective confining pressure (Figure 3b).
Figure 2a: Piezovibrocone
0.27
3= 100 kPa 300 kPa 500 kPa
Fine Grained Sand
Poisson's Ratio,
0.24
0.21
0.18
0.15 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Relative Density, %
Figure 3a: Resonant Column Test Set-up
Figure 3b: Variation of Poissons ratio with relative density
d) Pre and Post Liquefaction Behaviour of Soils Cyclic triaxial tests (Figure 4a) are carried out to evaluate the dynamic properties as well as the liquefaction behavior of soil samples collected exclusively from the sites close to epicenter of recent Bhuj earth-quake, sites close to Sabarmati river belt in Ahmedabad and Meizoseismal region of Shillong Plateau, Assam. Stress controlled and strain controlled cyclic triaxial tests are conducted to study the potential for liquefaction of the sandy soils
(Figure 4b). The normalized values of pore water pressure and loading cycles showed an establishment of a unique relationship between pore pressure ratio and cycle ratio independent of the number of cycles of loading, relative density of sand, confining pressure, amplitude of shear strain and percentage of non plastic fines. Also it has been observed that stress path has an insignificant influence on the dynamic properties of granular materials. Large diameter cyclic triaxial testing equipment, which can accommodate a sample of dimensions up to 300 mm diameter and 450 mm height is being procured by the Department, to facilitate static and cyclic triaxial testing of soils, soft rocks, ballast, concrete etc. to extend the studies on evaluation of dynamic properties of these materials and liquefaction behaviour of soils.
Figure 4a: Cyclic Triaxial Test Set-up
Figure 4b: Pore pressure response of original Ahmedabad sand specimens
e) Earthquake Load Modeling Using Critical Excitation Method Method of critical excitations enables modeling of the worst case scenarios in problems of earthquake load specification. These excitations are tailor-made to produce the highest response in a specified structure while satisfying constraints on reliably known features of ground motion. Specific contributions made in this topic of research include: (a) development of critical power spectral density function models for spatially varying earthquake ground motions and their applications for seismic response analysis of piping structures in nuclear power plant structures, (b) development of reliability based critical excitation models for linear and nonlinear engineering structures, and (c) development of an inverse reliability based method for structural design under critical excitations. f) Structural Vibration Control In recent years, significant progress has been made in the area of structural control as a viable technology for enhancing structural functionality and safety against natural hazards such as earthquakes and wind gusts. The control system may be passive, active, semi-active or hybrid in nature and be deployed as an absorber or as a base isolation system. While passive systems suffer from a limited capability, active systems have a high power requirement from an
external source. A hybrid system alleviates the limitations that exist from either a passive or active system acting alone. Findings emerging from these studies are: Fuzzy logic control (FLC) algorithms incorporate an inherent robustness and uncertainty handling capability that results in better control, compared to classical control algorithms. FLC based algorithms account for structural nonlinearities effectively. The major advantage of the controller is its simplicity and the use of a limited number of measured structural responses. Sensor noise, quantization and saturation errors are considered in the developed model to offer a realistic representation of the control implementation. An artificial neuro-fuzzy model with supervisor module has been shown to detect changes in structural system parameters and adjust controller parameters online to offer effective control. Acceleration in addition to velocity feedback results in improved control performance. A multi-objective optimal design approach that offers a set of Pareto optimal designs for making an appropriate selection has been developed. Experiments on hybrid base isolated building model using MR dampers have shown the efficacy of genetic algorithm based fuzzy logic control in mitigating the structural responses under near and far field excitations (Figures 5 and 6). Model based control algorithms (two-stage optimal dynamic inversion and integrator back stepping) developed for MR damper based control are efficient and offer improvements in performance over FLC based control. Mitigation of vibration levels in long span cable supported bridges due to vehicular traffic, seismic or wind-induced excitations are often critical design criteria. Cable nonlinearity, uncertainty with reference to magnitude and frequency content of dynamic loads, possibility of sensor saturation, limitations in actuator capacity and saturation have been given due consideration in developing control algorithms for use with MR dampers. Structural protection systems based on vibration control technology will be studied to evolve alternate repair / retrofit strategies that are adaptive in nature, and easy to deploy on bridges and buildings to mitigate seismic and wind induced vibrations.
Figure 5: Schematic view of the experimental set-up of hybrid base isolated building (MR damper + sliding bearing), for study on fuzzy logic control.
Figure 6: Comparison of controlled and uncontrolled response
g) Seismic Response of Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls Seismic response of reinforced soil retaining walls is studied through shaking table tests (Figure 7). Wrap faced and rigid faced reinforced soil retaining walls of size 750 500 mm in plan and 600 mm height are built in rigid and flexible containers and are tested under controlled dynamic conditions using a uni-axial shaking table (Figure 8). The effects of frequency and acceleration of the base motion, surcharge pressure on the crest, number of reinforcing layers, effect of container boundary, wall structure and reinforcement layout on the seismic performance of the retaining walls is studied through systematic series of shaking table tests. Results are analyzed to understand the effect of each of the considered parameters on the face displacements, acceleration amplifications and soil pressures on facing at different elevations of the walls. A numerical model is developed in a parallel effort to simulate the shaking table tests on wrap faced reinforced soil walls using computer program FLAC (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua). The experimental data is used to validate the numerical model and parametric studies are carried out on 6 m height full-scale wall using this model.
Surcharge
Facing system
Laminar box
USDT
Figure 7: Laminar box on shake table
Figure 8: Model of rigid faced retaining wall
h) Shock Table Studies for Earthquake Resistant Design of Masonry Buildings Shock table test facility for evaluating seismic performance of buildings was designed and constructed (Figure 9). The table is of size 3.5m by 2.5m and is supported on 4 wheels with ability to move horizontally in one direction on rails. The table can be subjected to shocks through a swinging pendulum of 600kg mass with provision to increase the mass up to 1000kg. On the side of the table opposite to the pendulum, provision is made to generate a reverse shock through a reaction beam. The impulse force that can be given to the table can be varied by changing the swing angle of the pendulum, mass of the pendulum and the material to which the pendulum impacts. The reverse force to the table can also be varied by changing the gap between the table and the reaction beam before the start of the test. The photograph shows two brick masonry building models with different earthquake resistant features on the shock table.
Pendulum (1.8m length & 600kg mass Max. swing 400) Masonry Building Models
Rebound beam
Table (payload 5000kg) Fund. Freq. 90Hz
Figure 9: Shock table test facility with masonry building models Behaviour of two masonry building models (1/4th scale) were studied (Figure 9). The models were of plan size 1.5m 0.75m and height 0.75m and were without roof. One of the models (model 1) had all the earthquake resistant features recommended by IS: 4326-1993 like R C lintel and roof band and vertical corner reinforcement. The second model (model 2) had additional earthquake resistant features like R C sill band and containment reinforcement which is a new earthquake resistant feature incorporated to impart ductility to the otherwise brittle masonry (Figure 10). The building models were constructed with scaled soil-cement bricks of size 40mm X 40mm X 90mm with cement-lime sand mortar. The fundamental frequency of the models was extracted by conducting free vibration experiments and was found to be about 71.23Hz for model 1 and 73.55 Hz for model 2. The models were subjected to 14 shocks with different swing angles against wood. The building model 1 with Bureau of Indian standard code (IS 4326 1993) recommended earthquake resistant features collapsed after 12 shocks whereas the improved model even though suffered damage did not collapse even after 14 shocks (Figure 11). The test clearly demonstrated the need for additional features over and above the existing earthquake resistant features to prevent collapse of masonry buildings during earthquakes and thus save precious lives.
containment reinforcement with link
Corner containment reinforcement with triangular link
Figure 10: Construction sequence of buildings with containment reinforcement

One fourth scale models
Model 1 (ERF as per IS 4326:1993)
Model 2 (ERF as per IS 4326:1993 plus additional R C band at Sill level and Containment reinforcement
Figure 11: Behaviour of the building models after 12 shocks i) Inelastic Seismic Analysis of R C Framed Structures Ductility demands have been obtained from inelastic analysis of multistory R C structures subjected to near-field ground motions. It is observed that the demands due to normal components are nearly 2 to 3 times more than those due to parallel components while the distribution of ductilities over the height of the structure is nearly the same. The pulse periods of near-field ground motions have significant influence on the responses. Many other features like influence of eccentricities of structures asymmetric in plan, Responses due to one-component as compared to those due to two components of the ground motion, feasibility of designing an inelastic energy absorber at the top or towards the upper storeys are more or less similar to those subjected to normal ground motions.
Mechanics of Materials
a) Studies on Fiber Reinforced Concrete Experimental and analytical investigation on load deformational response of partially prestressed concrete flanged T-girders (more practical representations) having fibers has been undertaken. The range of parameters considered in the experimental program were concrete strength, shear span to beam depth ratio, amount of conventional shear reinforcement (stirrup) deployed and fiber dosage and zone of fiber placement. Summary and findings emerging from these studies are: Basic mechanical properties of the composite material are at variance with the predictions based on the law of mixtures. Introduction of fibers in concrete results in a significant enhancement in energy absorption capacity but the improvement in ductility is limited to the stage prior to the initiation of yielding in the longitudinal rebars. Further, introduction of fibers in concrete results in a reduction in crack width and spacing (Figure 12). Introduction of fibers is found to be an effective substitute for stirrups in prestressed concrete sections and results in a shift in the dominant response from brittle shear to ductile flexure, even when fibers are introduced in limited regions of the beam. This has a practical importance in structural concrete sections that are heavily reinforced, where difficulties in constructability can be overcome through a careful introduction of fibers in the concrete matrix in some zones as a substitute for stirrups. Plain and fiber reinforced concrete exhibit considerable size effect, while in conventional reinforced concrete size effects are not as pronounced in comparison. An ANSYS based finite element model implementation to simulate steel fiber effects accounts and nonlinear phenomenon (bond-slip of longitudinal reinforcements, postcracking tensile stiffness of the concrete, stress transfer across the cracked blocks of the concrete and load sustenance through the bridging of steel fibers at crack interface with progressive fiber pullout) has been undertaken. A Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT) based nonlinear analysis has also been carried out to simulate the response of the partially prestressed beams containing fibers.
Studies on fiber reinforced concrete suggest that fiber dosages in structural concrete sections need to be carefully evolved and the yielding of primary reinforcement should be avoided in fiber reinforced concrete regions as the softening response at fiber pullout dominates the overall structural behavior.
Figure 12: Typical crack patterns in flexure and shear RC beams with fibers in different regions b) Studies on Creep and Shrinkage in Normal and Heavy Density Concrete Estimation of creep and shrinkage are critical in order to compute loss of prestress with time in order to compute leak tightness and assess safety margins available in containment structures of nuclear power plants. Short-term creep and shrinkage experiments have been conducted using in-house test facilities developed specifically for the present research program on 35MPa and 45MPa normal concrete and 25MPa heavy density concrete. Drying shrinkage and creep in concrete have been quantified for different strength grades of normal and heavy density concrete under controlled relative humidity, temperature and age of loading. Summary and findings emerging from the study are: Existing empirical models for creep and shrinkage prediction have been used to simulate the test results and found to make satisfactory predictions for short term data, in particular for heavy density concrete. Limited number of short term measurements of concrete creep and shrinkage, along with water loss estimates in shrinkage specimen has been used to effectively predict longer duration measurements of creep and shrinkage for both normal and heavy density concrete (Figure 13). Extrapolation of the these models for very long term predictions of creep and shrinkage using Bayesian updating methods along with statistical sampling to account for parameter uncertainties has also been carried out. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images have shown differences in the extent of hydration in normal and heavy density concrete over the same period of time when cured under identical conditions. Higher levels of shrinkage and creep are present in heavy density concrete.
Figure 13: Long term creep prediction using short term data for normal and heavy density concrete An analytical model accounting for the hygro-thermo-chemo-mechanical coupling (load levels, temperature, relative humidity, chemical composition and hydration rate) for creep and shrinkage prediction is under development. Nano- and micro-indenting of concrete
samples used in creep studies is being undertaken to develop an understanding of the changes in the compliance of the hydrated concrete at different length scales across grain boundaries. Ongoing work on hygro-thermo-chemo-mechanical modeling of concrete to study creep and shrinkage will be extended to account for high temperature conditions, such as due to fires. c) Studies on Repair of Concrete Elements The condition of infrastructure, the constant need to repair and maintain them and the increasing costs associated with the maintenance has led to the search for replacements for steel in the concrete infrastructure around the world. Alternatives for repair and strengthening of concrete structures range from the use of glass (G) and carbon (C) FRP rebars replacing steel rebars to the use of FRP plates, fabrics wraps or the use of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) elements as repair/retrofit to achieve required strength and serviceability requirements in structural concrete. Studies found that in comparison to FRP wraps, cement based repair has been found to offer enhanced ductility in the restored section through the mobilization of the tensile reinforcement in the primary structure and the concrete in compression, besides having the advantage of effective bonding with the primary concrete (Figure 14). Moreover, inaccessible regions can be repaired through effective concrete flow properties. The use of chemical admixtures improves workability and the use of industrial wastes (fly ash or silica fume, etc) influences both mechanical and durability properties of concrete. The short term and long term consequences of these additives and admixtures in structural concrete need careful investigation both at micro and macro scale in a mechanistic framework. The repair materials range from carbon or glass fiber reinforced polymers based wraps or plates, fiber yarn based cementetious textile reinforced concrete to ultra high performance fiber reinforced concretes. Modern experimental techniques such as scanning electron microscopy and nano & micro-indenting will be employed to establish mechanical properties of concrete at different length scales and develop a multi-physics multi-scale numerical model to predict behavior of repaired/strengthened structural concrete under various loads.
(a) (b) Figure 14: Load versus deflection of (a) flexure repaired and (b) shear repaired beams
d) Feasibility Studies on Use of GFRP Rebars as Reinforcement in Concrete The primary objective of this investigation was to examine the suitability of pultruded GFRP bars as reinforcement in concrete structures. The problem of corrosion of ferrous steel rebars in
concrete structures exposed to aggressive environments has been the main reason for looking at alternatives. In this investigation experimental studies have been conducted on flexure and shear critical beams reinforced with GFRP rebars having polyester and epoxy matrix. Feasibility of GFRP rings as stirrups has also been attempted. GFRP rebars have a smooth surface since they are pultruded, which affects its bond with the concrete. In this study its bond characteristics have been improved by (a) coating it with sand and (ii) by helically winding glass fiber roving around the bar and bonding it with epoxy. From our study sand coating the bar was found to be more effective in improving the bond characteristics of the rebar with the surrounding concrete. Since the failure in tension of GFRP bars is brittle in nature, the beam sections had to be designed as over reinforced section to prevent brittle failure of R.C. beams. Reinforced concrete beams reinforced with GFRP rebar exhibited higher deflections and crack widths compared to conventional ferrous steel reinforced beams. Summary and findings emerging from these studies are: GFRP rebar concrete interface behavior resulting in rebar slip/pullout controls the overall response and failure mode of the beams. A block type rotation failure was observed for GFRP reinforced beams, while flexural failure was observed in geometrically similar control beams reinforced with steel rebars. The relatively low elastic modulus of GFRP rebars, of the same order as concrete, resulted in large crack widths and deflections. Hybrid rebars consisting of a GFRP sheathing and steel core used to overcome the problem of steel corrosion and also augment the stiffness of the FRP rebar show some promise.
e) Behaviour of Stabilized Mud Block and Burnt Clay Brick Masonry and Stabilized Rammed Earth Walls Large numbers of soil-cement block masonry buildings exist in India and in many other countries. Influence of soil grading on the characteristics of soil-cement blocks and shear bond strength of soil-cement block masonry was studied in detail. Influence of clay content of the soil-cement block on strength, absorption and durability characteristics, and interfacial mortar-block bond strength has been examined. Some of the major conclusions of the study are: (1) Optimum clay content leading to maximum strength is in the range of 14 to 16%, (2) Saturated water content of the blocks increases with increase in clay content of the block, (3) Initial rate of absorption (IRA) decreases with increase in clay content of the block, (4) Weight loss after ASTM wire scratch test is minimum when the clay content of the block is about 16% and (5) Optimum clay content for the highest modulus for the blocks and for highest shear bond strength is about 16%. Cement soil mortar is commonly used for load bearing soil-cement block masonry. Properties such as compressive strength, bond strength, stress-strain relationships and elastic properties of soil-cement block masonry using cement-soil mortars were studied. Some of the major findings are: (a) initial moisture content of the block at the time of construction affects bond strength and use of partially saturated blocks is better than dry or fully saturated blocks (b) as the cement content of the block increases, its strength increases, surface pore size decreases leading to higher bond strength irrespective of the type of mortar (c) cement-soil mortar gives 15 50% more bond strength when compared to cement mortar and cementlime mortar, (e) bond strength of cement-soil mortar decreases with increase in clay content of the mortar, (f) Masonry with cement-soil mortars shows higher modulus than the masonry using conventional mortars like cement-sand-mortar and cement-lime mortar. These studies clearly demonstrate the superiority of cement-soil mortar over other conventional mortars like cement-sand- mortar.
Influence of bed joint thickness and elastic properties of the soil-cement blocks, and the mortar on the strength and behaviour of soil-cement block masonry was investigated. The nature of stresses developed and their distribution, in the block and the mortar of the soilcement block masonry prism under compression, has been analyzed by an elastic analysis using finite element method (FEM). Influence of various parameters like joint thickness, ratio of block to mortar modulus, and Poissons ratio of the block and the mortar are considered in FE analysis. Some of the major conclusions of these studies are: (1) Masonry compressive strength is sensitive to the ratio of moduli of block to that of the mortar (Eb/Em) and masonry compressive strength decreases as the mortar joint thickness is increased for the case where the ratio of block to mortar modulus is more than 1, (2) The lateral tensile stresses developed in the masonry unit are sensitive to the Eb/Em ratio and Poissons ratio of mortar and the masonry unit, (3) Lateral stresses developed in the masonry unit are more sensitive to the Poissons ratio of the mortar than the Poissons ratio of the masonry unit. A BIS code entitled Code of practice for manufacture and use of stabilized mud blocks for masonry has been prepared and communicated to Bureau of Indian Standards for further processing. Burnt clay bricks are used for load bearing masonry in India. There is a wide variation in the characteristics of bricks across the country. Properties of burnt clay bricks produced in different geographical regions of India were characterized. Properties such as strength, absorption and strain-strain characteristics were examined. The results clearly show that the common burnt clay bricks produced in the peninsular regions have very low modulus (400 1000MPa) when compared the burnt clay bricks available in Indo-Gangetic regions. These results are very useful in the design of masonry structures especially in selecting brick-mortar combinations leading to stiff brick-soft mortar combinations. The strength and stress-strain relationships of brick masonry under compression have been evaluated for a range of different combinations of brick and mortar, representing soft brick stiff mortar and stiff brick soft mortar combinations. The results have also been generated for masonry strength using prisms, wallettes and full scale walls through extensive experimental programmes. Information on size effect and failure mechanisms of masonry under compression have been generated (Figure 15). Empirical relationships for masonry compressive strength as a function of brick and mortar strength in the Indian context have been derived. Some issues pertaining to brick-mortar bond and masonry compressive strength have been examined. Failure theories for masonry under compression make an assumption that the bond between brick and mortar remains intact at the time of failure. Influence of bond strength on masonry compressive strength is not fully accounted for in these failure theories. Influence of bond strength on masonry compressive strength has been examined for the cases of Eb/Em ratio <1 and >1 using burnt clay bricks as well as soil-cement blocks as masonry units. Masonry prism compressive strength has been determined when brick-mortar bond strength is varied over a wide range without altering the strength and deformation characteristics of bricks and mortar. Relationships between masonry prism compressive strength and bond strength have been obtained. The results clearly indicate that increase in bond strength, while keeping the mortar strength constant, leads to an increase in the compressive strength of masonry when Eb/Em <1 and in the reverse case the masonry compressive strength is not sensitive to bond strength variations. This is a significant contribution to the knowledge on masonry behaviour under compression.
A 3D FE model for predicting the masonry compressive strength has been developed using a micro-modeling approach representing joints as continuum elements. Bricks and joints are modeled separately with individual properties, assuming a perfect nodal compatibility at the interface. Three dimensional non-linear analyses combined with a failure theory have been considered. Multi-linear stress-strain relationships have been used to model the non-linear stress-strain behaviour of each constituent of the masonry. Willam-Warnke five parameter failure theory developed for modeling the tri-axial behaviour of concrete has been adopted to model the failure of each constituent of the masonry. The post-failure regime has been modeled by applying orthotropic constitutive equations based on smeared crack approach. The model has been verified by comparing the experimental results generated for varying bed joint thickness. The process of rammed earth wall construction, compaction energy implications, influence of clay fraction, density and moisture on rammed earth behaviour, stress-strain relationships, and elastic properties have been studied through an extensive experimental programme. Strength and stability of rammed earth walls through full scale wall tests has been studied. The results clearly indicate that (a) stabilized rammed earth possess two times more compressive strength than an equivalent masonry (b) Failure of rammed earth elements is characterized by shear failure (c) strength of stabilized rammed earth is sensitive to moisture content.
Hourglass type failure of bricks
Splitting, crushing of bricks and Diagonal shear failure of wall
Separation of the two leaves of the wall
Figure 15: Failure of storey height English bond burnt clay brick masonry wall under compression
Damage and Fracture Mechanics

