Journal of Engineering Geology

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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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Several studies show that during and before the earthquake, ground water existing in layers of the earth crust undergoes physical and chemical changes. These changes are recorded by measurement devices and known as "Geohydrological Precursors". Based on the studies conducted in this field, earth electromagnetic field waves experience fluctuations during and even before happening of the earthquake, which are called "magnetic anomalies". This type of anomaly is known as "geomagnetic precursor" within the scope of earthquake knowledge. S, the aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of making a connection between two groups of earthquake precursors (hydrological and geomagnetic precursors). In the present research, a series of tests has been done in order to investigate the effect of magnetic fields on physical and chemical properties of water, including Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total dissolved solids (TDS), Height of Water (HW). The tests were designed and conducted to be used in short-term and middle-term earthquake prediction. Analysis of the experimental results using statistical tests indicates that there is a partial meaningful relationship between magnetic fields (geomagnetic precursor) and physical and chemical properties of water (hydrological precursors), with the confidence coefficient equal to 95 percent

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Unpredicted and excessive tool wear is a major challenge in some tunnel projects. Due to more need for maintenance, abrasivity problems increese time and cost of excavation activity. A new laboratory test machine has been built in Engineering Geological Laboratory of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, to obtain a proper view about relation between performance parameters of a TBM and the soil abrasion. In this paper the results of abrasion tests carried out on silica samples, as an abundant hard mineral, by the machin, are presented. Hence 36 tests have been performed on coarse silica sand samples, with various amount of deadweight and rotation speed at different times. The results prove direct relation between time, surcharge and rotation speed versus tool wear. For example a linear relation between tool wear and surcharge or rotation speed was observed. Besides a logarithmic relation was achieved for time effect

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One of the major problems associated with the clayey soils is the swelling potential due to moisture absorption, which results in applying high pressure on the superstructures, and may cause failure or large deformation of the structures. Among the solutions to mitigate the swelling problem of clayey soils is their stabilization using additives. This study aims to compare the effects of three types of additives on the reduction of swelling potential of two types of clayey soils, with two different plasticity indexes. The additives used in this research include two traditional additives namely, cement and lime, and one type of nontraditional stabilizer namely, CBR PLUS nano polymer. These additives were added to the soils in different contents, and the Atterburg limits, and the swelling of the soils were measured at different times after addition of the additives. The results show that the CBR PLUS is more effective in reducing the swelling potential of the soil with high plasticity index, by which, the swelling was reduced by 1500%, while the addition of  lime and cement reduced the swelling about 1000%. For the soil with low plasticity index, the cement is found to be more effective than the lime and CBR PLUS in reducing the swelling potential. The addition of 7% of cement resulted in 1400% of reduction in swelling, against 600% reduction for the addition of the same content of lime. In addition, it is found that the CBR PLUS and cement are, respectively, more effective in reducing the plasticity index of the soil with high and low plasticity index

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As usage of reinforced soil structures is highly increased in seismic active zones, the analysis of dynamic behavior of these structures begins to be of great significance.  The present paper is an attempt to study the seismic behavior of reinforced soil retaining walls with polymeric strips. The consequences of the most principal parameters counting the length of reinforcement, reinforcement arrangements (zigzag vs. parallel), maximum base input acceleration and wave frequency on the wall displacement have been investigated for sensitivity analyses. The main drawback of numerical methods in dynamic analysis is being very time consuming. Therefore, determination of equivalent coefficients is a suitable, easy and beneficent approach to converge   results of   pseudo-static and dynamic methods. In this case, a relatively accurate design is achieved by using pseudo-static method that takes less time. To this end, an earthquake equivalent horizontal acceleration coefficient is proposed by considering horizontal displacement of the wall as the basis for comparison

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Stability and safety of the dam is one of the most important challenges during construction and operation. The aim of this study is to make accurate water table and piezometric heads through embankment and its foundation of the Shahghasem dam which is located near Yasouj city. Applying geostatistical, Simple Kriging, Ordinary Kriging and Weighted Moving Average, interpolation was done using Gaussian, exponential and spherical models. For comprising the results, we use the statistical index including MAE, MBE, RMSE and GSD. Results indicate that Simple Kriging with Gaussian model is the best one, while Ordinary Kriging with Gaussian model and Ordinary Kriging with spherical model are in the next order. The Weighted Moving Average method with different exponents shows a significant error comparing to other methods. As a result, the depicted maps display a cavity through foundation near right abutment of the dam. Finally, existence of probable cavity in foundation may cause piping and internal erosion

