Journal of Engineering Geology

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Tunnel boring machines (TBM) are widely used in excavating urban tunnels. These kinds of machines have different types based on supporting faces and tunnel walls. One type of these machines, is the Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) type that was used in excavating the Line 1 Tunnel of Tabriz Metro. Different parameters such as geological conditions, rock mass properties, dip and machine specifications affect the efficiency of the machine. One method of predicting the efficiency of these machines is to estimate their penetration rates. In this study the value of TBM penetration rates are predicted by an artificial neural network. Predicting of this parameter is so effective for conducting in high risk regions by understanding the time of facing to these regions. The main result of this study is to forecast the penetration rate with an acceptable accuracy and to determine the effective parameters through sensitivity analysis measured by an artificial neural network.

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Determination of uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of intact rock is an important mechanical parameter required for many engineering projects. In some engineering projects, for example, well drilling has been accomplished for petroleum. The requirement of deep well to take samples to obtain rock core sample for determination of UCS is a difficult task. On the other hand, determination of this parameter is essential in order to analyze well wall stability and well development program. Therefore, the idea of using drilling cuttings is proposed for determination of UCS. In this paper, in order to develop relationship between UCS and single compressive strength (SCS) 7 block sample of microcrystalline limestone from Asmari formation were used. Then UCS test was performed and uniaxial compressive strength was determined. Next, these samples were crushed and 420 single particles were prepared. Then SCS for each particle was determined. Since the shape of particles affects particle strength, shape of particles was modified.  The total particles used for determination of SCS were spherical. In order to study the effect size of particle, particles with diameters 2, 3 and 4 millimeters were prepared and the SCS for each particle has been determined. With the increase of diameter of particles, the SCS has been increased too. In order to eliminate the effect of size of particles, it is defined variable size and strength and proposed chart between them. Coefficient of correlation between SCS and UCS is more than 0.91 which indicates a high correlation between them.

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The study area is located in Jiroft district, Iran, and is a part of Sahand-Bazman volcanic zone. There are various landslide factors and the importance of each factor are identified qualitatively, based on previous studies and regional specifications. Three landslides were recognized in the study area using direct method (field work) and aerial photographs interpretation. One of these landslides is located in the vicinity of Mohammad Abad of Maskoon Village. The aim of this study is landslide hazard mapping using two integration methods that includes Fuzzy Logic and Hybrid Fuzzy-Weight of Evidence (Hybrid F-W of E). The obtained results of maps from both methods, show a good agreement especially in introducing  high hazard regions. The hybrid method is based on the occurred landslide points and is more rigorous, so hazard regions delineated by this method occupy smaller areas than the areas introduced by fuzzy model. Therefore, hazard maps resulted from Hybrid and Fuzzy methods, can be considered as minimum and maximum limits of landslide hazard in the area, respectively. 

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Measuring of uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of intact rocks is required in many engineering projects. In deep well drilling for petroleum production or exploration drilling in deep tunnels, because of depth of wells, obtaining suitable core samples for UCS test is too expensive and sometimes impossible. Therefore, indirect methods for determine UCS (for example using rock particles) are common. One of these methods is known as indentation test. In this test an indenter that is hard penetrates into rock particle which is surrounded by resin used. In this paper, 11 microcrystalline limestone block samples from carbonate Zagros formation outcrops were prepared and UCS test in laboratory was performed. Then cores are crushed and 720 rock particle samples with 2, 3 and 4 millimeter size was prepared. Indentation test with indenter 0.6, 0.8 and 1 millimeter diameter was done and critical transitional force (CTF) for each particles was determined. Empirical equation between UCS and CTF for different samples and has been provided. Based on the obtained results it is suggestedto utilize indenter with a R²&ge0.78. Using multiple regression general equation between UCS, CFT, particle size (D) indenter diameter (I), R²=0.85 is proposed. 135 indentation tests were performed on 3 microcrystalline limestone samples with the aim of verification of obtained empirical equations. Comparing measured UCS in laboratory and estimated UCS values showed 88% similarity