a) Experimental Investigations into the Fracture Behavior of Cementitious Interfaces Interfaces between two different mixes or strengths of concrete appear in large concrete structures involving mass concreting such as dams, nuclear containment vessels, cooling towers etc., since joints between successive lifts are inevitable. These joints and interfaces are potential sites for crack formation, leading to weakening of mechanical strength and subsequent failure. Research involving concrete-concrete bi-material interface can provide very useful information in the field of repairs and rehabilitation of concrete structures. As concrete is a heterogeneous material, its fracture behavior is governed by the formation of a fracture process zone (FPZ) which forms ahead of the crack-tip. Due to the formation of FPZ, linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) is not applicable to concrete, and hence the nonlinear fracture mechanics (NLFM) based study becomes essential. Further, in case of a bi-material interface the stress singularities are oscillatory in nature and the fracture behavior of a concrete-concrete bi-material interface is much more complicated. Advanced experimental techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, nano and micro indentation, acoustic emissions and digital image correlations are used for characterizing interfaces between different strengths of concrete with an aim of understanding the fracture processes and determination of the fracture parameters (Figures 4.16 and 4.17). b) Experimental Studies on Fatigue Behavior of Cementitious Interfaces: Civil engineering structures such as long-span bridges, offshore structures, airport pavements and gravity dams are frequently subjected to variable-amplitude cyclic loadings. It is well known that fatigue is a process of progressive, permanent internal structural change; however, the mechanism of fatigue in concrete is not clearly understood. Since concrete is a quasi-brittle material with heterogeneous micro structure, the mechanism of fatigue may be quite different from those of metallic materials. Experimental studies are carried out to understand the behavior of plain concrete, reinforced concrete and concrete-concrete interfaces under fatigue loading. The acoustic emission data obtained during fatigue crack propagation are used in the analysis to understand the effect of size on the fracture and fatigue behavior. Material properties are determined for use in analytical models which help in assessment of residual fatigue strength of structures.
Figure 16: Acoustic emission sensors and results on interface specimens
Figure 17: Measurement of crack length and CMOD using DIC c) Thermal Stress Intensity Factors Components of turbines, combustion chambers, multi-layered electronic packaging structures and nuclear reactors are subjected to transient thermal loads during their service life. In the presence of a discontinuity like crack or dislocation, the thermal load creates high temperature gradient, which in turn causes the stress intensification at the crack tips. If proper attention is not paid in the design and maintenance of components on this high stress in the vicinity of crack tips, it may lead to instability in the system and decrease in the service life. The concepts of thermal fracture mechanics and its major parameter called transient thermal stress intensity factors can greatly help in the assessment of stability & residual life prediction of such structures. The evaluation of thermal stress intensity factors becomes computationally difficult when the body consists of two different materials or is nonhomogenous or made of composites. Studies are performed for development of methods to evaluate fracture parameters for bimaterial interface cracks subjected to mechanical loads and thermal loads using function of complex variables, conservative line integrals and domain integrals. Analytical methods are developed for the computation of thermal weight functions in two dimensional bi-material elastic bodies containing a crack at the interface using the body analogy method and the energy release rate concepts. d) Correlation Between Damage and Fracture Damage in concrete members, occur in a distributed zone due to the formation and coalescence of micro-cracks, and this can easily be described through a local damage approach. During subsequent loading cycles, this distributed zone of micro-cracks gets transformed into a major crack, introducing a discrete discontinuity in the member. At this stage, concepts of fracture mechanics could be used to describe the behavior of the structural member. An approach is developed to correlate fracture and damage mechanics through energy equivalence concepts and to predict the damage scenario in concrete under fatigue loading. The objective is to smoothly move from fracture mechanics theory to damage mechanics theory or vice versa in order to characterize damage. The strength and stiffness reduction due to progressive cracking or increase in damage distribution has been characterized using the available indices such as the strength reduction and stiffness reduction factors. It is seen through numerical examples, that the strength and stiffness drop indices using fracture and damage mechanics theory agrees well with each other. It is
observed, that through the energy approach a discrete crack may be modeled as an equivalent damage zone, wherein both correspond to the same energy loss. e) Fatigue and Fracture Behavior of Plain Concrete It is well known to engineers that fatigue accounts for majority of material failures. Fatigue failure is characterized by a slow but steady crack propagation in the weaker section of structural components due to the action of cyclic loads. In case of metals and ceramics, fatigue fracture has been studied extensively but for concrete, however, the knowledge of fatigue fracture is limited. This is due to the fact that the fracture behavior in concrete is more complicated due to its heterogeneous nature and the presence of large size fracture process zone (FPZ) at the crack tip. It is assumed that under low cycle fatigue loading the decrease in load carrying capacity and stiffness degradation occurs primarily in the FPZ and not in the undamaged material. A fatigue crack propagation law is proposed for plain concrete using the concepts of dimensional analysis, scaling and fracture mechanics. This law considers the effects of tensile strength, fracture toughness, loading ratio and most importantly the structural size. A relationship is obtained between the above parameters using the principles of self-similarity. The proposed law is validated with the experimental results of different investigators that are available in the literature. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is done to determine which of the parameters considered are sensitive to fatigue crack growth in concrete. f) Fracture of Cementitious and Other Composites Fracture mechanics of concrete is relatively a new area of research and research in this area is going on from as early as mid 1980s. In the recent past during the last 3 years several important findings have been published. Size effect has been confirmed to exist in several types of concrete like high strength and high performance concrete with additives like silica flume and fly-ash and also self consolidating concrete. ANN for predicting the material properties of SCC has been developed. A simple analytical model has been proposed to model the softening and to obtain fracture energy of any type of concrete. Higher order beam theories have been extended to Mode II fracture of layered composites. Fictitious crack model is applied to randomly oriented cracks and also fractal cracks. Probabilistic methods are extended to obtain the most probable fractal dimension. It has been extended to explain the influence of aggregate size on the size effect as well as fracture energy of quasi-brittle materials. Concept of fractals as well as singular fractal functions has been applied to obtain the constitutive laws of concrete. Lattice model via fractals has been proposed to model the heterogeneity of concrete. A 3 D Lattice model is attempted to obtain the shape of the fracture process zone in 3D. Tools for identification of smeared damage have been developed. Both forward and inverse procedures have been formed. Curvature mode shapes via wavelets, simple perturbation on the eigenvalues, ANN through radial basis function network; and iso-eigen value change contours have been developed. Damage indices for seismic damage have been obtained. b-value analysis for concrete and its variation with the properties of concrete with the help of AE facilities has been done. b value has been related to the state of damage in a concrete beam. Fracture energy is related to the AE energy which could in future be used as a tool to identify damage in concrete structures. Moment-tensor method has also been employed to identify possible micro and nano level cracks. The effect of boundary on the shape of the fracture process zone and hence fracture energy has been validated by observing the decaying of the AE events towards the boundary. A new
method to obtain size independent fracture energy is proposed. Multi scale modeling of the fracture process zone via molecular dynamics is in progress. It is proposed to relate a micro lattice model with the molecular dynamics model. Extensive tests on large concrete beams of depths equal to 750 mm both notched and unnotched have been done to obtain reliable values of size independent fracture energy. Damage caused by corrosion and its effect on the durability and remaining life of reinforced concrete have been analysed using a combined fuzzy and probabilistic method. Brunswikian method has been applied to obtain performance-based remaining life. g) Continuum Damage Mechanics [CDM] Research has been initiated in the area of CDM with reference to ductile damage modeling. Three isotropic ductile damage models have been developed and integrated with elastoplasticity in the framework of Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis. Effort has also been put to develop efficient computational algorithms; Illustrations have been made to bring out the potential of CDM in structural integrity assessment. Recently, CDM has been further adopted to study failure in FRP composites. As a novel application CDM has also been utilized to generate yield line curve for plates as well as to generate S-N curves under cyclic loading. Progressive failure of FRP laminates is investigated in the framework of nonlinear Finite Element Analysis using CDM and expressing the failure phenomena through Damage Evolution Models. Damage Models have been developed taking into account coupling of various damage modes of failure in FRP composites. Progressive Failure Analysis (PFA) algorithms have been developed and verified with available bench-mark examples. Further, the algorithms have been extended to Fatigue Failure analysis & S-N Curve generation. The damage-coupled PFA have been illustrated by analyzing various cases of practical importance, such as: Adhesively bonded FRP lap joints, FRP strengthened beams, Yield-line pattern generation as well as PFA of fully composite structural systems.
Foundation Engineering
a) Interference effect of footings and anchors A new laboratory set up has been designed to determine the interference effect of a number of footings and anchors. In contrast with the available information in literature, the proposed setup requires only one footing/anchor to be used in the setup (Figure 18). It requires much smaller size of the tank to be used. This setup was successfully used to determine the bearing capacity of a group of footings and anchors in the laboratory.
Hydraulic Jack Load cell
Reaction frame (150mm I-section)
Load cell display
Soil sample Vertical shaft
Tank (2000mmx370mmx650mm) Load application mechanism
Dial gauge Footing (360mm x 70mm x 25mm)
Plane of symmetry
Figure 18: Model test setup for determining interference of two footings.
b) Seismic Bearing Capacity of Foundations and Seismic Earth Pressures Seismic bearing capacity of foundations is evaluated using method of characteristics and finite element method (Figure 19). The bearing capacity factors were developed to account for the reduction in the ultimate bearing capacity on account of earthquakes. Passive earth pressure coefficients were also developed to account for the reduction in the passive resistance on account of earthquakes.
Figure 19: Seismic bearing capacity calculations for foundations
c) Dynamic response of machine foundations The effect of the employment of the spring mounting base sandwiched in between the machine and its reinforced concrete footing, on the dynamic response of the footing as well as the machine base is explored (Figure 20). A number of block vibrations tests were carried out for this purpose by using a rotating mass type mechanical oscillator both with and without the spring mounting base. Under steady state vibration condition, the variation of the displacement amplitude of both the footing and machine base was obtained with respect to changes in (i) the frequency and eccentricity angle of the oscillator; and (ii) the stiffness of the springs. Experiments were conducted by employing two different stiffness values of the spring mounting system. The resonant displacement amplitudes of both the footing and the machine were found to become lower with the smaller stiffness value of the springs. The resonant frequency for the machine base, in all the experiments, was found to be invariably the same as that of the footing.
Figure 20: Experimental set-up of footing and machine with spring mounted base
Soil Reinforcement and Geosynthetics

