Discussion on the Discreteness of the Attenuation Parameters of the Peak Particle Velocity Induced by Blasting.

The research on the attenuation law of blasting vibration has become the foundation and precondition of the effective control of blasting vibration damage. Aiming at the characteristics of low frequency, low velocity, and strong amplitude of the R wave, an improved wave component separation method based on R wave suppression is proposed. Combined with the measured vibration signals of a field test, the attenuation parameters of different types of waves in the propagation process of blasting seismic waves are studied. The analysis results show that, in the process of blasting seismic wave propagation, the attenuation parameters of different types of waves are significantly different. With an increase in propagation distance, the proportion of the different types of waves will also change. The study of attenuation law with only coupled particle peak vibration velocity often showed high discreteness. The fitting correlation coefficient and prediction accuracy of peak vibration velocity without distinguishing wave modes are lower than those induced by the P wave or R wave alone, which should be attributed to the conversion of dominant wave modes in blasting vibration at different distances.

Near-surface softening and healing in eastern Honshu associated with the 2011 magnitude-9 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake.

The near-surface part of the crust, also called the skin of the earth, is the arena of human activity of which the stiffness is of great concern to engineers in infrastructure construction. The stiffness reduction of near-surface geomaterials also plays a vital role in geohazards triggering. However, the physical mechanism behind the material softening is still not fully understood. Here, we report a coseismic shear-wave velocity reduction in the near surface by up to a few tens of percent during the strongest shaking from the 11 March 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake and a subsequent two-stage healing process including a rapid recovery within a few minutes and a slow recovery over many years. We also present a theoretical contact model between mineral grains in geomaterials containing multiple metastable contacts at small separations due to the oscillatory hydration interaction, which can explain the emergence of different stages in the healing process.