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Soil classification is one of the major parts of geotechnical studies. So assessment of existing methods for soil classification in different areas is important. For soil classification is used in situ and laboratory test results. Sampling and identification tests are laboratory methods for soil classification. CPTu test is in situ method for soil identification and classification, due to accuracy and speed, this test is used widely in geotechnical study today. Many researchers are proposed some charts for soil classifications based on the parameters measured in CPTu test. In this paper for evaluation the performance of these methods, 58 CPTu test results have been used. These tests are related to four areas in southern Iran. The soils are classified by CPTu methods and then they are compared with 372 laboratory soil classification. Research results show the chart proposed by Robertson (1990) which based on Qt, Ft and Bq variables has the best adaptation with the laboratory soil classification in these studied areas. Then according to data obtained from research, proposed a modified charts based on Rf, qt-u0/σ΄ v , that show 90% adaptation with laboratory soil classification.

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./files/site1/files/7Extended_Abstract.pdfExtended Abstract
 (Paper pages 135-156)
Introduction
Many civil structures (e.g. tunnel walls, bridge pillars, dam abutments and road foundations) are subjected to both static and dynamic loads. Cyclic loading leads to occurring fatigue phenomenon. Fatigue is the tendency of materials to break, or the process of damage accumulation, under cyclic loading. It was found that the dynamic fatigue strength can be reduced by 30-70 percent on average compared to uniaxial compression strength. Different materials show different response when they are subjected to cyclic loading. Some materials become stronger and more ductile, while others become weaker and more brittle. Although it is clear that the mechanical properties of rock under dynamic loads varied dramatically from those under static loads, the nature of dynamic failure in rock remains unclear, especially in cyclic loading condition. Fatigue behavior of rocks was rarely studied in respect to other materials such as steel and soil. The performed researches on fatigue behavior of rocks indicated that fatigue life will be decreased by increasing load amplitude in logarithmic and exponentially pattern. Also, strain softening is the dominated behavior of rocks against cyclic loading. Furthermore, some parameters such as maximum load level, confining pressures, amplitude, and loading frequency have considerable effects on fatigue behavior of rocks. However, available data on fatigue behavior remain insufficient for solving the practical tasks of predicting rock bursts and earthquakes. Obtained results are inconclusive and sometimes discordant. The aim of the current work was to assess tonalite rock fatigue behaviour under different loading conditions to describe the fatigue damage process of the granitic rock.
Material and methods
Several core samples were prepared to perform this research. The core samples were prepared with a L/D ratio of 2.5 with an average diameter of 54 mm. Before the fatigue tests, the physical and mechanical properties of the rocks were measured. Uniaxial compressive strength test (UCS) has been done on 5 core samples. The tests were performed in the load-control mode with a 1.6 kN/s loading rate. The tests were conducted to obtain the physico-mechanical parameters of the rocks in static loading condition, and provided a reference for subsequent dynamic tests. The cyclic tests were performed in both load and displacement control modes. To record axial and lateral strains during the fatigue tests, four strain gauges have been employed with arrangement of two axial and two laterals. Also, three acoustic emission sensors were installed on top, mean and bottom of the core samples to record cracking sound. In order to doing the tests a servocontrol Instron machine with 500 kN capacity was employed. The fatigue tests were conducted with three different maximum loads, 1 Hz frequency, and constant amplitude (0.82 of uniaxial compressive strength). The maximum stress level (the ratio of maximum cyclic stress to static strength) was varied 0.80, 0.85, and 0.90. The amplitude level (the ratio of amplitude stress to static strength) ranged from 0.50 to 0.70 and 0.90. Finally, Multi stages loading with increasing amplitude were applied for the displacement control tests. The results of fatigue tests have been evaluated by fatigue damage parameters including maximum and minimum axial strain, maximum and minimum lateral strain, tangent and secant modulus, toughness and hysteresis energy.
Results and discussion
The obtained results indicated that during fatigue process failure occurs below the maximum strength loading condition as a result of accumulative damage. Analysis of the fatigue test results showed that the fatigue failure consisted of three stages: fatigue crack formation (initiation phase I), stable crack propagation (uniform velocity phase II), and unstable crack propagation resulting in a sudden breakdown (accelerated phase III). By comparing the axial and lateral deformation, it was found that lateral deformation is more sensitive to fatigue. At higher stress levels, considerable part of fatigue life is response to crake development, whereas at lower stress levels, crack acceleration phase of fatigue life is distinguishable. Descending trend of loading and unloading tangent modulus shows a scatter pattern. This behavior may be related to the calculation method and loading condition, as well as microstructure and behavior of the rock mass. In spite of tangent modulus results, the three-stages of damage process (especially phase I and II) for secant modulus in both loading and unloading conditions are clear. The result is due to the method of calculation and increase in axial strain with increasing number of cycles. Brittle behavior of this type of rock leads acceleration phase to be hidden and unclear in most of fatigue damage parameters. A dramatic decrease of toughness and hysteresis energy in the first few cycles is due to the closing of pre-existing micro fractures. In fact, during the initial cycle, the rock behaves in a more ductile fashion than in the next few cycles. Thereafter, toughness begins to increase slowly, then steadily, and finally rapidly. A similar behavior was found for hysteresis energy as well. This fact indicated that cracks generated in parallel to loading direction. Fatigue displacement control tests show a strain softening behavior for the granitic rocks. This behavior is highlighted in variation of maximum stress during the tests. This parameter, especially in final step of loading, shows distinguishable decreasing trend.
Conclusion
The tonalite rocks were subjected to uniaxial cyclic loading in both load and displacement control mode. The following conclusions were drawn from this research.
-Accumulated fatigue damage occurs in an obvious three-stage process. This is the result of the micro-fracturing mechanism in the fatigue process.
-By comparing axial and lateral strain damages, it was found that crack propagation occurred in the loading direction and crack opening occurred in the lateral direction. So, among fatigue damage parameters, lateral strain shows the best three-stage fatigue damage behavior.
- Strain softening was found as rock response to cyclic displacement control loading.