a) Use of Coir Fibers for Sustainable Development In the context of sustainable development which is a balancing act between the fulfilment of human needs and the protection of the natural environment, the use of natural fibers such as coir in geotechnical applications is desirable. Reinforcing the soil with coir fibers/coir geotextiles is a cost effective solution to the ground/soil improvement problems. The effects of fiber parameters on the strength, stiffness and compressibility behaviour of soil were studied in detail. The effect of coir fibers on swell response of expansive black cotton soil was also studied in terms of percentage swell vs. time variation for various fiber contents. Results showed that inclusion of fibers increases strength, stiffness, reduces the compressibility and swell potential. The evaluation of hydraulic behavior of coir fiber reinforced soil is another area, in which studies were carried in detail. It is observed that addition of fibers reduces the seepage velocity of plain soil considerably and thus increase the piping resistance. Numerical analysis of coir fiber reinforced soil was performed using the finite difference analysis. A soil specimen having the same size of the laboratory specimen is generated using cylindrical elements, with x- and z- axes located in the base of cylinder and y-axis pointing along the cylinder axis. Coir fibers were idealized as cable structural elements. Elasticperfectly plastic Mohr-Coulomb model is used to simulate the elasto-plastic material behavior of sand specimen. The mechanisms by which random fibers reinforce sand are explained in terms of microstructure that prevents the formation of distinct localized strain bands and increases pull-out resistance. b) Soil Nailing Soil nailing is one of the extensively used techniques for stabilizing vertical cuts in India and work at Indian Institute of Science significantly contributed to this development. A few case studies and analytical results which have been published are described as follows. In one of the case studies, a vertical cut supporting a masonry retaining wall in a hilly terrain (total height 13m) was stabilized using this technique. Calculations showed that the vertical cut was just marginally safe in the existing condition; hence, soil nailing was used for improvement of stability. The existing stability, soil nail design were examined by detailed finite element analysis and remedial measures were validated. In similar studies, results of finite element analyses of stabilization of vertical cuts of 5.0 m were examined. Numerical simulations provided an insight into the influence of nailing on global factor of safety and deformations of vertical cuts with reference to varying cohesive nature of in-situ soil and two different construction sequences. In another study, Guidelines for the Soil Nail Walls given by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), U.S. Department of Transportation were examined. Various analyses parameters such as development of axial forces in nails, maximum displacements, and important failure modes have been studied. A comparative study showed that the soil nail walls designed from conventional procedure are conservative. An attempt has also been made to study the performance of a soil nail wall of 8 m height under seismic conditions. Data from Bhuj and Uttarkashi earthquakes are used for the pseudo-static and the dynamic
analyses. Results of numerical analyses indicate that the use of soil nail wall technique is desirable to impart stability to the retaining systems under seismic conditions. Field pullout testing of soil nails is identified as the appropriate method for studying the nailsoil interaction and assessing the performance of soil nail walls. A methodology for the evaluation of field pullout tests is proposed for the determination of the design bond strength. The proposed methodology is illustrated with reference to the field pullout tests on soil nails conducted at a local site (Figure 21).
Figure 21: Shear strain contours in soil nailed wall from Finite Element simulations c) Studies on Geocell Reinforced Foundation Beds The Behaviour of Geocell Reinforced Foundation Beds was studied in detail in which the efficacy of geocell reinforcement was brought out in different foundation beds such as sand beds, soft clay beds and sand overlying soft clay beds (Figure 22). Extensive instrumentation was done to obtain real behaviour of the reinforced foundation beds which include strain gauges to measure the accumulated strain in the geogrid material and earth pressure cells to measure the normal pressure transferred to the sub grade soil. Model load tests were also conducted to evaluate the potential benefits of providing geocell reinforced sand mattress over clay bed with a continuous circular void.
Figure 22: Geosynthetic reinforced foundation beds
d) Field Tests on Geosynthetic Reinforced Unpaved Roads The relative advantages of different reinforcing materials placed at the interface of subgrade and base course in terms of increase in load carrying capacity and reduction in rut depth are studied through systematic field experiments (Figure 23). The experimental program consisted of field tests on a constructed unpaved road over a prepared soft soil subgrade. The type of reinforcement is varied for different tests. Tests are conducted with single or multiple layers of geosynthetics such as woven geotextile, biaxial geogrid and uniaxial geogrid, placed at the interface of the subgrade and aggregate base. In one test, tyre shreds are used as reinforcing layer. The test sections are subjected to moving vehicle load simulated by the passage of a scooter at the central section of the road. The rut depths are measured at specific grid points along three sections with increasing number of cycles and the results are analyzed to compare the relative efficiency of various reinforcement layers in reducing the formation of rut in unpaved roads (Figure 24).
Figure 23: Test on unpaved road section
Figure 24: Role reducing rut depth
of
reinforcement
in
Computational Mechanics and Modeling

a) Novel FE and Mesh-Free Methods for Solution of Nonlinear Problems Investigations on local linearization have led to a new linearization paradigm, referred to as the transversal linearization, which bypasses the derivation of tangent matrices in nonlinear dynamical systems. Due to the use of an exponential form of the update, the transversal linearization, especially its multi-step variety, may be interpreted as a Lie group based algorithm and this results in conspicuously lesser accumulation of error over time vis--vis its tangential counterpart. Yet another semi-analytical form of integration, applicable for stochastically excited nonlinear dynamical systems, is provided by the Girsanov linearization, which can weakly correct for the linearization error by suitably constructing the Radon-Nikodym derivative. In short, transversal and Girsanov linearizations have provided twin simulation strategies achieving hitherto unattainable numerical accuracy (Figure 25).
Figure 25: Lesser error propagation via (a version of) the transversal linearization (MTrL) vis--vis (a similar version of) the tangential linearization (MTnL); the dynamical system is a nonlinear 3-DOF oscillator Research in computational mechanics includes development of new discretization schemes that exploit the globally reproducing nature of shape functions, characteristic of mesh-free methods, within the element-based framework of domain discretization, provided by the finite element method (FEM). Element-based domain discretization is enabled through the use of non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). In this sense, this class of methods may be considered as a bridge between mesh-free methods and the FEM (Figures 4.26 and 4.27). Use of NURBS as the basic building block for geometric and functional discretizations also ensures a faster interface between the solid modeler and the solver and thus avoids slow data transfers between the two modules. A new strategy to obtain mesh-free approximations to the derivatives of a (sufficiently smooth) target function without differentiating the shape functions has also been proposed.
1 2 3
Figure 26: NURBS-based approach bridging mesh-free and finite element methods: discretization of a hollow cylinder into just four elements (or sub-domains) X
-0.035 -0.029 -0.023 -0.017 -0.011 -0.005 0.001 0.007 0.013 0.019 0.025 0.031
Figure 27: NURBS-based approach bridging mesh-free and finite element methods: horizontal displacement profile of the hollow cylinder Research is also being done on the analyses of wrinkled membranes and inflatable structures that are often employed in space applications. Other than applications of new mesh-free schemes, as above, to the discretization of such structures, the development of a novel numerical approach for the discretized membrane equations, which are ill-conditioned due to the inability of such structures to resist compression has been realized. While a 2-D tension field approach, based on a discretization through plane stress finite elements, has been adopted for obtaining the wrinkled/slack regions, the 3D nonlinear elasticity equations, discretized through 8-noded Cosserat point elements, towards obtaining precisely the out-ofplane deformations of such structures has been exploited (Figure 28). The (nearly) singular nature of the discretized and linearized system equations, derived via both the approaches, has been treated through a pseudo-time recursion along with an error-corrected version of Tikhonov regularization.
Figure 28: Cosserat point solution for out-of-plane deformation of an ultra-thin membrane using a regularized form of 3-D nonlinear elasticity equations; (left) 2500 Cosserat points; (middle) 900 Cosserat points; (right) 100 Cosserat points Research is also being carried out on inverse problems, providing continuity across developments in stochastic dynamics and computational mechanics and fostering a fruitful collaboration across several departments. The development of pseudo-dynamic filters again charts new ground by combining Newton-like updates with the powerful concepts of stochastic filters resulting in regularization-insensitive schemes for large dimensional inverse problems with static measurements (Figure 29). These schemes have been successfully applied to problems in structural health monitoring and a few interface disciplines, e.g. medical imaging.
Figure 29: Pseudo-dynamic filter based reconstruction of the shear modulus profile for a model of a soft-tissue organ with two inhomogeneous inclusions; (left) reference shear modulus profile; (right) reconstructed shear modulus profile with 5% noise in the data b) Integrated Force Method(IFM) The Integrated Force Method (IFM) which is a modification of classical Force Method for automated computerization and is found to yield more accurate stress-values as compared to conventional displacement-based finite-elements has been adopted to develop a family of Plate-bending elements. The contributions made here can be summarized as a systematic development of a family of finite elements both under thin and thick plate categories. In addition, development of finiteelement for laminated composites has also been attempted. An important aspect of
computerization of IFM is the automatic generation of compatibility conditions, for which an efficient algorithm has been developed. c) High-Performance Computation in Uncertainty Quantification The computational cost of uncertainty quantification grows with the complexity and size of the system under consideration. With the fast-moving market of computational technologies, powerful computers are becoming more affordable day-by-day. For instance, with the introduction of cluster computers assembled from the regular commodity hardware, a descent parallel computer is no longer a special product. However, from a users perspective, to harness this growing computational power is by no means a straightforward task. A significant effort is needed to develop new computational methods and algorithms. Development of a more efficient computational tool for uncertainty quantification of large-scale complex systems is underway. A few active areas of our interest are structural dynamics and multiscale analysis. This is a newly formed research group. We have acquired one hundred-core cluster computer dedicated to our group. d) Simplified Methods of Evaluation of Diffused Double Layer parameters An attempt has been made to relate the potentials of interacting and non interacting plates of homo valent ionic system. It is found that a relationship exists between the potential at any distance from the surface for non-interacting system, x=d, with the mid - plane potential of the interacting systems, d in the form a fourth degree algebraic equation. The repulsive pressure between the diffuse plates is a function of swell pressure of the soil mass and the distance between the diffuse plates is a function of void ratio. Therefore, to establish a relation between the swell pressure and void ratio it is necessary to calculate the mid-plane potential in the diffuse part of the interacting ionic double layers. The major difficulty in these calculations is the elliptic integral of first kind involved, which relates, half space distance and mid plane potential. As, the calculation of potential at any distance from the surface in non interacting system is quiet easy; the above equations are advantageously used and a simple procedure to find the potential distance relationship in homo valent ionic system is proposed by eliminating the elliptic integral calculations. The accuracy of the method has been checked by comparing the potential distance relationship with that obtained using the van Olphen procedure, which involves interpolation of data of two values of mid plane potential and slope of the curve near the surface with the use of tables. e) Ultimate bearing capacity of group of footings and anchors Rigorous computational analyses, based on the finite element limit analysis and the slip line method, have been performed to determine the interference effect on the ultimate bearing capacity of a group of footings and anchors (Figure 30). From the developed solutions one can determine very accurately the effect of spacing of footings and anchors on their ultimate bearing/uplift capacity.
14400 Nodes, 4800 Triangles & 7120 Discontinuities
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 30: Finite element mesh for (a) S/B =1.0; (b) S/B =3.0 and (c) S/B =5.0 f) Numerical Simulation of geosynthetic reinforced soil structures Numerical tools such as FLAC3D, GEOSTUDIO were used to simulate the model tests on reinforced foundation beds, retaining walls and soil nailed walls. In case of geocell reinforced foundation beds, the influence of the geometry of the geocell on the overall performance of the footing was studied through numerical parametric simulations. Simulations were also carried out on the geogrid reinforced beds to highlight the efficacy of the geocell reinforcement. Good agreement has been observed between the numerical simulations and model test results (Figures 4.31 and 4.32).
(a) (b) Figure 31: Vertical stress distribution below footings on reinforced sand beds (a) planar reinforced (b) geocell reinforced
JOB TITLE : Strain_Beam Stiffness 50kN/m_0.2g _3 Hz
JOB TITLE : Strain_Base_0.2g _3 Hz
FLAC (Version 5.00)

LEGEND 30-Dec-07 12:04 step 1168603 Dynamic Time 6.6667E+00 -2.005E+00 <x< 8.053E+00 -2.059E+00 <y< 7.999E+00 Beam Plot Axial Strn. on Structure Max. Value # 1 (Beam ) -2.929E-01 Beam Plot Axial Strn. on Structure Max. Value # 2 (Beam ) 2.704E-01 Beam Plot Axial Strn. on Structure Max. Value # 3 (Beam ) 2.851E-01 Beam Plot Axial Strn. on Structure Max. Value # 4 (Beam ) 2.800E-01
(a)
FLAC (Version 5.00)

