Journal of Engineering Geology

A Study of the Reinforcement Effect of IPE Arc Support Technique (IAST)-A Case Study of Sabzkuh Tunnel

M Taremi

This paper presents a case study of the instability mechanism, to verify and reinforcement method adopted construct collapsed zone of Sabzkuh water conveyance tunnel in southwest Iran. The instability problems were encountered during tunnel excavation due to the failure, changes in stress field lead to deformation causing dilation and increasing the permeability of sand and gravel layers, local fault gouge zones, landslide and in turn significant reduction in shear strength and collapse in tunnel. IPE Arch Support Technique (IAST) was, used for T1 part of Sabzkuh tunnel zone in order to reinforce the ground around tunnel and to cross the zone falling. In this study, Finite Element Method was employed for the quantitative reinforcement effect with deformation modulus of ground, IPE length and size. As a result, the settlement increases as length increases and decreases with the increase of the deformation modulus of ground and IPE size.

Micro-Structural Evaluation of Lead Heavy Metal Retention in Stabilization and Solidification with Bentonite and Cement

VR Ohadi

The main objective of this research is to investigate the mechanism of cement-clay-heavy metal contaminant interaction from micro-structural point of view. To achieve this objective series of batch equilibrium and XRD experiments were performed. The results indicate that the addition of 10% cement not only stabilizes the soil, but also at 250 cmol/kg-soil of heavy metals causes 130% increase in heavy metal retention. Furthermore, the XRD analysis shows that in solidified samples with less than 10% cement, the main reason for reduction in peak intensity of clay fraction is due to the presence of heavy metals. However, as the percentage of cement increases, the clay solubility is the main reason for reduction in peak intensity of montmorillonite in XRD test

Evaluation of Weathering and Erosion of Cone-Shaped Pyroclastic Rocks of Kandovan Village

Ebrahim Asghari

The Kandovan village is one of the tourist attractions in East Azarbaijan province of Iran, whose rural houses were excavated within the cone-shaped pyroclastic rocks (in terms of local called keran) several hundred years ago. The present paper discusses the role of engineering geological properties of Kandovan pyroclastic rocks. Kandovan pyroclastic rocks have low resistance against weathering and erosion because their components are plagioclase minerals and pumice fragments with low resistance, welding, sorting and high sphericity and rounding. Although weathering and erosion along existing joints and fractures is the most important causative agent of cone-shaped forms but there is the possibility of further damage of rocks due to continuing these processes. High porosity of rocks has caused that their high capacity for water absorption. High water absorption percent increased sensitivity of rocks against expansion and contraction by freezing-thawing and wetting-drying cycles and low hardness and low their internal strength caused the rocks weathered and disintegrated due to environmental factors. Furthermore, the weak texture of the pyroclastic rocks have caused easy erosion of those by surface waters and wind.

A Study of Sample Preparation Method to Determine the Shear Strength Soil Treated with Lime

Vahid Taebi

One of the most useful procedures in soil stabilization is lime. Soil improvement using lime is a quick and simple approach which could be included in large and small projects. The objective of soil ‘Improvement’ with quicklime is to achieve an immediate reaction, which significantly strengthens the soil due to the removal of moisture and a chemical change in clays. In order to do a parametric study on the influence of the lime on shear strength preparing the samples is important. In this paper, in addition to considering a method of samples preparation, the effect of lime content, water content and processing time on the shear strength of clay using direct shear test is investigated. The results indicate that the method of samples preparation is effective and is identified that there is an optimum lime and moisture content which maximize shear strength.

The Use of Dynamic Probing for Evaluation of Undrained Shear Strength and Compaction Percentage in Fine-Grained Soils

mahdi khodaparast

The Dynamic Probing is an important test in site investigation and geotechnical studies. It is used for determination of situation and specification of soil layers when the depth of exploration is moderate. In our country, in the last few years test has been widely used to replace the standard penetration. In this paper, the experiences to use different various types of dynamic probing rigs and the errors that can occur in these experiments are discussed. Then the accuracy of this test is studied to evaluate the specification of fine-grained soils. The most important innovation of this research is the proposition of the new correlations between cone dynamic resistance and undrained shear strength and so compaction percentage in fine-grained soils. The paper encourages the wider application and further development of this test for site investigation in fine-grained soils.

Evaluating of Faulting Hazard and Classification of Active Faults in Shahid Rajai Dam of Sari Region, Based Activity Rate

mehdi saeidian

Determination of Faults activity rate is among the most important parameters of evaluating faulting hazards. In this paper, active faults on region of Shahid Rajai dam of Sari with radius 100 km based on fractal dimension of faulting and earthquake as well as evaluation of slip rate were classified and those Activity rate were assessed. In order to determine of fractal dimension of faulting and earthquake, Box-counting method was used. For estimate of slip rate beginning the seismicity parameters (a&b) of study area was estimation. Then these parameters were normalized for each fault. Based on the existing relationships and having a&b for each fault, the seismic moment of fault was calculated. Finally according to extant relations for evaluation of seismic moment rate, slip rate of each fault was determined and the faults of study area were classified accordingly. By grading based on fractal dimensions, the faults of North- Alborz, Damghan and Garmsar have been the most active faults in the study area during the last 100 years and according to evaluations of active rate of faulting and earthquake based on fractal dimensions, generally set in category BD and their activity approved. The faults with very low slip rate and with long return period of earthquake, are possible causes of occurrence large earthquakes (856 AD) Gomes and inducement fault namely Damghan Fault is an example of these faults. The faults of Astaneh, Rameh and Cheshmeh-ali have been low slip rate and thereupon be able to develop high seismic moment rate. According to earthquake events in privacy of New faults introduced (Khorram-abad, Majid,…), the high activity rate of these faults seem logical

A Study of Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundations next to Sand Slope with Experimental Models

ali attarzadeh

The objective of this paper is to investigate the bearing capacity of strip foundations next to sand slope. A series of laboratory model tests has been carried out and a new correlation coefficient to estimate the bearing capacity of shallow foundations near slopes is presented. The sand layers were prepared in a steel test tank with inside dimensions 500 ´ 200´ 250 mm. After vertical loading, the applied load and displacement of foundation were recorded and stress-settlement curve is drawn. Finally, the load at which the shear failure of the soil occurs is recorded as ultimate bearing capacity of foundation. The test sand used in this study was Babolsar sand with relative density of 50%. The relative performance of different distance of foundation from the edge of slope and inclination angle of slope are compared using same quantity of soil properties in each test. The results indicate that with increasing distance from the edge of the slope, bearing capacity increases linearly. Also with increasing slope angle, the bearing capacity has declined linearly

Prediction of Shear Wave Velocity in Limestone by Using New Intelligent Methods

Sayed Rahim Moeinossadat

The present study aims to employ intelligent methods to predict shear wave velocity (V_s) in limestone. Shear wave velocity is one of the most important rock dynamic parameters. Direct determination of this parameter takes time, cost and requires accuracy as well. On the other hand, there is no precise equation for indirect determination. This research attempts to provide some simulations to predict V_s using the information obtained several dams located in Iran, using different approaches, including adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and gene expression programming (GEP). 136 datasets were utilized for modeling and 34 datasets were used for evaluating its performance. Parameters such as Compressional wave velocity (V_p), density (g) and porosity (n) were considered as input parameters. The values of R² and RMSE were 0.958 and 113.620 for ANFIS, where they were 0.928 and 110.006 for GEP respectively. With respect to the accuracy of the intelligent methods, they can be recommended for future studies