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Introduction
Unsystematic execution of blasting process may result in serious damages. Blasting is a very complex process and almost all of blast designs are made based on empirical relations resulting from trial and error. In recent decades, considerable development of numerical methods has been made possible to achieve high accuracy study of blast effects on surface and subsurface structures. Among these methods are boundary element method, finite difference method and finite element method. It should be mentioned that there is currently no software which might be able to completely simulate blast process. But the UDEC software is able to simulate different aspects of this phenomenon through simplification and focusing on each aspect.  Therefore, the UDEC software was selected. In the present study, the modeling  has been performed for Ghareh Changool ramp of Zehabad Zinc and Lead Mine against blast loads.
Material and methods
Zehabad Ore deposit is located around 2 km south of  Zehabad Village of Tarom Sofla County, 56 km to northwest of Qazvin at 49˚ 25' east longitude and 36˚ 28' north latitude.
The formation surrounding the ore deposit is generally made up of pyroclastics, lavas and sedimentary rocks of Eocene age (Karaj Formation) which have been divided into 22 stratigraphic units. Lithological composition of the tuff units are often rhyolithic to dacitic and the lava units are consisted of rhyolite, dacite and andesite.
To  accomplish this study, we took rock blocks from Ghareh Changool ramp. Then, the blocks were cored in the laboratory to provide cylindrical samples for doing uniaxial compressive, triaxial, Brazilian and direct shear tests. Physical and mechanical properties of the tuff samples were determined according to ISRM standards. 
In the present study, field studies were done to calculate strength parameters and properties of the joints.  Based on these studies, three major joint sets were determined. In order to obtain the shear strength parameters of the joints, the cylindrical samples of andesitic tuff were molded by concrete and direct shear test was done on all of the joints according to ASTM D 4554.
Results and discussion
To simulate the complex conditions of blast process, we used the discrete element software of UDEC for numerical modeling considering the discontinuity of the medium. To do a dynamic analysis, first the model should come to equilibrium in the static state. The space considered to be modeled in the study was a horse-shoe-shaped ramp with 4 m base, 4 m height and 1.5 m arc radius which was located in rocky medium consisting of tuff.  The height of overburden above the roof of the ramp was about 190 m. The dimensions of the model in UDEC was 20*20 m². The behavioral model considered for the rock blocks and discontinuities were the elastic isotropic and surface contact of the joint (elasto-plastic) associated with Coulomb sliding failure, respectively. After defining the absorbing boundary conditions, the dynamic loads were applied to the model based on the defined time period. In mines stability and blasting process, the dynamic load resulting from the blast is often applied to a model as a pulse. By application of dynamic load and considering the other mentioned variations with respect of static analysis, the dynamic response of underground space could be estimated under vibration load of blast or earthquake. To do this, the blast impact wave was applied to the left side of the model as exponential pulse with maximum pressure of 4.41 MPa and time width of 0.7 to 7 msec. The results of the numerical modeling in static analysis indicated that no block would fall (Fig. 1). After application of the blast load, the results showed that there was no falling around the ramp (Fig. 2).
Conclusion
1. In static condition, after initial equilibrium no block was fallen into the ramp, regarding the blocks’ magnification plots, as a result the ramp was stable in the static loading.
2. In dynamic loading case, considering the displacement plots  around the ramp and the low values of these displacements, as well as, magnification plot of  the blocks 40 msec after the blast it can be said that no block was fallen into the ramp. Therefore the ramp was stable in the dynamic loading case and there was no need to install support system. ./files/site1/files/133/1Extended_Abstracts.pdf

