Journal of Engineering Geology

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One of the most important issues in the Reverse Analysis is analyzing the density resulting from the compaction of in fine soils. The conventional methods in d etermination of soil density are: sand cone, rubber balloon and nuclear density gauge. Trained neural network, as a suitable alternative for conventional methods based on models analyzed by those methods, is not only as accurate but it is also easier to calculate and implement. In the present article, a model based on multilayer perceptron of neural network is presented for prediction of the behavior of fine soils density in Sarabi Dam. The paper presents the implementation process and density of the soil layers. The input variables include 4 geotechnics and 4 implementation parameters. The geotechnic parameters consist of: optimum moisture content, maximum specific gravity, liquid and plasticity limit implementation parameters consist of: the number of cross rollers, thickness of the layers and density and moisture of the soil obtained from the site. The model is based on multilayer neural network, using the error back propagation approach and it is capable of calculating the density. As a result, the maximum specific gravity laboratory, using the aforementioned geotechnic and implementa-tion parameters, is presented. The method compates the maximum specific gravity laboratory accurately at almost 100 percent.

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With respect to development of underground structures and their high construction costs in intra- and inter-municipal transportation, it is necessary to study the stability of such structures. In this research, tunnel stability of Mashhad Metro line 2 with 17 km length is studied. First, the type of sediments and geotechnical properties in Mashhad Plain are investigated. The SPT profiles were prepared using Rock Work 2006 software. The soil classification tests and XRD results show that the soils in this line are mostly clay such as Illite and Kaolinite types. Afterwards, because most of the soils in this line are characterized as fine grained, the ground settlement using PLAXIS V8 software was performed. According to the numerical modeling and the depth of tunnel, the optimum depth for tunnel was determined.

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One of the geotechnical hazards in the tunnels under high overburden and high in situ stresses is the phenomenon of rock burst. Rock burst is a typical geologic phenomenon caused by excavation in rock masses. In this phenomenon, because of stress released and explosion in rock masses, they are broken as large and small pieces and are distributed, so that leads to damage of peoples or equipments. Therefore, familiar with this phenomenon and its mechanism of occurrence, is need to analyze this issue. The second part of water supply Karaj-Tehran tunnel with a length of 14 km and about 4.5 m diameter is located in Tehran province. Rock burst analysis has been carried out in the tunnel from kilometer 6 to 9.5 that is critical section because of high overburden (up to 800 m) and presence of faults and crushed zones. In this paper, for predicting rock burst in the critical section of second part of Karaj-Tehran tunnel, four criteria including, Strain energy, Rock brittleness, Seismic energy and Tangential stress criterion are used. Analysis results show that units with high overburden have high possibility of rock burst. 

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Evaluation of ground response is one of the most important issues that should be considered in seismic geotechnical engineering field. Alongside the earthquake path associated to regional soil, generally earth movement in places with soft soil is greater than the movement in places with harder soil. This paper is focused to identify local soil condition of Ardekan city which influences on earthquake wave shaking. Therefore after drilling boreholes, implementing geotechnical investigations and down hole geophysical tests, the soil layer characteristics and thicknesses have been obtained. Then shear wave velocity along with soil density have been determined. With using these data it is developed a shaking geotechnical models for different city regions. Finally the ground movement parameters have been determined by   the available data obtained such as density, wave velocity along with using the equivalent linear method employing EERA program. This work was prepared for the return period of 75, 475 and2475 years. It is found that northwest region of city has the most amplification in comparison to other regions.