LEGEND 28-Dec-07 22:27 step 1168888 Dynamic Time 6.6667E+00 -1.440E+00 <x< 8.023E+00 -1.761E+00 <y< 7.702E+00 Beam Plot Axial Strn. on Structure Max. Value # 1 (Beam ) -2.557E-01 Beam Plot Axial Strn. on Structure Max. Value # 2 (Beam ) -1.533E-01 Beam Plot Axial Strn. on Structure Max. Value # 3 (Beam ) 1.502E-01 Beam Plot Axial Strn. on Structure Max. Value # 4 (Beam ) 1.330E-01
(b
FLAC (Version 5.00)

(c)
FLAC (Version 5.00)

(d
Figure 32: Axial strain distributions along the reinforcement elements in retaining wall for stiffness values: (a) 50 kN/m, (b) 150 kN/m, (c) 250 kN/m and (d) 500 kN/m g) Finite Element Limit Analysis for Axi-symmetric problems A new finite element limit analysis lower bound formulation has been proposed to deal with various axi-symmetric stability problems in geotechnical engineering. The proposed formulation provides very accurate solutions which are found to be very close to those reported in literature that are based on the existing three dimensional formulation. The proposed numerical formulation has been applied successfully for the different problems associated with circular footings, piles, circular anchors and circular excavations (Figure 33). This formulation has also been successfully applied for layered soil media as well.
H/B = 1
a/c
H/B N E Dc Ni
= 1.0 = 9624 = 3208 = 4759 = 16
Figure 33: Finite element mesh & failure patterns for circular anchors in clays, whose cohesion increases with depth, under vertical uplift.
h) Discrete element simulation of granular soil behaviour and liquefaction Discrete Element Modeling (DEM) technique was used to obtain microscopic information at grain scale level and an attempt has been made to describe compaction behavior, strength mobilization and shear zone formation in granular materials as a result of micro-structural changes associated with macroscopic deformations. The effect of grain size and gradation of particle sizes on the mechanical behavior of granular media is studied. In order to explain the effect of size, gradation and confining pressure on the volume change and strength behavior of coarse grained soils, numerical simulations were carried out on a wide range of sizes, gradation and confining pressure using both 2-dimensional circular disc elements and 3dimensional spherical elements based on Discrete Element Models (DEM). The long-term goal will be to develop a constitutive model for granular materials for transfer of research results to practical application. Numerical simulations were carried out using 2 - Dimensional assemblage of discs and 3dimensional assemblage of spheres to address monotonic and cyclic behavior of sand from micromechanical considerations. The models were validated for both monotonic and cyclic loading conditions. Simultaneously extensive cyclic triaxial testing has been carried out to explain the liquefaction behaviour of sand from Bhuj, Ahmedabad and Assam areas. These results were compared with DEM modeling results to understand the fundamental processes at particulate level during liquefaction (Figure 34).
Figure 34: Results of undrained cyclic test on loose sample at 1% deviatoric strain amplitude. a) Deviator stress q versus mean p b) Deviator stress versus deviatoric strain c) Average coordination number versus mean p d) Average coordination number versus deviatoric stress.
Rock Mechanics
a) Practical Equivalent Continuum Model and Applications to Large Underground Openings in Jointed Rock Mass An Equivalent Continuum Model (ECM) has been developed by establishing new sets of statistical relationships between the uni-axial compressive strength and elastic modulus of jointed rock mass versus the joint factor. These relations were arrived from statistical analysis of large amount of experimental data collected from different sources in literature and also carrying out some selected experiments. This experimental data covers a wide range of intact rock and joint fabric. Equivalent continuum model has been developed for the jointed rock by incorporating the statistical relationships arrived which expresses the joint rock properties as a function of intact rock properties and joint fabric. Numerical simulations of jointed rock masses in under ground openings and mines were carried out using equivalent continuum approach in FLAC 2D and 3D (Figure 35). Different strength criteria available for jointed rocks were incorporated in the numerical analysis code. A comparative study of the existing empirical strength criteria for jointed rocks was made to give a better insight in understanding the different failure criteria. Several large scale underground openings in jointed rock mass (such as Shiobara power cavern, Tokyo; Nathpa Jhakri power house; Kiirunavara mine slope) have been simulated using the developed practical equivalent continuum model and the obtained results compared very well with the field measurements of deformation in those structures at different locations.
Figure 35: FLAC 3D Simulation of jointed rock sample of Agra Sandstone subjected to triaxial compression b) Static And Seismic Analysis of Rock Slopes In Himalayas Two case studies of large rock slopes in Himalayas are taken up for stability analyses. These slopes constitute the abutments of bridges that are being constructed as a part of the railway line between Katra and Laole in Jammu and Kashmir where it is crossing the rivers Chenab and Anjikhad. Numerical modeling is done using the equivalent continuum approach in FLAC along with the generalized Hoek-Brown failure criterion. Static and dynamic stability analyses are carried out for the rock slope at Chenab, which is about 359 m in height (Figures 4.36 and 4.37). The slope is situated in Seismic Zone V, according to the seismic zonation map of India, which means that the assessment of stability of the slope under earthquake induced dynamic shaking conditions is very much essential. The dynamic analysis is carried
out using both pseudo-static and time response approaches. In case of time response analysis, the slope is subjected to the maximum credible earthquake for the region and the stability is studied in terms of displacements along the slope. Kinematic analysis is done using the stereographic projections of the joint sets to identify the possibility of wedge failure. For the slope portions close to the foundations, as per IS 1448: 1997, considering a planar wedge failure analysis the lengths of rock bolting scheme has been worked out (Figure 38).
Figure 36: Rock slopes at Chenab Figure 37: Rock slopes at Anjikhad
P1b P1
Rock bolts
P10
Figure 38: Rock bolting scheme proposed for Anjikhad slopes c) Prediction of Stress-Strain Behaviour of Rocks Using ANN The application of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for predicting the stress-strain response of jointed rocks under different confining pressures is studied. Rocks of different compressive strength with different joint properties (frequency, orientation and strength of joints) are considered in this study. The database for training the neural network is formed from the results of triaxial compression tests on different intact and jointed rocks with different joint properties tested at different confining pressures reported by various researchers in the literature. The network was trained using a 3 layered network with feed forward back propagation algorithm. About 85% of the data was used for training and remaining15% was used for testing the network. Results from the analyses demonstrated that the neural network approach is efficient in capturing the stress-strain behaviour of intact rocks and the complex stress-strain behaviour of jointed rocks (Figure 39). A single neural network is demonstrated to be capable of predicting the stress-strain response of different rocks, whose intact strength vary from 11.32 MPa to 123 MPa and spacing of joints vary from 10 cm to 100 cm for confining pressures ranging from 0 to 13.8 MPa.
60
Block Jointed Gypsum Plaster

3=13.8 MPa
60o 30o
160 140 30o 120 Deviatoric Stress (MPa) 100 80 60 40 20 50o 70o
Agra Sandstone 3=5 MPa
=70o =50o
50
Deviatoric Stress (MPa)
40
Experimental ECM ANN
30
3=6.9 MPa
=30o
20
Experimental ECM ANN
3=3.4 MPa
10
0 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 Axial Strain 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045
0 0 0.002 0.004 0.006 Axial Strain 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014
a) Block jointed Gypsum Plaster
b) Agra Sand stone
Figure 39: Comparison of stress-strain curves predicted by ECM and ANN with experimental measurements for jointed rocks
Condition Assessment of Railway Bridges

Most of the railway bridges in the Indian Railway system that have been built several decades ago have deteriorated both in terms of strength and stiffness due to a variety of reasons. These bridges have been designed for live loads and service conditions that have changed drastically with time. Increased axle loads and traffic density have necessitated bridge owners to get the bridge condition assessed in order to determine their residual structural strength and identify strengthening measures to be taken for safe performance. Condition assessment provides information regarding the intensity and extent of observed defects, the cause for these defects and possible deterioration processes that have strong impact on the safety and service life of structures. Furthermore, this information forms the basis for estimating the residual structural capacity and possible remedial work that needs to be undertaken. Studies have been done on five bridges in the South Western Railway zone. Two of these bridges are brick and stone masonry arch bridges respectively while the remaining three bridges were of steel, two plate girder and one open web girder. Over the years, the passenger and freight traffic have increased on these bridges. The permitted axle load until a few years ago was classified as 18t axle load and has subsequently undergone an upward revision to 22t axle based on an in-house assessment undertaken by the Indian Railways. At present, there has been a growth in freight traffic in this section, in particular for iron ore and coal movement, and the Indian Railways is considering the possibility of further enhancing the permitted axle load to 25t immediately with possible further upward revisions at a later date. Figure 40 is an excerpt of the test and analyses for a steel bridge in the study.
Figure 40: Details of the truss bridge and finite element model of the bridge with longitudinal and close-up Views, and comparison of measured and simulated quasistatic moving load test Methods for identification of structural mass, stiffness, and (or) damping characteristics of engineering structures based on measured strain, displacement, and (or) acceleration time histories have been developed. These studies form the meeting ground for mathematical and
experimental modeling tools. The range of problems considered covers static and dynamic behaviors, linear and nonlinear structural models, time variant and time invariant systems, systems modeled using fractional calculus principles. The identification methods studied include frequency response function (FRF) matrix based methods, force state mapping techniques, Kalman and particle filtering based methods. A few novel elements in proposed methods include: (a) inverse sensitivity analysis of singular solutions of partially measured frequency response function matrix, (b) application of reproducing kernel particle method and kriging based methods for functional representations in force-state map constructions, (c) development of sequential importance sampling based particle filtering methods for the treatment of nonlinear process and measurement equations and non-Gaussian noises, (d) introduction of a pseudo-sequencing strategy to assimilate measurement from multiple sensors and from multiple tests into postulated finite element structural models, (e) development of a statistical substructuring approach based on the application of the RaoBlackwell theorem to identify localized nonlinearities, and (f) development of an approach based on a bank of self-learning particle filtering for identification of nonlinear structural systems. The proposed methods have been applied on synthetic models, laboratory level experimental studies on simple frames and beam systems and in condition assessment of existing railway bridge structures. The solution to the later class of problems has necessitated the development of computational tools for combining finite element structural modeling with Monte Carlo simulation based Bayesian filtering tools (Figure 41 and 4.42).
(a)
(b)
Figure 41: Condition assessment of a multi-span railway bridge; (a) 5-span masonry arch bridge; (b) sleeper loaded BFR wagons used in static and dynamic load tests
(a)
(b) Figure 42: Condition assessment of a multi-span railway bridge (a) Plane stress FE model for the bridge structure; (b) Comparison of predictions on system response from identified and initial models with corresponding measurements
Reliability in Civil Engineering Systems

a) Reliability Based Design of Foundations and Retaining Walls Risk and reliability concepts are applied to shallow foundations, pile foundations, retaining walls, soil nailing systems, buried flexible pipes, soil slopes and dams. Reliability based design methodologies for vertically and laterally loaded piles based on cone penetration test data for cohesive soil are developed. Ultimate limit sate and serviceability limit state are considered for reliability based design using CPT data and load-displacement curves. For the Load resistance factor design (LRFD) of vertically loaded piles based on load test data, reliability based code calibrated partial factors are determined considering bias in failure criteria, model bias and variability in load and resistance. A comprehensive numerical study on the effect of soil spatial variability on response of vertically and laterally loaded pile foundations in undrained clay is conducted. Two-dimensional finite difference program is used to model the soil and pile. The influence of spatial variability on the propagation and formation of failure near the pile foundation is also examined. Reliability based design approaches are proposed for (i) cantilever sheet pile walls, (ii) cantilever retaining walls, (iii) gravity retaining walls and (iv) reinforced soil structures. The targeted reliability index is obtained from optimization. A pseudo-dynamic approach to obtain seismic passive earth pressure coefficients for gravity retaining walls considering composite curved rupture surface and using limit equilibrium method of analysis is developed. The concept of Newmarks sliding block method for computing the rotational and sliding displacements under seismic condition and the limit equilibrium analysis have been combined to evaluate the permanent displacements of gravity retaining walls under seismic conditions. It is observed that the assumption of planar failure mechanism for rough soil-wall interfaces significantly overestimates the threshold seismic accelerations for rotation & sliding and underestimates the rotational as well as sliding displacements (Figure 43).
Figure 43: Pseudo-static and pseudo-dynamic methods for retaining wall design Methodologies to evaluate reliability for external as well as internal stability of reinforced soil structures (RSS) using reliability based design optimization are developed. The properties of reinforced backfill, retained backfill, foundation soil, and length of the geosynthetic reinforcement are treated as random variables and the probabilities of failure in four modes of failure viz., sliding, overturning, eccentricity and bearing modes of failure are obtained. For internal stability analysis, analysis is conducted considering both tensile and pullout failure of the reinforcements. The results provide guidelines with regard to the total length of reinforcement required for the stability. Similarly the probabilistic assessment for the internal as well as external stability of RSS subjected to earthquake loading in the framework of pseudo-dynamic method is also made. b) Spatial Variability of In-situ Soil Properties The variability of in-situ soil properties has significant influence on the stability of the in situ soil retaining systems such as soil nail structures. The influence of variability of in-situ soil properties on the stability of soil nail walls using reliability analysis is studied. In-situ soil friction angle and correlation between in-situ soil cohesion and angle of friction are found to influence soil nail wall stability significantly. In general, reliability analysis provided a better insight into the assessment of stability of soil nail wall (Figure 44). Conventional design methods do not adequately address the deformation behavior of soil nail walls due to the complexity involved in handling a large number of influencing factors. Consequently,
methods of deformation estimates based on empirical relationships and in-situ performance monitoring are available in literature. In this study, based on design of experiments approach, numerical simulations are conducted and regression models for maximum lateral deformation and factor of safety prediction are developed. The proposed regression models cover a practical range of soil nail wall heights and in-situ soil variability.
Weaker zone
Stronger zone
Figure 44: Spatial Variability of in-situ soil properties c) Structural Seismic Safety and Fragility Analyses of Nuclear Power Plant Structures The assessment of seismic safety of nuclear power plant structures constitutes one of the most challenging problems in the area of structural reliability. Our research has contributed to methods for solving this problem. Specific contributions made include: (a) development of a random vibration based approach for constructing fragility curves for nuclear power plant components; this work has addressed questions on multi-variate probability distributions for vector random processes and their extensions to characterization of extremes of nonGaussian processes (such as the Von Mises stress metric), (b) development of novel response surface modeling tools that allow for treatment of multiple design points and for probabilistic modeling of errors of functional representations (based on design of computer experiments and kriging techniques), and (c) development of data based extreme value analysis tools for Monte Carlo simulation based time variant reliability modeling. Some of the tools developed have been applied in the problem of construction of fragility curves for a fire-water system in a nuclear power plant structure.
su (kPa)
Environmental Engineering
a) Design of Efficient Surface Aerators for Waste Water Treatment Aeration is the most important treatment process employed in all water and wastewater treatment plants. In the biological treatment of wastewaters, aeration is essential to raise the dissolved oxygen (DO) level to allow aerobic bacteria to work and reduce the pollution load (BOD) of the waste, and thus to improve water quality. The rate of oxygen transfer into the water body depends on the intensity of turbulence created in the water body. The intensity of turbulence and mixing in turn depends on three types of variables: dynamic, geometric and physical. The dynamic variable is the speed of rotation of the rotor. The geometric variables are: size, shape and number of blades attached to the rotor; diameter and immersion depth of rotor; water depth in the tank; and the size and shape of the aeration tank. The physical variables are density, viscosity and temperature of water in the tank. Investigations have been carried out to understand the performance of surface aerators with a view to develop an efficient aeration system along with the simulation criterion for oxygen transfer under different geometric, dynamic and physical parameters, by employing hydraulic principles. Design of one of the recently developed surface aerators is patented. b) Modeling Contaminant Transport in Ground Water and Vadoze Zone (i) Modeling Unsaturated flows Based on the Richards equation and ADE equation, flow and transport model was developed for prediction of moisture and contaminant movement in the variably saturated zone. The flow model was built around finite difference approach, while the transport model was built using the finite volume approach with the TVD scheme. An operator split approach was used in which the dispersive part was solved using the standard implicit formulation while the advective part was solved using finite volume explicit scheme with TVD. Field measurements were conducted in the Moolehole forested watershed (Figure 45) for validation of the models developed. The measurements of moisture were made in the watershed for one rainy season at different test pits. The measurements in the soil horizon containing red and black soils were made using the Neutron probe. The dry period data was collated during summer. The soils characteristic data were obtained by the use of the soils texture data. Also the local calibration was done for fitting the field data with the simulated data. Investigations showed a reasonable match between the field data and the model generated results. This indicates the successful application of Richards equation for a field situation. Analysis is made for the entire hydrological year containing monsoon and nonmonsoon periods. A study was undertaken to compare the non intrusive geophysical electrical resistivity methods, the neutron probe measurements and simulation model results to arrive at relationships among these for various test pits in the Moolehole watershed comprising of different types of soil horizons. In all these, the moisture content measurements using different techniques were compared. The preliminary results showed a good correlation between the geophysical methods and the neutron probe measurements for red soil horizons, while the same was not found to be satisfactory for black soils.
Stochastic modeling studies were undertaken to determine effective constitutive relationships for field scale unsaturated flow under steady gravity drainage conditions. The block scale heterogeneity was assumed to be represented by a single realization, generated by using a three dimensional turning band random generator proposed in literature. The studies were performed for isotropic field and anisotropic field with perfectly and imperfectly layered stratifications. The results matched well with the stochastic theory results in low tension ranges and diverged with increase in tension. The studies indicated that the conductivity shows moisture dependent anisotropy, and the pressure field shows suction dependent variance (Figure 46). Two-dimensional transient transport simulations were performed using the steady state flow simulation results. The movement of the solute transport was studied for both isotropic and anisotropic two-dimensional random fields. For anisotropic field, transport simulations in perpendicular and parallel to bedding were performed. The solute plume was characterized by analyzing its spatial moments, for each case. Macro-dispersivities were calculated on the basis of the spatial moments, for all the cases considered. The effective flow properties generated using Gardners model is applicable to only low tension ranges. In this part, the soil parameters of the Las Cruces Trench site were considered, and upscaling was performed for high tension ranges as large as 25 m. Van Genuchten, Mualem constitutive relationships were used in the numerical model of flow. Both conductivity and soil moisture retention curves were considered as stochastic processes.
a)
b)
Top Soil
Red Soil A8 A3
1.0
Clay Cutans
A1
Tensionics A4 A2 Auger Holes
2.0
3.0 m
Rock Line Sandy Horizon Red soil with grey matrix Black Soil Black soil with Calcite
Sandy weathering level

