Journal of Engineering Geology

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An investigation on engineering properties of marl rocks of Safa dam foundation

iman Aghamolaee

Marl rocks are from weak rocks which cause some problems due to high swelling and efflorescence capability, low resistance and durability in construction of engineering structures. Creation of these problems is due to inadequate recognition of engineering geology properties of these rocks. Hence, in this research for determination of the physical and mechanical parameters of marl rocks of Safa dam site, Aterberg limits, density, porosity and moisture percent, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), direct shear, swelling and three axial compressive strength tests and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses were performed on available samples from excavated bores. Results of experiments indicate that the type and contents of minerals and percentage of calcium carbonate in marl rocks, especially clay minerals are effective factors on engineering geology properties of these rocks

Face Stability Analysis of Tunnel (A case study: Karaj Subway Line 2 )

P Headarian

Tunneling in complex geological and geotechnical conditions is often inevitable, especially in urban areas. The stability analysis and the assessment of ground surface settlement of a shield tunneling are of major importance in real shield tunneling projects. The objective of this research is to determine the collapse pressure of a shallow circular tunnel driven by a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) of the Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) type. In this study, analytical methods and three-dimensional numerical modeling with ABAQUS software were implemented to examine the effect of face pressure on the behavior of the tunnel. The parameters were calculated using data from Karaj subway-line 2 as a case study. The analytical method used in this study is Leca-Dormiex which is based on limit analysis theory. The method is based on a translational multiblock failure mechanism. Also, elastic and Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model have been used for soil behavior. The results of analytical method and numerical modeling were then compared. Based on the obtained results, face pressure assessed from the analytical method of Leca-Dormiex (upper bound) is the minimum pressure that can be implemented on the face tunnel. It also indicates that with implementation of suggested pressure of analytical method, Karaj subway face tunnel is stable and consequently execution of pre-consolidation methods in this section of the tunnel does not seem to be necessary

Engineering geomorphological assessment of lower Gamasiab river in east of Kermanshah province

Greza khanlari

Awareness of orphological features of rivers is necessary for recognition of river behavior and optimum application of rivers. Overall catchment physiografy have important role for determination factors such as floods, erodible and sediment mutagenicity. In this study in order to understand the behavior of Gamasiab River in the east of Kermanshah province, geomorphologic features of this river has been considered. Study of engineering geomorphologic properties is done by using existing data from previous studies, site visit and field perceptions, study of geology and topography maps. Physiographic properties of catchment, channels morphologic properties and geology conditions in this region have been studied. In this research, several parameters such as average width, environment, area, hydrogeologic coefficient, catchment form, maximum, minimum and mean high, and longitudinal slope has calculated. Also status of drainage density of this river has been investigated and time to focus calculated. Finally this river review and classified according to various classifications for rivers

Estimation of scour hole length resulted from river bank erosion based on the experimental data

MR Majdzadeh Tabatabaee

River bank erosion is a mechanism initiated by soil particles movement due to subsurface flow. This may occur in a soil texture at a critical hydraulic gradient. With regard to the complexity of river bank erosion processes and limited research in this field, it is of significance to investigate and to identify the effective parameters. In the present study, a physical model of a river bank was developed to achieve in-depth understanding of the effects of bank material particle sizes on porous media under various hydraulic gradients. It is concluded that the length of scour hole caused by seepage erosion may depend on the hydraulic gradients as well as Reynolds number. Further, two empirical relationships are derived on the basis of observed experimental results to estimate scour hole length resulted from river bank erosion for laminar and turbulent conditions

Evaluation of Instability Factors of a Slope of Overlooking Conveyor-Belt System in Sungun Copper Complex and Its Stabilization

Hossein Soltani-Jigheh

A slope overlooking conveyor-belt system in Sungun copper mine complex has been downfall in 2006 and the buildings located on the upper part of the slope has been moved and destructed. Since the conveyor-belt system is an important part of the production process that transports excavated material from original stock to the rock-crusher equipment and to have continuous and firm production in the mining process, this slope must be stable during exploitation period safely. For this purpose, in this paper, first the structural and engineering geology of the area was studied and then the stability risk analysis is performed on the slope. According to the results of the stability analyses, the slope may be unstable against slip and probable instability may lead to damage or destroy conveyor-belt and its tunnel. Therefore, considering technical and cost conditions, slope geometry modification method with incorporation of the other methods are suggested to stabilization of the part of slope above conveyer belt. In addition, in the part of slope under conveyor-belt it is suggested to use other slope stabilization methods

Estimation of the drained shear strength parameters of fine grained soil of southern Tehran using nonlinear regression model

A Ghorbani

Determining the precise shear strength parameters of the fine grained soils is always a difficult task. In order to conduct the shear strength tests and determine the mechanical parameters of the soil, achieving an untreated high quality sample is a problem with a high degree of importance. Therefore, during the recent decades many researchers have attempted to provide relations between strength parameters and soil physical characteristics in a specific structure and so to provide the possibility of estimating the strength parameters based on these characteristics. The aim of this research is to estimate the shear strength parameters of a wide region of fine grained alluvial soil located in southern Tehran, Iran. In this regard, the geotechnical data including physical and shear strength parameters of 294 boreholes were firstly collected from the site. Then, the obtained data were statistically and independently analyzed. Based on the results of analyzes, the soil geotechnical parameters were presented for various depths with an acceptable level of reliability. Moreover, they were considered as a basis for providing a nonlinear regression model to estimate the soil shear strength parameters and based on the index physical characteristics of the fine grained soil (water content and plasticity index). The developed model is capable to predict the soil drained shear strength parameters and also other similar soil properties with a very good accuracy

Prediction of Cell Pressure Error Utilizing GEP Procedure (A case study: Alborz embankment dam, Mazandaran, Iran)

maryam nikooee

Determination of stress in earthfill dams is one of the most important parameters in dam safety studies. Stress monitoring can be done using total pressure cells which are typically installed during construction. The cell is installed with its sensitive surface in direct contact with the soil to measure total stress of soil and in combination with piezometers to measure pore-water pressure acting in the soil mass. Total pressure cells needs to be installed with care to get reasonable measurements. However, measurements are often incompatible with the theoretical predictions such that pressure cell results usually have some inaccuracies. There are several parameters effecting pressure cell errors. However, in the present paper it is only focused on the height of embankment and the duration of dam construction. For this purpose, a case study, namely Alborz embankment dam located in northern part of Iran was studied. It is an earth dam with clay core with a height of 78 m. Using the monitoring data and considering the effect of embankment height and construction period parameters, a model is presented to predict the pressure cells error with Gene Expression Programming (GEP) procedure by GeneXProTools 4.0 software. The computed coefficient of correlation (R²) for the proposed model is 0.98 showing a good agreement with the monitoring data. The obtained results indicate that the ratio of height difference to time difference for Alborz dam has a significant role in dam pressure cells errors