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Kerman city and its surrounding towns in terms of morphology, consist of a flat alluvial plain of fine silt and clay materials. These sediments have very gentle slope, and constitute the city's main infrastructure. Natural soils generally are structured by passing times due to the influence of environmental factors. Geological factors in Kerman alluviums have caused fine structure after deposition. This paper studies briefly sedimentary basin Kerman, mineralogical and geotechnical properties of the sediments of these areas.semi-qualitative analysis of samples has shown that the mineral deposits in Kerman are mainly illite, chlorite, smectite and calcite. then In order to evaluate the effect of depositional environments and geological history of the engineering properties of the sediments of the Kerman city, A large number of triaxial tests on reconstituted soil moisture greater than LL and different confining pressures, consolidated drained and consolidated undrained is done . In order to evaluate the applicability of soil behavior in normal conditions and the reconstructed curves and stress - strain sensitive soils and soil structure compared with standard sensitivity and then their resistance have been investigated. The results of triaxial tests can be used to interpret the depositional environments and geological history. Comparing the curves of stress - strain in natural and reconstituted samples indicates that in many cases the behavior of intact and reconstituted soils were similar and cementation and soil structure have not been much development. Also Comparison of electron microscopy images of reconstituted and intact samples, not random arrangement of particular structure and soil compaction within the city limits have confirmed. therefore, soils of Kerman are relatively similar by the influence of depositional environments and geological history. these soils have a lot of structure and cementation and are generally compact and strengthening.

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Non-destructive methods such as ultrasonic wave velocity are extensively used for estimating physical and mechanical properties of rock due to the simplicity, economical, fast and harmless nature. Rock constructions have been made worldwide from past to present. Determination of strength of rock constructions such as archeological evidence is not possible using conventional rock strength tests. Developing a cheap, simple, non-destructive, efficient and accurate method to estimate the strength of such constructions can be useful. Rock blocks and constructions have various shapes and sizes. Rock blocks having various shapes and sizes have been prepared from marble, travertine, granite, and limestone and ultrasonic wave velocity at various directions of the blocks dimensions and the uniaxial compressive strength of cylindrical core obtained from the blocks have been measured. The results show that shapes and sizes have no effect on the ultrasonic wave velocity. At the end relationships between uniaxial compressive strength and ultrasonic wave velocity have been determined. The uniaxial compressive strength of blocks and rock constructions can be estimated by the obtained relationships using non-destructive, simple and indeed low cost method of ultrasonic wave velocity.

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The in-situ stress is one of the most important parameters in the design of underground structures. Conventional methods such as in-situ stress measurements using hydraulic fracturing method has two main disadvantages are time and cost of this methods. Acoustic emission is one of the indirect in-Situ stress measurement methods which is based on the theory of the Kaiser effect. When a rock is stressed, it release acoustic signals this phenomenon is called acoustic emission. Kaiser Effect is defined as lack of acoustic signals in the lower stress levels than the previous maximum stress level. In other words, as long as rock is not reached to the previous maximum stress level, do not show significant acoustic emission. Several factors affect on Kaiser Effect such as delay time, temperature, rock fabric, porosity, discontinuities, joints and geological structure. In this paper, effect of the delay time on Kaiser Effect has been presented. The time between coring operations and acoustic emission test is called delay time. The limestone rock is selected as main samples of test and after preloading, reloading and acoustic emission test were carried out with different delay times. The results showed that the felicity ratio is less than 1, when delay time is about 20 days and after three months has increased to be more than one.

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Hoek and Brown suggested a method to estimate the strength and deformation modulus parameters of rock masses. The method was then widely used in rock engineering designs. In such designs, the mean values of Hoek and Brown parameters are often used which are not proper values due to the variability of rock mass properties within a great range of values. In such cases, probability analysis of rock mass properties is highly important. The geological strength index is one of the most important parameters in Hoek and Brown equations. Determination of this parameter includes greater uncertainties than determining other parameters. In this paper, based on the results of rock mechanical tests carried out on rock samples of Gol-Gohar iron ore mine, and the required field surveys, the sensitivity of rock mass geomechanical properties on the type of the statistical distribution function of the geological strength index in statistical analysis of these parameters using Monte Carlo simulation method was investigated. The results showed that the sensitivity of Hoek and Brown equations to determine different rock mass geomechanical parameters varies as the type of the statistical distribution function of the geological strength index changes. The sensitivity of geomechanical parameters such as internal friction angle, cohesion, total strength and rock mass modulus on the type of the statistical distribution function of the geological strength index is much less than parameters such as uniaxial compressive strength and tension strength of rock mass. The greatest variations based on changes of the type of the statistical distribution function of the geological strength index are less than 5% for the internal friction angle, cohesion and total strength, less than 10% for the modulus, and less than 25% for the uniaxial compressive strength and tension strength.

