Masaatsu Aichi

Effects of human activities and urbanization on groundwater environments: An example from the aquifer system of Tokyo and the surrounding area

The Kanto plain that is the largest depositional plain in Japan has the largest urbanized area called Tokyo Metropolitan Area. This plain has experienced extensive groundwater withdrawals for water resources and human induced disasters such as land subsidence in the process of urbanization. Japanese national government and local governments have monitored groundwater levels and settlement of ground surface for about half a century. These data are useful not only for the prevention of these disasters but for the evaluation of the change of groundwater flow beneath the urbanized area. However, few hydrological and hydrogeological studies about the change of groundwater flow in this plain have been conducted until now except for several studies which were limited in areal extent. In this paper, changes of the distribution of hydraulic heads in the central part of this plain are discussed using the long-term groundwater level observation data to evaluate the change of groundwater flow. The temporal changes in the distribution of hydraulic heads in a major confined aquifer (the second aquifer) and the areal extent of the urbanized area for approximately 50 years can be summarized as follows. In the latter half of the 1950s, urban area was limited in the southern region of the study area and hydraulic head gradually declined from the northwest to the southeast in the study area. After the 1960s, urban area extended toward the north and groundwater in the northern part was largely abstracted until the 1980s. As a result, hydraulic heads in this area markedly declined. On the other hand, hydraulic heads in the southern part began to rise because of the restriction of groundwater withdrawals. In recent years, low hydraulic head area has been formed from the northern region to the central region. These results suggest that the groundwater flow which was affected by urbanization (groundwater withdrawals) has continued to change over several decades, even after the regulation of withdrawals, and hence, the continued monitoring of the groundwater environment is important for the sustainable use of groundwater resources.

Coupled Groundwater Flow/Deformation Modelling for Predicting Land Subsidence

Land subsidence is one of the major problems to consider in the attempt to achieve sustainable groundwater usage in urban areas, as mentioned in Chapters 3, 4 and 12. For better management of groundwater-related environments, a combination of monitoring and predictive modelling is desirable (Fig. 6.1).

Atomic simulations to evaluate effects of stacking fault energy on interactions between edge dislocation and spherical void in face-centred cubic metals

Abstract In this study, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to elucidate the effects of stacking fault energy (SFE) on the physical interactions between an edge dislocation and a spherical void in the crystal structure of face-centred cubic metals at various temperatures and for different void sizes. Four different types of interaction morphologies were observed, in which (1) two partial dislocations detached from the void separately, and the maximum stress corresponded to the detachment of the trailing partial; (2) two partial dislocations detached from the void separately, and the maximum stress corresponded to the detachment of the leading partial; (3) the partial dislocations detached from the void almost simultaneously without jog formation; and (4) the partial dislocations detached from the void almost simultaneously with jog formation. With an increase in void size or SFE, the interaction morphology changed in the above-mentioned order. It was observed that the magnitude of the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) and its dependence on the SFE were determined by these interaction morphologies. The value of the CRSS in the case of interaction morphology (1) is almost equal to an analytical one based on the linear elasticity by employing the Burgers vector of a single partial dislocation. The maximum value of the CRSS is also obtained by the analytical model with the Burgers vector of the two partial dislocations.

Interactions between clusters of self-interstitial atoms via a conservative climb in BCC–Fe

ABSTRACT We conduct kinetic Monte Carlo simulations for the conservative climb motion of a cluster of self-interstitial atoms (SIAs) towards another SIA cluster in BCC–Fe; the conservative climb velocity is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the distance between them, as per the prediction based on Einstein’s equation. The size of the climbing cluster significantly affects its conservative climb velocity, while the size of the cluster that originates the stress field does not. The activation energy for the conservative climb is considerably greater than that derived in previous studies and strongly dependent on the climbing cluster size. The results presented in this study are the atomistic evaluation of the behaviour of SIA clusters through three-dimensional motion, which cannot be achieved using molecular dynamics techniques alone.

Quantitative study on experimentally observed poroelastic behavior of Berea sandstone in two‐phase fluid system

Coupled two-phase fluid flow and poroelastic deformation of Berea sandstone is studied through laboratory experiment and numerical simulation. In the experiment, compressed air was infiltrated from the bottom of a water-saturated cylindrical Berea sandstone sample under hydrostatic external stress condition. Both axial and circumferential strains at half the height of the sample showed sudden extension and monotonic and gradual extension afterward. Numerical simulation based on thermodynamically consistent constitutive equations was conducted in order to quantitatively analyze the experimental results. In a simulation assuming isotropy of material properties, the volumetric discharge rate of water at the outlet and one of the axial, circumferential, and volumetric strains at half the height of the sample were reproduced well by each parameter set, while the other two strains were not. When introducing transverse isotropy, all the experimental data were reproduced well. In addition, the effect of saturation dependency of Bishops effective stress coefficient on the deformation behavior of porous media was discussed, and it was found that strains, both axial and circumferential, are sensitive to the coefficient.