5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 m
c) Figure 45: Toposequence for Moolehole watershed, South India.
Figure 46: Simulated and Measured moisture for location A3 (shown in Figure 45c) after a) 100 and b) 138 days (ii) Modeling Multiphase flows System parameters of a porous media, in which multiphase flow takes place, play an important role in the determination of the extent of the plume movement. This was necessitated by the proper remediation strategy to be implemented to clean up the contaminated site due to nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) contamination which requires field determination of the system parameters. In this direction inverse models were built based on the earlier developed simulation models. In the inverse model, based on the field observations and also on the simulation model results, a least square based Gauss Newton (GNSAT) and Genetic Algorithms (GA) models were developed to estimate the system parameters such as the intrinsic permeability, grain size distribution index. Also the models were extended to the case of source strength and location identification. This will help in proper identification of the source location and also its strength so that the proper estimation of the NAPL plume migration can be made (Figures 4.47 and 4.48). Different cases such as even determined, overdetermined were considered which reflect the availability and use of data. In the models studied, different signals (measurements) such as pressure and saturation measurements and their combination were considered. Also comparison of both GNSAT and GA based models were made for different types of problems. The error bands for the parameters estimated were also analyzed. It was found that the saturation signals give better estimation of the parameters. Also the power of the stochasticapproach based GA models are realized when more number of parameters are to be estimated.
Figure 47: Aperture distribution for a rough walled fracture plane
Figure 48: DNAPL migration in the 2D variable aperture field c) Fuzzy-Stochastic Modeling for Water Quality Control in Streams Fuzzy multiobjective models were developed for water quality control in a river system receiving municipal and industrial effluents. Conflicting objectives of the dischargers and the pollution control agencies were modeled with fuzzy membership functions. The objectives were treated as imprecisely defined fuzzy goals. Given an appropriate pollutant transport model, the fuzzy multiobjective model was formulated to obtain decisions on optimal fraction removal levels for point sources of pollutant loads. The model is extended, using the theory of fuzzy probabilities, to include the random nature of the streamflows. In a single model, uncertainties due to both fuzziness and randomness were simultaneously addressed. The fuzzy optimization model was formulated to obtain decisions on fraction removal levels for the effluents, for a known streamflow probability distribution. The model results may be used to derive the probability distributions of the water quality indicators (e.g., DO deficit) at a check point. An implicit stochastic fuzzy optimization model was developed for obtaining
optimal waste load allocations to a river system. Random variation in streamflow, air temperature, re-aeration rates and industrial and municipal effluents was addressed through a Monte-Carlo simulation. A new concept of fuzzy risk was introduced as a performance measure for water quality control in streams. The models developed have been extended to integrate the QUAL2E water quality simulation model and genetic algorithms into fuzzy optimization. A first order uncertainty analysis of the resulting optimal solutions was carried out to provide solutions at various reliability levels and to identify key locations in the river system at which hydrologic uncertainty plays a significant role. In a recent study, stochastic dynamic programming has been used to address seasonal variations of streamflows through transition probabilities for specifying steady state fraction removal policies. The procedures and models developed are demonstrated with the case study of the Tunga Bhadra river system in Karnataka. d) Water Distribution Network A GIS based approach was used to develop an urban water distribution model. The developed model was based on the popular EPANET model. The main emphasis has been to address the issue of equitable distribution of water to the entire city based on the GIS data gathered for the city. The approach was applied to Bangalore city water distribution network consisting of several reservoirs located at various elevations spread across the city with three sources of supply. Based on the field experiments and also on the supply policy, model was developed to address the issue of intermittent supply in a service area. Studies were conducted to understand the change in quality of a parcel of water as it travels along the network. Several models were developed based on steady state and also unsteady state conditions. For steady state models, the principle of complete mixing at a node was used. While in the case of unsteady models, an advection equation was solved with the velocity coming from the hydraulic models. Several numerical schemes such as Eulerian, Lagragian methods were used in model building. To handle the case of reactive transport, reaction equations based on kinetic reactions were considered. Several kinetic reaction equations were derived based on the order of reactions. Through the studies, the role of wall reaction vis-a-vis overall reaction parameter was clearly brought out. The Model was also built to handle the biological reactions in the network based on attachment/detachment concept. All the models developed were applied on field problems for its demonstration of chlorine attenuation and the results were found to be very good. Identification of reaction parameter, type and order of reaction was done using inverse modeling. It was possible to identify the type of reaction and also the wall and bulk reaction parameters by using the inverse modeling techniques. For the case tested both the GaussNewton technique and also the Genetic Algorithm technique performed equally well. However, the Genetic algorithm technique was found suitable for cases where a large number of parameters are to be estimated. The problem of equitable supply among various reservoirs can also be handled through control of valves and pumps. Several models are being developed based on partial integrator differentiator (PID) controller, linear quadratic controller, dynamic inversion etc for better control of the system. With these controls the supply to various reservoirs can be controlled so that an equitable supply can be ensured at a fast rate. Also these controls can be the basis for feed back mechanism whereby a supervisory control or an automatic control mechanism
can be evolved. Such control models can lead to optimal control systems with leakage / energy minimization and equitable supply among reservoirs e) Electrokinetic Decontamination of Soils Soils are often contaminated with heavy metals such as lead, zinc, iron. Arsenic, cobalt, nickel etc due to industrial waste disposal and many pre-industrial operations. Removal of heavy metals by conventional methods is an extremely difficult task. Electro kinetic method is being used to decontaminate soil from these metals (Figure 49). The effectiveness of the method for different soils as well as the conditions, under which the efficiency is optimum, needs to be checked by laboratory electrokinetic experiments. For this task it is necessary to check the concentration of heavy metals from the leachate. Estimation of these metals by conventional approaches is cumbersome. The Atomic Absorption Spectrometer was used to estimate the concentration of different heavy metals accurately and conveniently. This method is particularly useful for estimation of a given metals from a large number of samples. Several research and post-graduate students have used this facility for their dissertation works.
Figure 49: Removal of metal ions from fine grained soils by electrokinetics f) Re-Use of Hazardous Wastes in Civil Engineering Applications The four main characteristics of hazardous wastes are ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity and toxicity. Recycling of hazardous wastes appears in top of the hierarchy of priorities in hazardous waste management. The environmental and technological issues involved in reuse of phosphogypsum sludge (from fertilizer industry) and lead bearing gypsum sludge (from lead-acid battery industry) in civil engineering applications. The potential of these waste materials to release toxic metal ions before and after chemical stabilization along with mechanical properties relevant to their use as building materials are examined (Figure 50).
Figure 50: Un-soaked and soaked behaviour of calcined gypsum sludge g) Characterization of Bentonites as Buffer Material for Deep Geological Repository Final disposal of vitrified high level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in Deep Geological Repository (DGR) is under consideration worldwide. Such repositories, in general, are based on multi barrier system concept to ensure long term confinement and isolation of these wastes from environment. It typically comprises the natural geological barrier provided by the repository host rock and its surrounding and an engineered barrier system (EBS) consisting of man-made, engineered materials placed within a repository, including the waste form, waste canisters, buffer materials, backfill, plugs and seals (Figure 51). In most of the deep geological repository concepts worldwide especially those considering granites & gneisses as their host rock, the bentonite clays are under consideration for use as buffer and backfills. Comprehensive study is undertaken to evaluate the geotechnical properties of Indian bentonite clays for their suitability as buffer material in deep geological repository for high-level nuclear wastes. The bentonite samples are characterized for index properties, compaction, hydraulic conductivity and swelling characteristics. Strong correlation was observed between ESP (exchangeable sodium percentage) and liquid limit/swell potential of tested specimens. Relatively less well-defined trends emerged between ESP and swell pressure/hydraulic conductivity. Additionally, the microstructural processes that control the macro behaviour of the buffer material on changes in chemical environment are being examined.
Figure 51: Use of Bentonite as buffer material in deep geological repositories
h) Defluoridation of Ground Water High levels of fluoride in drinking water lead to dental and skeletal fluorosis. The fluorosis problem is severe in India as almost 80% of the rural population depends on untreated groundwater for potable water supplies. To address this problem, IISc has developed a new defluoridation technique, which relies on magnesium oxide based precipitationsedimentation-filtration technique to reduce fluoride concentrations in water to permissible levels (< 1.5 ppm as per Indian Standards). Fluoride ions are removed by magnesium oxide through chemisorption mechanism (Figure 52). The method does not involve any recharge process and thus avoids generation of corrosive and toxic wastes. A simple to use Domestic Defluoridation Unit (DDU) is developed to treat 20 litres per day of fluoride-contaminated water.
Figure 52: Domestic Defluoridation Unit The device comprises two units, each of 20 litres capacity. The upper unit which is equipped with a manually operated geared mechanical stirring device serves as a mixing-cumsedimentation unit, while the lower unit serves as treated water-collection unit. Fifteen litres of fluoride-contaminated water is poured in the upper unit. Calcium hydroxide + magnesium oxide mix is added to fluoride-contaminated water and manually stirred for five minutes using the stirring device. The suspension is allowed to stand for 16 h, at the end of which fluoride-bearing sludge settles at the bottom of the container. The clear water is decanted into lower collection unit through flexible connecting pipe fitted with a fine filter to trap any escaping sludge particles. Water-soluble sodium bisulfate is dissolved in the lower collection unit and the water is ready for use. Sludge produced by the method can be disposed in an environment friendly manner by consuming it in the manufacture of sludge admixed stabilized mud blocks. The cost of treating 1 litre of fluoride-contaminated water (having fluoride concentrations from 2 to 5 ppm) by this method is 7 paisa/litre. The cost of the DDU is approximately Rs 2000 per unit. The method has also been scaled up to treat fluoride-contaminated water at community level (5002000 litres per day). Field trials of this method at individual household levels are undertaken in Yellodu and Chakavellu villages (Kolar district, Karnataka). Magnesium oxide + calcium hydroxide packets containing specified dosages of
chemicals to treat 15/100 liters of raw water and bottles containing specified volumes of 7.5 % calcium chloride solution and 5 % sodium bisulfate solution to treat 15/100 liters of water on a daily basis are supplied to selected households in these villages. At both villages, this method is being successfully implemented. i) Natural Coagulants for Water and Wastewater Treatment There is a need to reduce the usage of expensive and dangerous chemicals in water and wastewater treatment. In this regard, research on the use of Indu seeds (natural coagulants), for water and wastewater treatment is under progress at the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, as a collaborative research project. j) Pollution Induced Heave in Soils Due to interaction with sulphuric acid, considerable increase is observed in the swell of black cotton soil under nominal surcharge. This has been attributed to the formation of new minerals such as mereiterite [K2Fe(SO4)2(H2O)4] and alunogen [Al(H2O)6)2(SO4).3(H2O)5] by alteration of kalsilite and amesite upon interaction with sulphuric acid. It was also seen that swell in red earth increased with increase in the concentration of sulphuric acid. The observed swell was attributed to the breakage of hydrogen bonding and the formation of rozenite [FeSO4.4H2O] in the soil due to interaction with sulphuric acid (Figure 53). Also, the swell in the presence of acid sulphate was initiated after considerable delay since the mineralogical changes commence and progress gradually, affecting the conventional hyperbolic nature of swelltime relationships (Figure 54).
Figure 53: Effect of sulphuic acid on swell behavoiur of red soil
Figure 54: SEM pictures of BC soil before and after treating with 4N sulphuric
Studies conducted on illite and soils containing different percentages of montmorillonite with different fluids revealed that montmorillonite alkali reactions would not produce significant mineralogical changes where as illite is dissociated into smectite with the formation of potassium silicate formed by the interaction of released potassium with soluble silica. This confirms that the ultimate products of rectorite with alkali solutions would be smectite and compounds of potassium. While the swelling of montmorillonite generally decreases with increase in the alkali concentration, they increased in illite. However, in both the minerals the swelling occurs only in one phase. Thus the second phase of swelling that has been observed in rectorite is due to delayed swelling of montmorillonite that has been released by the attack of alkali on rectorite (Figure 55).
Figure 55: Photomicrograph of consolidated BC soils The effect of lime on the volume change behaviour of alkali contaminated non-swelling soil has been explained based on the formation of swelling minerals of zeolite the actual form of which vary with the concentration and formation of cementitious compounds in the presence of lime. X-ray diffraction data has indicated that zeolite of type Na3.6 Al3.6Si12.4O32.14H2O is formed at higher concentration of alkali in the presence of lime slowly than Na8(AlSiO4)6(OH)2.4H2O which is formed in the presence of higher concentration of alkali only in the soil. It is observed that fly ash, when included in soil by 25 -50%, effectively controls the alkali induced swelling in soils by preventing the formation of new zeolite minerals. k) Role of Osmotic Suction in Volume Change Behaviour of Expansive Clays Pore fluid osmotic suction is related to the dissolved salt content in soil water (soil water salinity) and increases with pore water salinity. Exposure of clay soils to chemical solutions (example landfill leachate, brine pond solutions) induces osmotic suction difference between soil water and the chemical reservoir. Osmotic suction difference between soil water and the chemical reservoir is dissipated through diffusion of cations and water molecules. The impact of osmotic suction dissipation on the swell and compression behaviour of compacted expansive clays is examined by monitoring the diffusion of metallic ions with time. Experimental results have illustrated that under certain conditions dissipation of osmotic suction induces much larger volume changes than dissipation of matric suction. l) Geochemistry of fluoride rich groundwater
Groundwater is a significant water resource in India for domestic, irrigation and industrial needs. By far the most serious natural groundwater-quality problem in India, in terms of public health, derives from high fluoride, arsenic and iron concentrations. Hydrogeochemical investigation of fluoride contaminated groundwater samples from Kolar and Tumkur Distrcits in Karnataka are undertaken to understand the quality and potability of groundwater from the study area, the level of fluoride contamination, the origin and geochemical mechanisms driving the fluoride enrichment. Majority of the groundwater samples did not meet the potable water criteria as they contained excess (> 1.5 mg/L) fluoride, dissolved salts (> 500 mg/L) and total hardness (75 mg/L to 924 mg/L). Hydrogeochemical facies of the
groundwater samples suggest that rock weathering and evaporation-crystallization control the groundwater composition in the study area with 50 to 67 % of samples belonging to the CaHCO3 type and the remaining falling into the mixed Ca-Na-HCO3 or Ca-Mg-Cl type. The saturation index values indicated that the groundwater in the study area is oversaturated with respect to calcite and under-saturated with respect to fluorite. The deficiency of calcium ion concentration in the groundwater from calcite precipitation favors fluorite dissolution leading to excess fluoride concentration. m) Modeling of solute transport in heterogeneous porous media A common problem encountered these days is that of groundwater pollution. For instance, a contaminant source, on or near the ground surface, creates a plume that reaches groundwater, which spreads further due to natural or forced water flow. Modeling of the phenomenon is needed in order to predict the development of the plume. The modeling of reactive solute transport equations in groundwater system requires focusing attention on (i) numerical aspects, (ii) spatial variability of flow and transport parameters (hydraulic conductivity, porosity, dispersivity, diffusion coefficient, sorption and decay coefficient), (iii) dualporosity medium and (iv) presence multi-component reactions. Modeling studies have been performed dealing with the above aspects and the important features are highlighted below. (i) SFEM for flow and solute transport Studies have been performed to analyze the probabilistic behavior of solute concentration in three dimensional (3-D) heterogeneous porous media. The popular and simple Monte Carlo Simulation method (MCSM) is computationally exhaustive when a few thousands of realizations are required especially for higher degrees of medium heterogeneities along with higher spacetime grid resolutions. Perturbation based stochastic finite element method (SFEM), is an alternative method for performing probabilistic analysis of concentration. The perturbation based SFEM is developed and investigated for linear and nonlinear transport problems. In this study the governing medium properties viz. hydraulic conductivity, dispersivity, molecular diffusion, porosity, sorption coefficient and decay coefficient are considered to vary randomly in space. The performance of SFEM is compared with Monte Carlo Simulation method (MCSM) for both 1-D and 3-D problems. Further, the randomness in the source or boundary conditions can also be a major source of uncertainty in the concentration field while analyzing the solute transport problems. Investigations are carried out to assess the combined effect of randomness of system parameters and the source conditions on 3-D problems. (ii) Modeling biodegradation reactions with finite volume method A globally second order accurate multi-dimensional finite volume model was developed to solve the coupled transport (acceptor, substrate and biomass) with dual Monod reaction kinetics. This model is ideally suited to track the sharp fronts that develop in a typical bioremediation scenario and is capable of handling all ranges of pore scale dispersivities normally encountered in the field. The coupled problem is split into a transport problem and a reaction problem, and solved independently and sequentially. The advection part of the transport equation is solved using an explicit finite volume method whereas a fully implicit finite difference method based model solves the dispersion part. Studies are conducted in a porous medium exhibiting physical and/or chemical heterogeneity. The heterogeneous porous medium is generated using HYDROGEN model and MCSM is used for the solution.
When pore scale dispersion and molecular diffusion are absent, the removal due to biodegradation is found to be slightly lower than that for the corresponding homogeneous case, even though some mixing is generated due to physical heterogeneity (variations in hydraulic conductivity). The temporal variation of biodegradation rate is assessed for various cases of physically and chemically heterogeneous (variations sorption coefficient) media. Studies conducted using a moving biomass model produces higher removal rate in the initial stages, but the long-term biodegradation rate is found to be the same as in the case with the assumption of a stationary biomass. (iii) Modeling of reactive solute transport in a single fracture The movement and mixing of solutes in fractured media is of particular interest in an environmental context because of the possibility of very rapid and extensive movement of contaminants through fractures, cracks, or fissures in otherwise low permeability rock. In such scenarios, there is a need to analyze the dispersion affected by matrix diffusion. Most radionuclides that could be stored in the repository sites are subject to sorption on crystalline rocks and hence there is a need for analyzing the behavior of the dispersion resulting from a single fracture with matrix diffusion in the presence of linear and nonlinear equilibrium sorption and first order decay cases. The behavior of the solute velocity and effective macrodispersivity of solute front in the fracture for the transport in a single fracture is analysed for linear and nonlinear equilibrium sorption in the presence of rock matrix diffusion using numerical modeling and spatial moment analysis. (iv) Modeling of multi-component reactive transport in groundwater Geochemical modeling requires robust and efficient multi-component solute transport models for describing the geochemical reactions arising from the water-rock interactions. An oscillatory free solution of transport equations under advective dominated cases is required while combining with geochemical models such as MINTEQA2 when using an operator-split approach. A multidimensional numerical model based on finite volume method for the multi-component equilibrium reactive transport (HYDROS) is developed, which combines the multi-component transport model with equilibrium speciation module MINTEQA2. A second-order accurate implicit time stepping finite volume method based on TVD scheme is used here for solving the advection equations. The model is benchmarked with the exact solutions available in the literature for advection-dominated cases with equilibrium chemical reactions of sorption, ion-exchange, and precipitation/dissolution. Further, the model performance is evaluated and compared with the MINTOX simulations used to model the metal mobility in aquifers impacted by acid mine tailings discharge. HYDROS is then applied to the case study of the transfer of transition metals with organic colloids in the swamp groundwater of the experimental Nsimi watershed, representative of the humid tropical ecosystem of the South Cameroon Plateau. The model is extended to include combination of nonlinear kinetic and equilibrium reactions.
Climate Hydrology
a) Assessing Impacts of Climate Change On Rainfall And Streamflows Using Downscaling Models The climate impact studies in hydrology often rely on climate change information at fine spatial resolution. However, general circulation models (GCMs), which are among the most advanced tools for estimating future climate change scenarios, operate on a coarse scale. Therefore, the output from a GCM has to be downscaled to obtain the information relevant to hydrologic studies. Towards this, Support vector machine (SVM) and Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) approaches have been developed. Impacts of climate change on water resources were assessed by downscaling appropriate predictors simulated by General Circulation Models (GCMs). With a relatively small number of GCMs available and a finite number of scenarios simulated by them, uncertainties in hydrologic impacts at a smaller spatial scale become particularly pronounced. A methodology has been developed to address such uncertainties for a specific problem of drought impact assessment, in the Orissa Meteorological sub-division, India with results from GCM simulations. Samples of a drought indicator were generated with downscaled precipitation from available GCMs and scenarios. Models and methodologies were developed for assessing impacts of climate change on streamflows of Mahanadi river basin, India (Fig. 4.56). Downscaling with Relevant Vector Machines (RVMs) and uncertainty modeling with possibilistic theory were considered to provide probability distributions of future streamflows under climate change scenarios (Fig 4.57). Possibilities were assigned to all the GCMs with scenarios based on their performance in modeling the streamflow of the recent past (1991-2005), when signals of climate forcing are evident. The possibilities associated with different GCMs and scenarios were used as weights in computing the possibilistic mean of the CDFs projected for three standard time slices 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s. Currently, the scenarios provided in the Assessment Report #4 (AR4) of the IPCC are being used in uncertainty modeling of climate change impacts. Results from these studies are useful in developing adaptive responses to climate change. Downscaling models based on SVM approach were used to obtain future projections of precipitation in meteorological sub-divisions of IMD (India Meteorological Department) for simulations of second generation Canadian coupled GCM (CGCM2) under IS92a scenario. A novel strategy was developed to obtain projections of future wet and dry seasons. Figure 58 shows projections for four time slices (2000-2019; 2020-2039; 2040-2059; 2060-2079).
Figure 56: GCM Grids superposed on the Mahanadi River Basin
Figure 57: GCM and Scenario Uncertainty in Climate Change Impacts on Streamflow
Figure 58: Precipitation in meteorological subdivisions of India projected for wet season by CGCM2 model for IS92a scenario - result from SVM downscaling model. Studies related to hydrology of Malaprabha reservoir system in Krishna river basin, India, were carried out to project water resources in the region using SVM model, and Soil and Water Assessment Tool with Arc View interface (AV-SWAT). The AV-SWAT was used to model the relationship between hydrometeorological variables and runoff in the Malaprabha reservoir catchment. Land-use/land-cover information of the study area was obtained from satellite remote sensing images based on Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) LISS III data. The drainage network in the catchment was derived from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation data. The SVM downscaling model was used to obtain projections of hydrometeorological variables (precipitation, temperature, wind speed, and specific humidity) in Malaprabha reservoir system at monthly and daily time scales from projections of third generation Canadian coupled GCM (CGCM3). Subsequently, future projections of streamflows in the Malaprabha catchment were obtained from projections of hydrometeorological variables using the developed AV-SWAT, and percentage change in projected future streamflows was estimated (Fig. 4.59).
Figure 59: Percentage change in projected future monsoon streamflows estimated by three SVM based downscaling models for Malaprabha reservoir catchment for A1B, A2, B1 and COMMIT climate change scenarios, using simulations of third generation Canadian Coupled General Circulation model (CGCM3). b) Hydroclimatic Influence of Large-Scale Circulation on the Variability of Reservoir Inflow The nature of basin-scale hydroclimatic association for Indian subcontinent was investigated. It is found that, the large-scale circulation information from Indian Ocean is also equally important in addition to the El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), owing to the geographical location of Indian subcontinent. The hydroclimatic association of the variation of monsoon inflow into the Hirakud reservoir in India was investigated using ENSO and EQUatorial INdian Ocean Oscillation (EQUINOO, the atmospheric part of Indian Ocean Dipole mode) as the large-scale circulation information from tropical Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean regions respectively. Individual associations of ENSO & EQUINOO indices with inflow into Hirakud reservoir were also assessed and found to be weak. However, the association of inflows into Hirakud reservoir with the composite index (CI) of ENSO and EQUINOO was quite strong (Figure 60). Thus, the large-scale circulation information from Indian Ocean is also important apart from the ENSO. The potential of the combined information of ENSO and EQUINOO for predicting the inflows during monsoon were also investigated which gave promising results. The results of this study will be helpful to water resources managers due to the fact that the nature of monsoon inflow is becoming available as an early prediction.
Figure 60: Plot of observed and predicted monsoon inflows into Hirakud reservoir using composite index (CI).
Water Resources Management