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Strength and durability of sandstones and their influences from natural conditions, are the most important factors which should be considered as engineering materials. In this study, the effect of freeze-thaw and salt crystallization phenomena on strength and durability of upper red formation sandstones collected from southern part of Qazvin province was investigated. Nine specimens of sandstones (specified by A, B, C, CG, S, S1, Tr, Min and Sh) were collected from different part of studied area, then their physical and mechanical characteristics were determined. In order to assessing the effect of freeze-thaw on physical and mechanical characteristics of sandstones, 60 cycles of freeze-thaw test was performed. Also in order to investigate the effect of salt crystallization on strength of studied sandstone, sodium sulphate crystallization test (100% weight solution of Na2SO4) was carried out in 20 cycles. Physical and mechanical characteristics of sandstones such as point load index, Brazilian tensile strength, wave velocity (Vp) and weight loss were computed after different cycles. To evaluate the effect of freeze-thaw and salt crystallization phenomena on durability of sandstones, slake durability test was conducted on specimens subjected to mentioned processes and changes occurred in slake durability index in 15 cycles were investigated. Based on results obtained from current study, it could be concluded that in comparison to freeze-thaw, salt crystallization can considerably reduce the strength and durability of sandstones and deteriorate them. Also it was found that index tests such as point load index, Brazilian tensile strength, wave velocity (Vp) and weight loss can predict the behavior of sandstones in different cycles of freeze-thaw and salt crystallization tests.

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This paper presents landslide assessment and landslide hazard zonation of the Polroud Dam area. Polroud Dam is one of the largest dams that are in construction, 29 km south of Roudsar in Gilan Province. Considering to geomorphology and geological conditions of the area, the site is susceptible to landslide hazard. Field survey shows many evidences of the instabilities especially in the slopes overlooking to the dam and the reservoir. The historical record also demonstrates high potential of the region to slope instabilities. A large landslide that occurred in 1996 discern that the frequency of the hazard in the region. Therefore, Identification of the landslide potential hazard is vital before impounding the reservoir. In this study, we investigated landslide hazard in the site and we have prepared landslide hazard zonation map using the main parameters. These parameters include; slope percent, slope aspect, lithology, fault, roads, drainage catchment, elevation, vegetation and precipitation amount. Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) has been used to prepare and to cross the maps. The results show that about 26 percent of the slopes are situated in highly hazard zones. It was determined also that lithology and slope aspects play main role in occurring of the landslides in the study area.
 

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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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In this paper, the bearing capacity of strip footings on fiber reinforced granular soil has been studied. The stress characteristics or slip line method has been used for the analysis. In the selected failure criterion, the orientation of the fibers are isotropic and fibers are not ruptured. Seismic effects have been considered in the equilibrium equations as the horizontal and vertical pseudo-static coefficients. The equilibrium equations have been solved using the finite difference method. The provided computer code can solve the stress characteristics network and calculate the bearing capacity. The bearing capacity has been presented as the bearing capacity factors due to the unit weight of the soil and surcharge. Several graphs have been prepared for the practical purposes. Also, a closed form solution has been presented for the bearing capacity factor due to the surcharge. By the parametric studies, the effects of the geometry and soil properties have been investigated. Results show that the bearing capacity increases with an increase on the average concentration and aspect ratio of the fibers, the fiber/matrix friction angle and the soil friction angle. Furthermore, the extent of the failure zone is increased with increasing the pseudo-static coefficients and decreasing the surcharge.

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Ground settlement due to tunneling and the effects of the engineering geological factors on its dimensions and extensions, is a very important problem in shallow tunnel excavation projects in urban areas. Empirical method is one of the usual methods to study this subject. The empirical and dimension-less parameters of VL and k are the most important parameters in relation to this method that are estimated according to engineering geological factors. In this research, the values of these parameters were initially estimated based on preceding studies and the ground settlement was predicted using these estimated values of VL and k. In next stage, the results of predictions were compared with the real (measured) settlements happened due to Abuzar tunnel excavation. As the real settlements are less than the predicted ones, it was concluded that the real VL must be lower than the predicted values or the real k must be higher than the predicted values. With regard to the high dependency of these parameters to the soil cohesion, it seems natural cementation of Tehran alluvia has acted as a factor to increase the soil cohesion and has caused to decrease ground settlement due to excavation of Abuzar tunnel. For validation of this hypothesis, preceding findings about alluvia cementation were reviewed and the results of in-situ and laboratory shear and triaxial tests were compared with together. Then it is concluded that the higher cohesions of in-situ shear tests are occurred due to natural cementation of materials existing in Abuzar tunnel route

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Landslides are natural hazards that make a lot of economical and life losses every year. Landslide hazard zonation maps can help to reduce these damages. Taleghan watershed is one the susceptible basin to landslide that has been studied. In this paper, landslide hazard zonation of the study area is performed at a scale of 1:50,000. To achieve this aim, layers information such as landslides distribution, slope, aspect, geology (lithology), distance from the faults and distance from rivers using artificial neural network-based Radial Basis Function (RBF) and perceptron neural network (MLP), has been studied. Principal of RBF method is similar to perceptron neural network (MLP), which its ability somewhat has been identified up to now and there are several structural differences between these two neural networks. The final results showed that the maps obtained from both methods are acceptable but the MLP method has a higher accuracy than the RBF method.