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Introduction
Rock masses have an enormous geometrical discontinuities such as void, notch, crack and flaw. These geometrical discontinuities which play as stress concentrator, cause to reduce the load bearing capacity of rock masses. In rock masses, the crack is the most important geometrical discontinuity assessed frequently by civil, mechanical and mining engineers and researcher. The fracture mechanics which is a branch of mechanical engineering science, has been often used for investigating the cracked rock samples. The fracture toughness is one of the important parameters in the fracture mechanics which describes the resistance of materials against the crack growth. On the other hand, since orientation of cracks relative to the loading directions can be arbitrary, brittle fracture in rocks may happen due to a combination of two major fracture modes, i.e. crack opening mode (mode I) and crack sliding mode without any opening or closing the crack flanks (mode II). In order to obtain the fracture toughness of rocks, several test configurations under pure mode I have been proposed. One of the parameters that has the influence on the fracture toughness of rocks and other materials is the thickness of test sample. Previous experimental results showed that the fracture toughness of rocks increases by increasing the specimen thickness until a specific thickness. After that, the fracture toughness decreases for thicker samples until plane strain condition occurs. Then, the fracture toughness becomes a fixed value when the thickness of sample varies.
The all preceding studies have been dealt with considering the effect of specimen thickness on fracture toughness focusing only the mode I fracture toughness and there is few research concerning the thickness effect on the mode II fracture toughness of rocks. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate experimentally the effect of specimen thickness on the mode II fracture toughness.
Material and methods
To investigate the thickness effect on the mode II fracture toughness of rocks, several fracture tests were conducted on the semi-circular bend (SCB) specimens. The SCB specimen is a semi-disk of radius R and thickness t including an edge crack of length a loaded under three-point bending. When the crack is along the applied load and the bottom supports are symmetric relative to vertical crack, the SCB sample is under pure mode I loading. One of the methods for achieving the mixed mode loading in SCB sample is the asymmetry distances of bottom supports from the vertical crack located at the middle of bottom edge (see Figure 1). The pure mode II in this type of SCB sample is attained at a specific distances, i.e. at specific values of S₁ and S₂. These values of supporting distance can be obtained from finite element analysis.

Figure 1. The schematic of SCB sample.
The fracture tests were done both on pure mode I and pure mode II, for the sake of comprehensiveness. Therefore, 32 SCB samples with 4 different thicknesses and 4 repetition for each specimen size were tested for both pure mode I and pure mode II. The specimens were cut from Ghorveh marble sheets with different thicknesses by water jet machine. Then, the specimens were cracked artificially by a high speed rotary diamond saw blade. The specimen dimensions and loading conditions are presented in Table 1. Finally, the cracked SCB samples were tested by using a 300 kN ball-screw universal test machine. Table 1 also gives the average of four fracture loads (P_f) obtained for each thickness of specimen.
Table 1. The specimen dimensions and loading conditions.