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Introduction
Local site conditions considerably influence all characteristics of the ground strong motion including the domain, frequency content, and duration. The level of such an effect could be considered as a function of geometry, properties of the materials embedded in the underlying layers, the site topography, and properties of excitement. Site effect fall into two categories: a) the effect of the surface soft layers triggered by the shear velocity differences between the soil layers and b) the surface and subsurface topography effects that lead to the wave reflection and refraction based on the site geometry, and subsequently enhance the level of amplification.
Since most cities have been constructed in the vicinity of or on sedimentary basins, geotechnical earthquake engineering devotes particular attention to effects of the sedimentary basins. Basin edge curvature deposited with soft soils are capable to trap the body waves and generated surface waves within the deposit layers. Such waves could create stronger and lengthier vibrations than those estimated in a 1D analysis that assumes the shear waves to be vertically propagated.
Although critically important, the 2D effect of the site has not been included in seismic codes and standards of the world. This might be due to the fact that the site effect depends on a number of parameters such as the site geometry, the type of wave excitement, properties of the materials, etc. that in return make it almost out of the question to make predictions about the effect. This study was an effort to compare the responses of four sedimentary basins with hypothetical geometries of rectangular, trapezoidal, elliptical, and triangular shapes in order to examine the effect of the geometrical shape of the basin on its responses and the extent of the response sensitivity to the excitation frequency of the wave. The study assumed the edge to depth proportion to be both constant and equal in all four basins so that the effect of the geometrical shape could be equally examined and compared in all four basins.      
Material and methods
In order to validate the results of the sedimentary basin modeling, firstly, ABAQUS finite element software was used to create a free field motion of a semi-circular alluvium valley in accordance with Kamalian et al. (2006) and Moassesian and Darvinsky (1987).  Then, the results from the model were compared with those from the above mentioned studies. The following descriptions are to present the model in details.
To evaluate the geometrical effect of the sedimentary basin on its response, the authors relied on the software to examine four sedimentary basins with the fundamental frequency (2.04 Hz). The basins enjoyed rectangular, trapezoidal, elliptical, and triangular geometrical shapes with a constant edge to depth proportion (49m to 300m respectively). The implicit method was also applied to perform the dynamic analysis. The materials were all viscoelastic and homogeneous. The soil behavior/treatment model was considered to be of a linear nature.  The Rayleigh damping model was used to specify the damping level. The soil element was a plane strain and SV waves (the Ricker wavelet) were used for seismic loadings in a vertical dispersion. The side boundaries (right and left) of the model were of a combinational type (viscous and free field boundaries); the down side boundary was composed of viscous. To achieve higher levels of wave absorptions, heavy columns were used as the free filed columns.
Next, it was the time to conduct the 1D analysis of the site. Three waves were in use in order to examine the effect of the frequency content of the excitation load on the basin response: 1) a wave with the dominant frequency of 1Hz that was out of the frequency range of all basins (2.04 Hz), a second wave with the dominant frequency of 2Hz that was close to the fundamental frequency of all basins, and a third wave with the dominant frequency of 4Hz. The waves were applied to a 2Dmodel. The results were compared with those obtained from a 1Dmodel in terms of the timing.
Then, the basin responses to all three waves (1, 2, and 4 Hz) were subjected to an individual analysis in order to examine the sensitivity of each basin response to its geometrical shape. Results indicated that while the responses of the rectangular and trapezoidal basins were significantly more sensitive to the excitation frequencies, the elliptical and triangular basins showed more stable behaviors to such frequencies. The final stage of the study was dedicated to examine the site 2D effect during the ground motion.
Results and Conclusions
According to the results of the present study, it could be suggested that the geometrical shape of the sedimentary basin has a significant effect on the responses of the field of seismic waves and that it could result in so different responses from the ones attained after a 1D analysis of the site. In addition, the pattern of the seismic waves’ responses is highly dependent on the geometrical shape and the frequency content of the seismic load. Also, the location where the maximum horizontal acceleration occurs along with the sedimentary basin depends on the excitation wave and varies accordingly. Further, it could be suggested that the site 2D effect results in both considerable amplification and an increase in the length of ground motion.
The results of the 2D analysis showed remarkable differences with their 1D counterparts: a 1.45 larger response for the rectangular basin, a 1.28 larger response for the trapezoidal basin, a 1.22 larger response for the elliptical basin, and a 1.19 larger response for the triangular basin.
With the frequency of 1 Hz where the excitation frequency is out of the basin range (i.e. the excitation frequency is below the lowest frequency of basin), the sedimentary basin did not show any signs of amplification and chaos (unlike two other frequencies); instead, it was a cause for de-amplification.
The frequency of 2 Hz that is subject to resonance resulted in amplifications (absent in 1D analysis) and there are traces of a reduction in the acceleration responses near to the edges of the basins. The proportion of the amplification (in the center of the basins) in 2D to 1D analysis was 1.4 for the rectangular basin, 1.28 for the trapezoidal basin, 1.22 for the elliptical basin, and 1.15 for the triangular basin.
 

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Introduction
Geotechnical investigations merely through boring and engineering experiments are considered a difficult task as they are highly costly and time-consuming. The identification of large areas initially requires geological studies followed by the inclusion of geotechnical information. Finally, a geological and geotechnical classification is prepared for the entire area. This type of classifications is employed in strategic urban planning and quick selection of geotechnical variables in small-scale projects. The present research performed the steps involved in these investigations and classifications for the city of Sanandaj, Iran. Hence, the geological-geotechnical classification of the city of Sanandaj was presented by integrating the geological information of this city with the geotechnical data obtained from drilled boreholes as well as multiple wells at different locations in this city.
Materials and Methods
This study was conducted on the city of Sanandaj in six steps. The steps involved and their respective objectives are given in summary in Table 1.
Discussion
This study is applicable to those regions with insufficient information on their boreholes. The present study used only 211 boreholes, the distance
Table1. Steps involved in this study

Objective or result	Title	Step
Identifying the general geological characteristics	General geological investigation of the considered region	1
Determining the rock units and soil layers as well as their outcrops and investigating their appearance	Determining the appearance of the layers through field investigations	2
Determining the layer types and drawing the longitudinal and lateral profiles	Identifying subsurface layers	3
Determining the characteristics of geological units and their origin of emergence	Geological classification based on the steps involved in formation of units	4
a)Collecting the available information, b) controlling the available information, c) completing the information	Determining the geotechnical attributes of geological units	5
a) Presenting geological-geotechnical classification, b) presenting geological identification criteria to determine the type of a given unit at the site of the project	Presenting a geological-geotechnical classification for the considered region	6

between which was greater than 5 km in some areas of the Sanandaj city. Hence, although no sufficient information was available on many areas of Sanandaj, the proposed method in this study was able to identify the geotechnical attributes of all soil layers and rock units. This study emphasizes on geological and geotechnical classification and presents a step-by-step method to systematically relate geological and geotechnical studies. By integrating these classifications, geotechnical identification of extensive regions such as urban areas can be facilitated even if the number of boreholes is insufficient. Moreover, simple identification criteria can be extracted from this method, through which the engineering attributes of the layers at each point can be determined. This method can be used as an optimal and economical method for geotechnical identification of extensive areas.
Conclusion
The following summaries can be concluded from this study:
-The step-by-step procedure of integrating geological and geotechnical information was described, through which the geological-geotechnical classification for this city was obtained.
-The geological units identified for Sanandaj were shale, limestone, andesite, and Quaternary, which includes layers of alluvial clay, residual clay, and sand and gravel. The extent and distribution of each of the aforementioned units in Sanandaj were identified and plotted. Moreover, the physical and mechanical characteristics of each of the units as well as their geotechnical hazards were determined and presented.
-In this study, simple geotechnical criteria such as faults, altitude level, and distance from river were identified. These parameters were effective in identification of geological units in Sanandaj../files/site1/files/131/5Extended_Abstract.pdf
 

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