a) Use of Remote Sensing for Irrigation Water Allocations A model for optimal crop water allocations in the canal command areas has been developed and its use demonstrated with the case study of the command under Distributary No. 36 of the Tunga Bhadra project. The model uses processed data on crop areas obtained from satellite imageries in updating allocation decisions in real time. It is shown through the application that crop yields can be significantly improved by updating irrigation allocation decisions using information from satellite imageries in real time. b) Optimization of Water Resource Systems Efficient optimization techniques based on swarm intelligence and evolutionary computation principles have been proposed for single and multi-objective optimization in water resources systems. To overcome the inherent limitations of conventional optimization techniques, meta-heuristic techniques such as ant colony optimization (ACO), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and differential evolution (DE) are developed for single and multiobjective optimization. To achieve robust Pareto optimal fronts for multi-objective problems, a novel approach is developed by incorporating Pareto optimality principles into PSO algorithm, called elitist-mutated multi-objective particle swarm optimization (EM-MOPSO). Non-dominated solutions for three-objective Hirakud reservoir operation model obtained using EM-MOPSO are shown in Figure 61. For effectively handling interdependence relationships among decision variables of multi-objective water resource problems, an efficient multi-objective solver, namely multi-objective differential evolution (MODE) is developed. The developed MODE algorithm is evaluated with several test problems and also applied to a case study of Hirakud reservoir to derive operational tradeoffs in the reservoir system optimization. To demonstrate the applicability of the developed optimal operating policies for real time reservoir operation, reservoir inflow forecasting models are developed using soft computing approaches viz., artificial neural networks (ANNs), adaptive network fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and hybrid particle swarm optimization trained neural network (PSONN). These methods are then applied to a few case studies in planning and operation of reservoir systems in India.
Figure 61: Non-dominated solutions obtained for three-objective reservoir operation model using EM-MOPSO. f1-sum of squared deficits of irrigation releases (Mm3)2; f2hydropower production (M kwh); f3-satisfaction level of water quality
c) Structured Irrigation Network Network analysis models are developed based on the gradually varied flow analysis as applicable for irrigation networks. Studies are conducted to compare the traditional and structured irrigation systems for their efficacy in handling equitable supply to the entire command of the network. It has been found that the traditional irrigation system with pipe outlets and gated structures is biased towards upstream with no and very less supply towards the tail end of the distribution system. It is shown that using the structured irrigation concept (with only flow control and no gates), and with simple modification of the existing infrastructure, an equitable supply can be achieved. This has been demonstrated by the application of the developed model on the field study of the Bagewadi distributary.
Stochastic Hydrology
a) Data Mining for Evolution of Association Rules for Droughts and Floods in India using Climate Inputs An accurate prediction of extreme rainfall events can significantly aid in policy making and also in designing an effective risk management system. Frequent occurrences of droughts and floods in the past have severely affected the Indian economy, which depends primarily on agriculture. Data mining is a powerful new technology which helps in extracting hidden predictive information (future trends and behaviours) from large databases and thus allowing decision makers to make proactive, knowledge-driven decisions. In this study, a data mining algorithm making use of the concepts of minimal occurrences with constraints and time lags is used to discover association rules between extreme rainfall events and climatic indices. The algorithm considers only the extreme events as the target episodes (consequents) by separating these from the normal episodes, which are quite frequent and finds the timelagged relationships with the climatic indices, which are treated as the antecedents. Association rules are generated for all the five homogenous regions of India and also for AllIndia by making use of the data from 1960-1982. The analysis of the rules show that strong relationships exist between the climatic indices chosen, i.e., Darwin Sea Level Pressure (DSLP), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Nino 3.4 and SST values and the extreme rainfall events. Validation of the rules using data for the period 1983-2005, clearly shows that most of the rules are repeating and for some rules, even if, they are not exactly the same, the combinations of the indices mentioned in these rules are the same during validation period with slight variations in the class intervals taken by the indices. b) Nonlinear Ensemble Prediction of Chaotic Daily Rainfall The significance of treating rainfall as a chaotic system instead of a stochastic system for a better understanding of the underlying dynamics has been taken up by various studies recently. However, an important limitation of all these approaches is the dependence on a single method for identifying the chaotic nature and the parameters involved. Many of these approaches aim at only analyzing the chaotic nature and not its prediction. In the present study, an attempt is made to identify chaos using various techniques and prediction is also done by generating ensembles in order to quantify the uncertainty involved. Daily rainfall data of Malaprabha basin, India for the period 1955 to 2000 is used for the study. Autocorrelation and mutual information methods are used for preliminary investigation to identify chaos and also to determine the delay time for the phase space reconstruction. Optimum embedding dimension is determined using correlation dimension, false nearest neighbour algorithm and also nonlinear prediction methods. The low embedding dimensions of 5 7 obtained from these methods indicate the existence of low dimensional chaos in the rainfall series. A range of plausible parameters is used for generating an ensemble of predictions of rainfall for each year separately for the period 1996 to 2000 using the data till the preceding year (Figure 62). For analyzing the sensitiveness to initial conditions, predictions are done from two different months in a year viz., from the beginning of January and June.
Figure 62: Probability density function of predictions The reasonably good predictions obtained indicate the efficiency of the nonlinear prediction method for predicting the rainfall series. Also, the rank probability skill score and the rank histograms show that the ensembles generated are reliable with a good spread and skill. A comparison of results of predictions beginning from January and June indicates that June prediction is able to give better results, due to its closeness to the summer monsoon months. c) Bayesian Networks for Forecasting Nonstationary Hydroclimatic Time Series Forecasting hydrologic time series is an important tool for adaptive water resources management. Nonstationarity, caused by climate forcing and such other factors, makes the forecasting task too difficult to be modeled by traditional Box-Jenkins approaches. However, potential of Bayesian dynamic modeling approach is investigated through an application to forecast nonstationary hydroclimatic time series. The target is the time series of the volume of Devils Lake, located in North Dakota, USA, which was proved difficult to forecast by traditional methods. Two different Bayesian dynamic modeling approaches have been discussed, namely, constant model and dynamic regression model (DRM). Constant model uses the information of past observed values of the same time series, whereas DRM utilizes the information of a causal time series as an exogenous input. Noting that the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index appears to co-vary with the time series of the Devils Lake annual volume, its use as an exogenous predictor is explored in the case study. The results of both the Bayesian dynamic models are compared with those from the traditional Box-Jenkins time series modeling approach. Although, in this particular case study, it is observed that DRM performs marginally better than traditional models, major strength of Bayesian dynamic models lies in quantification of prediction uncertainty, which is of significant importance in hydrology. d) Non Parametric Approach for Simulating Hydrologic and Meteorologic Time Series Characterizing the uncertainty in rainfall using stochastic models has been a challenging area of research in the field of operational hydrology for about four decades. Simulated sequences drawn from such models are useful in applications such as agricultural planning, reservoir management, and erosion prediction. Research has been undertaken to develop an efficient
block bootstrap model to simulate synthetic rainfall sequences that are statistically indistinguishable and consistent with the historical record of rainfall. Application of the proposed model to rainfall data sets from India, Australia, and USA showed that it is a viable alternative to recently proposed nonparametric k-nearest neighbor bootstrap in vogue in hydrologic literature. The developed model overcomes shortcomings of conventional parametric models associated with parsimony and normalizing transformations. It is data driven and can reproduce nonlinearities. Further, a new Hybrid stochastic approach is developed for multi-site multi-season simulation of streamflows by effectively blending parsimonious linear parametric model and nonparametric bootstrap technique. The proposed approach provides promising alternative to conventional linear and non-linear parametric models as well as nonparametric models in vogue in literature for predicting the uncertainty in streamflows at both spatial and temporal scales in a river basin. Simulated sequences drawn from the proposed model find application in integrated river basin planning, design and operation/management of water resources systems. e) Regionalization Methods for Predicting Floods The main challenge in predicting flood magnitudes (quantiles) at target sites is to deal with paucity of at-site data to calibrate parameters of models chosen for the task. An appealing approach to overcome this impediment is to augment information at target site with data or model parameters transferred from sites depicting similar hydrological behavior. To address this problem, new procedures were developed (in collaboration with researchers at Purdue University, USA) based on the concepts of L-moments, fuzzy clustering theory, selforganizing feature maps and neural gas networks to: (i) decide plausible groups of similar watersheds in the area of interest, and (ii) systematically adjust the groups to arrive at homogeneous regions for flood frequency analysis. The proposed methods differ from conventional methods in the strategies used to form fuzzy clusters and to arrive at fuzzy regions. The developed procedures reduce subjectivity and effort associated with the task of adjusting the groups of watersheds to arrive at homogeneous regions. Flood quantiles estimated based on the developed methods find use in design and risk assessment of water control structures (e.g., highway culverts, railways and road bridges, urban storm sewers, dams, levees, flood walls and floodway channels), economic evaluation of flood protection projects, land-use planning and management, and flood insurance assessment. Currently, the developed procedures are being used for predicting floods in Indian watersheds. Figure 63 shows homogeneous regions delineated in Godavari basin, India.
Figure 63: Homogeneous regions formed in Godavari river basin.
f) New Approach for Prediction of Precipitation in Data Sparse Regions Effective prediction of precipitation in a region is necessary for applications in agricultural planning, and for investigating frequency and spatial distribution of meteorological droughts. Precipitation quantiles at target site may be predicted using at-site frequency analysis procedures. However, the predictions may not be reliable when local precipitation data are sparse. In case of ungauged sites and locations having sparse data, quantiles can be better estimated using regional frequency analysis (RFA). This involves delineation of hydrologically homogeneous region (pooling group) for target site using a regionalization approach, and pooling information at target site with that transferred from other sites within the region for use in quantile estimation. The conventional methods of RFA use statistics of rainfall as attributes to form regions. Owing to this, sufficient number of sites having adequate contemporaneous data is required to form meaningful regions. These methods may not be useful to form meaningful regions in areas having sparse data. Further, identification of pooling group(s) for ungauged site is not possible, because attributes (precipitation statistics that are necessary to identify pooling group) are unknown. Furthermore, validation of the delineated regions is not possible, since the use of same statistics to form regions and subsequently to test their homogeneity is meaningless. To alleviate these problems, a novel approach is proposed. It allows prediction of precipitation in a data sparse region using regionalization based on large scale atmospheric variables (LSAV) affecting hydrometeorology in the region. The LSAV, location parameters (latitude, longitude and altitude) and seasonality of rainfall were suggested as features for regionalization using hard/fuzzy cluster analysis. The proposed approach allows independent validation of the identified regions for homogeneity by using statistics computed from observed precipitation data, and it has the ability to form regions even in areas where the rain gauge density is sparse. Effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated through application to India for RFA of annual and summer monsoon rainfall (Figure 64).
Figure 64: Homogeneous summer monsoon rainfall regions formed based on proposed approach.
Comparisons of the newly formed summer monsoon rainfall (SMR) regions were made with those delineated in previous studies, to bring out the potential of the proposed approach. Results indicated that the SMR regions currently in use by India Meteorological Department (IMD) are statistically heterogeneous. The homogeneous annual rainfall regions newly formed from the proposed analysis are being used to construct curves depicting spatiotemporal characteristics of meteorological droughts in entire India. They find use in planning and management of water resources systems, and in developing drought preparedness plans.
Watershed Hydrology
a) Water Balance Studies in Small Experimental Watersheds In order to characterize the geometry of the regolith as well as the directions of the fractures or fissures in the protolith, a combination of two surface geophysical methods: electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and magnetic resonance soundings (MRS) were made in a small experimental watershed set up in a sub-humid tropical climate (~1200 mm of yearly rainfall) in the western Ghats (Kabini river basin), south India with gneissic substratum. These methods have helped in characterizing the thickness of these layers and spatial variability, favorable locations for indirect recharge in the fractured-fissured zone and hydraulic conductivity variations. The presence of spatial variability of stratification (variation of the thickness of the subsurface layers) and the variation of hydraulic conductivity within the fissure zone of protolith were found to be important for assessing the uncertainty in the groundwater flux in this zone. Studies were made to: (i) develop a method to generate the non-Gaussian random fields, which are conditioned to the 2-D profile data available from ERT inversion, (ii) analyze the effect of the topological uncertainty and the conditional modeling of the random field on the probabilistic behavior of the groundwater flux through the fissured zone in a subzone of the watershed. The results indicated that the effective steady seepage flux is reduced due to the spatial variability of the layering. The prediction uncertainty of groundwater flux was not as high as the uncertainties in the thickness of the layers. Further, field experiments were conducted in small experimental Moolehole watershed, located in the Bandipur national park, which is mainly a semi deciduous forest. The area of the watershed is 4.5 sq km and the annual average rainfall is about 1200 mm. All parameter weather station has been setup to gather the weather data. Stream gauging and also the water sample data were collected for 3 years covering monsoon, non-monsoon and also low and high rainfall years. The gathered data was analyzed using the SWAT model to build the rainfall-runoff relationships and also different components of the water balance (Figure 65). Also the water samples were analyzed for their chemical signature so that it could be useful for hydrograph analysis.
Figure 65: SWAT: observed vs. simulated discharge
b) Root Zone Soil Moisture Estimation at Watershed Scale using Satellite Retrieval, Assimilation and Modeling Soil moisture in the top few meters of the earths surface is widely recognized as a key parameter in numerous environmental studies, including meteorology, hydrology, agronomy and climate studies. It is this soil water that controls the success of agriculture and regulates partitioning of precipitation into runoff, evapotranspiration and groundwater storage. Nearsurface soil moisture (i.e. in the top 50 mm of the soil profile) is particularly complex and highly variable. The main factors controlling the spatial and temporal dynamics of soil moisture include topography, soil, land use, vegetation, and solar radiation. Satellite remote sensing and ground point measurements present two techniques for obtaining soil moisture observations. While point measurements allow for the collection of high resolution data through the soil profile, it is limited to a local scale due to instrument and logistic constraints. On the other hand satellite remote sensing is limited to the top few centimeters but yields good spatial information over large areas. The only satellite systems that currently meet the spatial resolution and coverage required for watershed management are active microwave sensors. The magnitude of the SAR backscatter coefficient is related to surface soil moisture through the contrast of the dielectric constants of bare soil and water. The perturbing factors affecting the accuracy of surface soil moisture estimation are soil surface roughness and vegetation biomass. Studies, particularly in the past decade, have resulted in a multitude of methods, algorithms, and models relating satellite-based images of SAR backscatter to surface soil moisture. However, no operational algorithm using SAR data acquired by existing space borne sensors exists. To fully meet the requirements for soil moisture information for watershed management, it is necessary to combine the horizontal coverage and spatial resolution of remote sensing with the vertical coverage and temporal continuity of a soil moisture simulation model. Such models are generally called Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT). The advantage of SVAT models is that profile soil moisture is estimated to several meters depth on hourly, daily or monthly time steps. One disadvantage of SVAT models for monitoring regional soil moisture condition is that they are one-dimensional, and without remotely sensed inputs, they are rarely capable of producing a distributed map of soil moisture. There is a potential to retrieve root zone soil moisture from SAR products by combining the SVAT models with remote sensed data through assimilation approaches. Using an extensive ground based monitoring system in a watershed the soil moisture can be measured at watershed scale, which offers spatially and temporally consistent ground truth information coincident with Envisat and Radarsat overpasses to test the many existing retrieval algorithms for the effects of soil, topography, roughness, various types of vegetation. As part of the ongoing research project funded by ISRO-IISc STC, an experimental watershed (7 km2) in the southwest of Karnataka is being monitored and modeling studies along with assimilation approaches are being carried out. Future scope includes combining the remote sensing data sets from multiple satellites (ENVISAT & RADARSAT) for modeling the catchment scale soil moisture in vegetated semi-arid landscape (Figure 66). India is in the process of launching RISAT-SAR for soil moisture mapping. The calibration and validation experiments would lead to development of an effective operational algorithm for retrieval of surface soil moisture and modeling the root zone soil moisture at watershed scale.
Remote Sensing Satellite
Surface Soil Moisture Logger Soil Moisture Model (z) = f [qs, D (), ()] Soil Moisture Sensors
Figure 66: Soil moisture retrieval experiments using ENVISAT and field experiments in the Maddur watershed (~7 Km2). c) Groundwater Recharge Estimation Understanding of climate variability and anthropogenic change impacts on groundwater resources related to availability, vulnerability and sustainability is critical. Studies have been carried out in understanding the various controls on the dynamics of groundwater recharge and discharge in the watersheds in the Cauvery basin, located in South India to understand some of these effects and their sensitivity in this basin to the type of climatic regimes viz. humid, transition or semi-arid. The parts of this basin provide a unique study areas comprising of the various climatic zones. Dominant patterns of climate and land use controls in groundwater for a semi-arid sub-basin are investigated for assessing inter- year and decadal variations in rainfall. The distributed groundwater model (MODFLOW) is used for the simulation of the groundwater system in the Gundal sub-basin (~1000 km2), which is intensively cultivated through groundwater in the recharge and intermediate zones. Using the remotely sensed data a methodology is evolved, which is used for conditioning the parameterization of the regional groundwater system in this structurally controlled sub-basin. Simulation approach is used for recharge and groundwater balance over three decades. The modeling also helped in assessing the boundary fluxes due to intense use of groundwater for irrigation in the last decade. Remotely sensed data combined with SWAT model is used for evaluating water balance in the semi-arid catchment of Arkavati sub-basin in the Cauvery river, South India during last two decades under changing land use practices. The applicability of combining SWAT and MODFLOW models for regions with groundwater irrigation is tested.
d) Sustainable Groundwater Use Under Climatic Variability and Land Use Change In the last two decades, significant changes have taken place in India on the use of groundwater for irrigation, and currently large part of irrigated agriculture depends on groundwater pumping. This has resulted in systematic changes in land use practices especially in the upland areas (recharge areas of river basin), which were not part of the green revolution. An examination of the spatial trends in groundwater level variations, in several regions indicate that groundwater is declining in spite of recharge occurring after post-monsoon season, which is attributed to anthropogenic pressures. The impact of land use/land cover (LU/LC) changes in certain settings is found to be much stronger than the climate variability and hence studies have been initiated to characterize dominant patterns of climate and land use controls on the groundwater system for developing sustainable groundwater resource programs. The geology of central and peninsular India is different and far more complex. The water-bearing and conveying properties of these aquifers vary greatly even over small distances, making scientific resource management critical and difficult at the same time. Groundwater data are still often inaccessible or unavailable at the smaller scale to alleviate the current constraints impeding the planning and decision. Studies have been initiated through two research projects in the last few years. The focus of these projects is to characterize the fractured rock aquifers for recharge & discharge behavior. Taking further the models developed it is envisaged to develop a science-based decision support tool for planning and decision that can provide groundwater balance at village/ small watershed scale due to climatic, geomorphological and land use controls. Figures 4.67 and 4.68 give the spatial and temporal variations of groundwater balance components at village scale as modeled using the village-wise sustainable ground water assessment model, which considers the climatic and land use effects. The developed tool would be extensively tested for regions with varied climatic, soil, geological and land use settings, in various places in the Karnataka state.
-34
SOMAHALLI HUNASINAPUR CHIKANAPU RA
-100 -13 AKKALAPUR
KABBAHALLI
HALLADAPURA +19 SAMPIGEPUR HEGGADAHALLI +20 -6KALLAHALLI HURADAHALLI HANCHI PURA -50 PARAMAPURA SHANADR AH ALLI +4 VADDARAHALLI MUD UGURU PADAGUR -52 -37 +17 LAKKUR -1 +8 +16 NARANAPURA -44 BANNITALAPUR -21 BALACH AVADI -15 +7 KASAVANUR KELSUR KILAGERE
+1
+13
-3
(b) (a)
BERATHALLI KELASURPUR +17 +8 KAGGALA SHINDANAPUR TERAKANAMBI
-18
TRIAMBAKAPURA KANDAGAL
-17
+14 +12
+2
DEPAPURA
+7 UTTUR
SHILAVANTAPURA HULLANA
+15
Figure 67: (a) Land use and land cover map from multi-season imagery of IRS-1C with bore wells in villages in 2008 of Gundal basin (~ 1000 Km2) in the Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka. (b) Spatial distribution of groundwater balance (mm) modeled in each village of the Terakanambi watershed (~80 Km2) for 2008.
0 Depth to GW (m) -5 -10 -15 -20
Groundwater levels
B B
-1000
Deviations
20 0
120 100 Value (mm) 80 60 40 20 0
Depth to GW (m)
Recharge Discharge Groundwater Pumping
0 -5 -10 -15 -20
-20
Land use
20 0
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
1978
1981
1984
1987
1990
1993
1996
1999
2002
2005
Figure 68: (A) Temporal patterns of recharge, discharge (baseflow & underflow) and pumping in the Terakanambi village (~25 Km2) during 1978-2005. (B) Simulations of groundwater levels using the model due to climatic variability alone during 1991-2005. (C) Simulations of groundwater levels using the model due to climatic variability and land use changes during 1991-2005.
2007
-20
Deviation (m)
Climate & With Pumping
Deviation (m)
Without only Climate Pumping
Hydrochemistry
Precipitation and land-use controls on the groundwater chemistry At a local scale, groundwater chemistry is influenced by natural mineralogical transformations taking place in the soil matrix and also by anthropogenic activities such as land-use changes. On the basin scale, the chemistry changes with climatic inputs such as rainwater. A study is carried out to analyse the hydrogeochemical behavior under the influence of lithologic, precipitation and anthropogenic controls in the upper Cauvery basin, which stretches along three climatic zones humid, sub-humid and semi-arid. This is followed by the analysis of contributions made by the components of the hydrogeochemical cycle. A geochemical model is developed, which is used to study the spatiotemporal variations in groundwater chemistry in a small experimental watershed. Analysis of the groundwater chemistry in the basin is observed to show a gradient along the climatic gradient with sub-humid zone bridging between the semi-arid and humid zones. Wells in the relatively higher pumping regions, which receive sufficient annual recharge exhibit dilution chemistry though groundwater level fluctuations are higher. However, wells in regions of high pumping with insufficient recharge show anti - dilution chemistry. Rainfall and its chemistry is analyzed using data from various monitoring stations in India. A model is developed to quantify the variation in concentration of Cl and Na (marine elements) under the influence of inland distance and annual rainfall. The model is used to predict the concentrations of Cl and Na in rain of different station points in the upper Cauvery basin. Na concentration is further used to estimate the recharge to groundwater using an alternative approach Sodium Mass Balance approach. SMB recharge estimates are observed to offer a better alternative than the chlorine mass balance estimates in the semi-arid and sub-humid zones, which are affected by agricultural inputs. Water rock reactions evolve towards equilibrium with the primary minerals while a series of secondary minerals precipitate. Mass balance approach is adopted to quantify the rates of mineral interactions at an experimental watershed, Mule Hole. These weathering rates are tested for the sensitivity to carbonates. A hydrogeochemical model is developed based on a mixing cell approach, which considers the spatio-temporal variations in the recharge and the weathering inputs in the mixing zone. The model developed is able to simulate the temporal variations in the groundwater chemistry. In summary, the study analyses the effects of lithological, climatic and anthropogenic factors on groundwater chemistry.
Hydraulics
a) River Mechanics/ Sediment Transport Mechanics The seepage flow through boundaries of alluvial channels, rivers and streams is a common occurrence because of the porosity of the earthen material and the difference between the water levels in the channel and the adjoining ground water table. In India, as per Indian Standards, the loss of water due to downward seepage (suction) in alluvial channels constitutes a substantial percentage of usable water, of the order of 45% of the water supplied at the head of the canal; and generally it varies from 0.3 to 7m3/s per million square meters of wetted area. Studies were undertaken to investigate the hydrodynamic behavior of alluvial channels affected by seepage with a couple of objectives: (1) Development of a procedure to design stable alluvial channels by taking into consideration seepage as an explicit design variable and (2) Investigation of effect of seepage on the alluvial channel regime and its quantification towards the design. The results obtained were very encouraging and they have proved conclusively that seepage can alter significantly the hydrodynamic behavior of alluvial channels. The experimental investigations have a great practical relevance not only in the design of alluvial channels but also towards better understanding of the mechanics of sediment erosion and deposition problems as well as the hydrodynamic behavior of the channels with erodible bed and banks. b) Flow Measurements A low cost but modern digital micro-manometer for research laboratories was developed indigenously for better research in measurements of micro pressure heads in the order of one micron of mercury (Hg). It is very economical, costs hardly one-fifth of similar imported equipment.
Transportation Engineering
The areas of research include; sustainable transportation planning, public transport planning and management, optimization of transportation systems, application of geoinformatics in transportation, driver behaviour and road safety, traffic management etc. Research in transportation engineering focuses on the following aspects:

Capacity Management Encouraging public transport, cycling and walking; integrated land-use and transportation planning Transportation Systems Management Reducing transportation needs, reducing dependence on car, improving traffic flow, improving road safety Environmental Management Minimizing negative environmental impact of transportation Energy Management Reducing dependence on fossil fuel for transportation
Following are some of the specific research problems that have been planned a) A Goal-Oriented Method for Urban transport Strategy Development for Indian Metropolitan Areas Most of the Indian cities today are typically characterized by high-density urban areas, absence of proper control on land use, lack of proper roads and parking facilities, poor public transport, lack of road user discipline etc. The resultant effects are; increased traffic congestion and transport-borne pollution, heavy fuel consumption, poor level of service to the commuter etc. So far, only isolated approaches to solve single problems are used in most of the Indian cities. An integrated approach which considers different combinations of measures (in infrastructure and traffic management) and their joint impact on the different goal areas (mobility, safety, environment, economy etc.) are fairly not used. Approaches traditionally adopted for developing urban transport strategies for Indian cities are bottom-up in nature and focus largely on infrastructure expansion and do not adequately consider traffic and demand management measures. Hence, the study will focus on a goal-oriented and cooperative method for establishing comprehensive urban transport strategies for Indian Metropolitan Areas. b) Development of a Simultaneous Approach for Integrated Mass Transit Planning The objective of this project would be to develop a simultaneous and iterative approach for planning an effective and efficient integrated urban mass transit system for any city which has a potential demand for a new rail-based mass transit system besides the street transit system and any existing rail-based system (Figure 69).
Figure 69: Integrated mass transit planning c) Air Travel Demand Modeling for Indian Cities This would involve work on developing a model for forecasting air travel demand for Indian cities. Unfortunately in India, there has not been any scientific approach used for forecasting the air travel demand. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) forecasts predict worldwide growth in air traffic at 5% a year or doubling in the volume of traffic once in 14 years. Similar trend has been adopted in India for forecasting the air travel demand. Airport Authority of India (AAI) has considered a growth rate of 7% for the period 2007 to 2011. AAI has extended this growth rate for the period 2012-2017, and is taken as 6%. Rapid economic development that has been seen in the last one decade resulted in unpredicted growth in air traffic. A growth rate of 24 % has been observed in over all domestic air traffic for the year 2004-2005. From the observations it can be concluded that there has not been much work done in the past regarding air traffic demand forecasting in India. Trends observed in international air traffic are currently being used for forecasting air traffic in Indian skies. Hence, there is a clear requirement for taking up this study to develop a proper air-travel demand forecasting model for Indian cities. d) Development of a Web-based Transit Passenger Information System (PIS) Design This study includes work on a web-based multi-objective and Generalized Cost (GC) based Passenger Information System (PIS) design for multi-modal transit system that integrates geo-informatics, network analysis, user-interfacing and database management. The GC approach for trip planning is especially important in Indian scenario, where the various modes of transport are generally not harmonized, and the transfer time from one mode to another may be very large. It also imitates the natural tendency of public transport users to attach differential importance to various legs of a trip (walking, waiting, travel time etc.), while planning for it (Figure 70).
Figure 70: Web-based Transit Passenger Information System e) Effect of Driver Characteristics and Behaviour on Road Safety and Mobility Quantifying the effects of improved driver characteristics and behaviour on road safety and mobility needs to be assessed. The aim of this project will be to arrive at a new and comprehensive structure of driver education and testing as part of the driver licensing system in India. A micro-simulation approach will be used to quantify the improvements in road safety and mobility that may happen by introducing the suggested reforms in driver licensing procedure in India.