	S.D.  (N)	Pf  (N)	S2 (mm)	S1 (mm)	a (mm)	t (mm)	R (mm)
Pure mode I	150	3220	57	57	28.5	15	95
Pure mode II	350	4726	11	57
Pure mode I	360	6711	57	57	28.5	25	95
Pure mode II	882	9445	11	57
Pure mode I	1450	20285	57	57	28.5	50	95
Pure mode II	4179	25441	11	57
Pure mode I	4672	31810	57	57	28.5	80	95
Pure mode II	4686	36848	11	57

Results and discussion
The mode I and mode II fracture toughness (K_Ic and K_IIc) can be calculated for SCB samples from following equations:
(1)
(2)
where P_f is fracture load, R and t are the radius and thickness of SCB sample, respectively K_I^* and K_II^* are geometry factors which depend on geometrical ratios a/R, S₁/R and S₂/R and independent of specimen dimensions and magnitude of applied load. These dimensionless parameters are often obtained from finite element analysis. For tested SCB samples, the values of K_I^* and K_II^* were extracted from previous studies as shown in Table 2. Substituting the fracture loads and specimen dimensions from Table 1 and the values of K_I^* and K_II^* given in Table 2 into Eqs. (1) and (2), the mode I and mode II fracture toughness were calculated as listed in Table 2. Figure 2 also shows the variations of mode I and mode II fracture toughness with respect to specimen thickness. As seen from this figure, the fracture toughness for both pure modes increases for thicker samples until a specific thickness. After that, the values of K_Ic and K_IIc decrease by increasing the specimen thickness. For plane strain condition in which the thickness of specimen is relatively large, the values of K_Ic and K_IIc are nearly constant.
 
 
Table 2. The dimensionless parameters K_I^* and K_II^* for tested SCB samples and their corresponding fracture toughness.

	KIIc (MPa.√m)	KIc (MPa.√m)	KII*	KI*	t	R
Pure mode I	0.0	1.125	0.0	0.644	15	95
Pure mode II	0.897	0.0	0.35	0.0
Pure mode I	0.0	1.411	0.0	0.644	25	95
Pure mode II	1.075	0.0	0.35	0.0
Pure mode I	0.0	2.126	0.0	0.644	50	95
Pure mode II	1.448	0.0	0.35	0.0
Pure mode I	0.0	2.083	0.0	0.644	80	95
Pure mode II	1.311	0.0	0.35	0.0

The other point assessed in the present study is the dependency of fracture path on specimen thickness in mode II loading. It was shown that the fracture trajectory becomes more curvilinearly when the thickness of specimen increases.

Figure 2. The variations of K_Ic and K_IIc versus the specimen thickness.
Conclusion
The effect of specimen thickness on the mode I and mode II fracture toughness of rock was investigated experimentally using the SCB specimens. The experimental results showed that the fracture toughness for both pure modes increases when the thickness of specimen increases until a specific thickness. After that, the values of K_Ic and K_IIc decrease by increasing the specimen thickness. For plane strain condition in which the thickness of specimen is relatively large, the values of K_Ic and K_IIc are nearly constant. Also, it is shown the crack grows more curvilinearly for thicker SCB samples../files/site1/files/142/1.pdf
 

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Introduction
Shallow tunnels have a vital role in urban planning, railway and highway transportation lines. The presence of underground cavities can leads to stress concentration and consequently, instability of the spaces against static and especially dynamic loads. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of elliptical cavity and its inclination on sandstone rock behavior under compressive static and tensile dynamic loads. In order to evaluate the effect of the cavity under static stress conditions, two groups of intact and hole-bearing sandstone cores with 0, 30, 60, and 90 degrees of hole inclination were prepared and tested under uniaxial compressive loading test. During the test, in addition to the stress recording, damage and deformability of the samples were recorded by using the strain gauge, acoustic emission sensor and camera. Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) test apparatus was used for doing dynamic loading test. Furthermore, the damage process was recorded using a high-speed camera with 10 micro-seconds interval of frame capability. The obtained results showed that presence of the cavity reduced the rock strength in maximum state (θ=0) up to 55% and in minimum state (θ=90) up to 77% of its initial uniaxial compressive strength. Dynamic tensile loading tests illustrate that the elliptical hole near the free end of sample (reflection boundary of compressive wave to tensile wave) is stable due to locating in superposition area, while the other cavity out of the area with each inclination was undergone to spalling failure. Assessment of failure surface using scanning electron microscope and thin section study indicates that the dominant fracture is grain-boundary type and iron oxide cement has a vital role in developing of this type of fracture.
 


 

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