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Combination of Adoptive Network based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and subtractive clustering (SC) has been used for estimation of deformation modulus (E_m) and rock mass strength (UCS_m) considering depth of measurement. To do this, learning of the ANFIS based subtractive clustering (ANFISBSC) was performed firstly on 125 measurements of 9 variables such as rock mass strength (UCS_m), deformation modulus (E_m), depth, spacing, persistence, aperture, intact rock strength (UCS_i), geomechanical rating (RMR) and elastic modulus (E_i). Then, at second phase, testing the trained ANFISBSC structure has been perfomed on 40 data measurements. Therefore, predictive rock mass models have been developed for 2-6 variables where model complexity influences the estimation accuracy. Results of multivariate simulation of rock mass for estimating UCS_m and E_m have shown that accuracy of the ANFISBSC method increases coincident with development of model from 2 variables to 6 variables. According to the results, 3-variable model of ANFISBSC method has general estimation of both UCS_m and E_m corresponding with 20% to 30% error while the results of multivariate analysis are successfully improved by 6-variable model with error of less than 3%. Also, dip of the fitted line on data point of measured and estimated UCS_m and E_m for 6-variable model approaches about 1 respect to 0.94 for 3- variable model. Therefore, it can be concluded that 6-variable model of ANFISBSC gives reasonable prediction of UCS_m and E_m.

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Most of masonry buildings are vulnerable against earthquakes and need to be rehabilitated. One of the pragmatic methods for strengthening is to utilize shotcreting the masonry walls. In this paper the effects of the soil type (in view of seismic behavior) on the rehabilitation of the masonry building by shotcrete are investigated. Three types of masonry buildings are simulated by ABAQUS software and analyzed against three earthquake records to find their reporses and seismic demands. Using five types of shotcrete configuration consisted of shotcrete strips in vertical and horizontal directions for rehabilitation are studied to find the appropriate method for damage mitigation. The suitable method for rehabilitation are used to study the effects of soil type on the rehabilitated buildings. Three records of the Tabas (1979) earthquake which were recorded on different types of soils (Type I, II and III based on the Iranian seismic design regulations) are considered to analyze the sample masonry building. The results show that the shotcrete method is more effective for buildings which are relying on the softer soils and in stiff soils it is recommended to combine the shotcrete method with other rehabilitation methods which are able to strengthen the building without increasing the stiffness of the building, like utilizing post tensioning cables.

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Tanks are structures for storing fluids that are made in different sizes, shapes and genera. Today using of tanks for water, petroleum products storage, and industrial wastes, has been developed significantly. The buried rectangular concrete tanks are used for water supply in most cities in our country. Soil-structure interaction is one of the most important issues in seismic behavior of buried tanks. With respects to code 123 that has suggested Mononobe-Okabe equation for dynamic pressure of earthquake excitation, the purpose of this research is to achieve the dynamic pressure of soil during earthquake. The obtained results have been compared to analytical and other experimental researches. Therefore, a series of small-scale experimental tests were conducted using 1g shaking table testing in the laboratory of physical modeling at University of Tehran. The results illustrate that dynamic force and pressure from Mononobe-Okabe and Wood equation are greater than experimental testing results. However Seed-Whitman equation is closer to experimental results.

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In seismic prone areas, earthquakes happen more than just main shocks which are happen with sequences of shocks include of different intensity of aftershocks. In technical documents, these kinds of several earthquakes are called mainshock-aftershock ground motions. In this study, seismic behavior of RC frame under mainshock-aftershock with different ratios of maximum acceleration of aftershock to maximum acceleration of mainshock was evaluated. In this paper, nonlinear time-history analysis of frame were performed under mainshock-aftershock sequences and then the residual interstory drift ratio for comparing response of frame under seismic sequences was evaluated. The results show that, residual interstory drift ratio of frame, related to intensity of aftershocks to mainshock and enhance of intensity of aftershock due to increase residual interstory drift ratio of frame. Although, growth of residual interstory drift ratio of top stories more significant than below stories of frame.