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Research Highlights of the Department Earthquake Engineering

Figure 2a: Piezovibrocone

3= 100 kPa 300 kPa 500 kPa

Fine Grained Sand

Figure 3a: Resonant Column Test Set-up

Figure 3b: Variation of Poissons ratio with relative density

Figure 4a: Cyclic Triaxial Test Set-up

Figure 4b: Pore pressure response of original Ahmedabad sand specimens

Figure 6: Comparison of controlled and uncontrolled response

Figure 7: Laminar box on shake table

Figure 8: Model of rigid faced retaining wall

Table (payload 5000kg) Fund. Freq. 90Hz

containment reinforcement with link

Corner containment reinforcement with triangular link

Figure 10: Construction sequence of buildings with containment reinforcement

Model 1 (ERF as per IS 4326:1993)

Hourglass type failure of bricks

Splitting, crushing of bricks and Diagonal shear failure of wall

Separation of the two leaves of the wall

Damage and Fracture Mechanics

Figure 16: Acoustic emission sensors and results on interface specimens

Hydraulic Jack Load cell

Reaction frame (150mm I-section)

Load cell display

Soil sample Vertical shaft

Tank (2000mmx370mmx650mm) Load application mechanism

Dial gauge Footing (360mm x 70mm x 25mm)

Figure 19: Seismic bearing capacity calculations for foundations

Soil Reinforcement and Geosynthetics

Figure 22: Geosynthetic reinforced foundation beds

Figure 23: Test on unpaved road section

Figure 24: Role reducing rut depth

Computational Mechanics and Modeling

14400 Nodes, 4800 Triangles & 7120 Discontinuities

28800 Nodes, 8500 Triangles & 14300 Discontinuities

43200 Nodes, 14400 Triangles & 21480 Discontinuities

JOB TITLE : Strain_Beam Stiffness 50kN/m_0.2g _3 Hz

JOB TITLE : Strain_Base_0.2g _3 Hz

FLAC (Version 5.00)

FLAC (Version 5.00)

JOB TITLE : Strain_Beam Stiffness 250kN/m_0.2g _3 Hz

JOB TITLE : Strain_Beam Stiffness 500kN/m_0.2g _3 Hz

FLAC (Version 5.00)

FLAC (Version 5.00)

= 1.0 = 9624 = 3208 = 4759 = 16

Block Jointed Gypsum Plaster

Agra Sandstone 3=5 MPa

Deviatoric Stress (MPa)

Experimental ECM ANN

Experimental ECM ANN

0 0 0.002 0.004 0.006 Axial Strain 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014

a) Block jointed Gypsum Plaster

b) Agra Sand stone

Condition Assessment of Railway Bridges

Reliability in Civil Engineering Systems

Tensionics A4 A2 Auger Holes

Sandy weathering level

c) Figure 45: Toposequence for Moolehole watershed, South India.

Figure 47: Aperture distribution for a rough walled fracture plane

Figure 51: Use of Bentonite as buffer material in deep geological repositories

Figure 53: Effect of sulphuic acid on swell behavoiur of red soil

Figure 56: GCM Grids superposed on the Mahanadi River Basin