Soil heterogeneity, due to variations in the subsurface stratigraphy or properties within a layer, can trigger or amplify differential settlements that affect buildings and infrastructure and can thus lead to (increase in) damage. The state-of-the-art mainly focuses on the effect of heterogeneous properties within a layer on engineering problems. From this, it is known that the variation in properties can increase the vulnerability of a structure. However, nearly always variations in the soil lithological conditions are disregarded, while they can influence subsidence potentially even more. Lithological variations are relevant both at the scale of individual buildings as well as different scales (city, regional, country), for which often detailed soil information is not available. Thus, for a better prediction of potential building damage related to subsidence, knowledge about the scale and influence of lithological variations is needed. This paper describes an approach to quantify and investigate the influence of lithological heterogeneity at the scale of a single building. Moreover, this exploratory study evaluates the influence of lithological heterogeneity on the spatial variability of settlements, intending to upscale the approach to regional application. Two independent datasets at high resolution (site-specific) and low resolution (national level) are used to retrieve the stratigraphic conditions for the area selected for the analyses. One-, Two- and Three-dimensional numerical models, based on the collected information are used to simulate the consolidation process and settlement due to a uniform load imposed on the surface level of the study area. Additional analyses investigate the influence of loading conditions and groundwater table. The parameter correlation length is used to quantify the spatial variability of the soil layer thickness and then of the computed settlements. The analyses reveal that the spatial variability of the soil strata thickness matches that of the computed settlements, ranging from 2 to 10 meters. In other words, the lithological variability of the soil leads to differential settlements occurring at the scale of man-made structures such as houses, roads, and embankments. Thus, the results encourage including the contribution of lithological heterogeneity in models and predictions of differential settlement at the scale of individual structures. Moreover, the statistical properties, in terms of mean, spread and distribution shape, of the settlement computed through in-situ specific models, match with those derived at the national scale. These results are expected to support the identification of areas potentially influenced by lithological soil heterogeneity, thus showing potential for upscaling to regional or national levels.

This study compares two 3D nonlinear FE models, 'simplified coupled' and 'uncoupled', to explore 'light' damage in a two-storey masonry building on strip foundations affected by subsidence. Both models employ nonlinear interfaces to simulate soil-structure interaction: the simplified coupled model ties the structure with the soil volume with 'contact interfaces', while the uncoupled model uses 'boundary interfaces' to represent the interaction. The impact of soil volume and settlement shape size is examined. Results indicate consistent damage, displacements, and stresses across both modelling approaches with the smallest soil volume. Differences increase with larger soil volumes: at a distortion of 1/1,000 in hogging, the coupled model shows the damage decreases by 54% when the soil volume is quadrupled. Mesh size is also observed to affect crack initiation but not the overall damage mechanism. In general, coupled models reduce non-convergence and computation time, whereas uncoupled models simplify the analyses by decoupling the problem.

Improving the prediction of weather events is always an important research area and challenging task for meteorologists since it can minimize the damage, adverse impact on human life, properties, and the country's economy. The operational and research centers around the globe have been working to better understand the multiscale interactions involved in advancing severe weather, including Tropical Cyclones and thunderstorm predictions. The present review article focuses on research activities with a specific emphasis on Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) methods that led to improvements in severe weather prediction over India during the last three decades. This work also highlights the continuous efforts of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in increasing the observational network and severe weather monitoring. The evolution of NWP models and associated advancements in genesis, movement, and precipitation forecasts of extreme events by these models are discussed.

Tall buildings with basement levels are increasingly being built due to need for space in large cities. Frequently, such structures are built involving a raft foundation and diaphragm walls below the water table. In addition, sometimes such buildings are located on floodplains. Therefore, if a river flood event occurs, the building can be exposed to pore water pressure (due to the fluctuation of water table) acting beneath its raft foundation. The generated subpressures will depend on the water table changes with time, and on the way such pressures are transmitted through the ground. Previous works have studied this behavior through laboratory and small-scale tests or numerically; however, many of them have used a constant hydraulic gradient and the water table fluctuations with time have been ignored. In this work, the evolution of pore water pressures with time mobilized beneath a raft foundation of a building built in a floodplain is studied. To do that, full-scale numerical models capable of simulate a river flooding and its corresponding overflow are developed. Such models incorporate data from water table change-time curves recorded during real river floods associated with a set of river regimes. Additionally, the effect of factors such as the soil permeability, the diaphragm wall length, and the soil thicknesses on water pore pressures beneath a raft foundation are also analyzed. Results suggest numerical models developed herein are capable of reproducing pore pressures induced beneath a raft foundation during river flooding. Furthermore, it was found that the above-mentioned factors could impact the percentage of pore water pressure mobilized beneath the raft foundation with respect to the maximum pore water pressure that could be induced during river flooding, and that the principal risk arises in buildings near large catchments where the flow increases over an extended period. Finally, practical implications and recommendations to practitioners are provided.

Foundation settlement is a common problem in civil engineering. In the case of un-even settlement, it can lead to structural deformation and damage, which seriously affects the safety and reliability of the project. Therefore, the influence of adjusting the stiffness of the foundation on un-even settlement was analyzed through finite element analysis to effectively solve un-even settlement. By simulating the settlement of soil under different foundation stiffness and load conditions, the influence of foundation stiffness adjustment on soil deformation and settlement distribution was analyzed, and its impact on structural safety was evaluated. These studies confirmed that thickened layers could effectively solve the un-even settlement. Within the range of 0.2 to 1.0 meters, the difference in thickness was the greatest. The adjustment of differential settlement by layer thickness was phased and decreased with increasing thickness. Adjusting the stiffness of the foundation could effectively solve un-even settlement, reduce differences in soil settlement, and improve the overall stability and safety of the structure. These results have important guiding significance for the design of foundation and the solution of un-even settlement problems in engineering practice and provide certain reference and basis for further research.