Analysis of Soil Liquefaction Potential through Three Field Tests-Based Methods: A Case Study of Babol City

During earthquakes, ground failure is commonly caused by liquefaction. Thus, assessment of soil liquefaction potential in earthquake-prone regions is a crucial step towards reducing earthquake hazard. Since Babol city in Iran country is located in a high seismic area, estimation of soil liquefaction potential is of great importance in this city. For this purpose, in the present research, using field-based methods and geotechnical data (such as unit weight of soil, relative density, SPT number, shear wave velocity and cone tip resistance) of 60 available boreholes in Babol, three liquefaction maps were provided. Finally, one comprehensive liquefaction map was presented for soil of Babol city. The obtained results in this paper are well in line with the previous investigations. Based on the results, the factor of safety in 45% of the study area is less than one (liquefaction occurrence). In addition, the results indicate that since each field-based method requires particular data, applying various field tests is necessary for a more accurate liquefaction assessment.

Estimating Hydraulic Conductivity of Overconsolidated Soils Based on Piezocone Penetration Test (PCPT)

Overconsolidated (OC) soils may develop a low or negative pore pressure during PCPT. Thus, it is challenging to develop an “on-the-fly” estimation of hydraulic conductivity from PCPT results. This study presents a method to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of OC soils from PCPT results based on a previously developed method for normally consolidated (NC) soils. To apply the existing method, PCPT pore pressure in OC soils is adjusted by using a correction factor. An equation for the correction factor is derived based on the concepts of critical state soil mechanics, cavity expansion, and consolidation theories. Then, it was reformulated so that traditional cone indices could be used as input parameters. It is shown that the correction factor is mainly influenced by the cone tip resistance, pore pressure, and the rigidity index. The comparison of predicted, which is based on corrected pore pressure and measured hydraulic conductivity showed a good match for four well documented data sets. With the findings of the study, it is expected that an “on-the-fly” estimation of hydraulic conductivity of overconsolidated soils is possible.

Parameterisation of the Koppejan settlement prediction model using cone penetration testing and gradient boosting

This study examines how cone penetration test (CPT) parameters, such as cone tip resistance and friction sleeve resistance, can be used to assess the compressibility of fine-grained soils across the Netherlands based on a database of 286 paired CPTs and oedometer tests from across the country. This is done with the aim of refining and simplifying the parameterisation of the Koppejan consolidation coefficients, a procedure which can yield significant error and is prone to misinterpretation. It was found that there is significant potential in using gradient boosting methods to obtain a relationship between the CPT parameters and the Koppejan parameters, with further investigation required into the noise within the dataset and the acquisition of additional high-quality samples. The use of such methods will offer a means of reducing the influence of human error or misinterpretation on the prediction of settlement and provide further confidence in the use of machine learning methods in engineering practice.

Effect of Stress History and Shallow Embedment on Centrifuge Cone Penetration Tests in Sand

The paper investigates the effect of stress history and shallow embedment on centrifuge cone penetration tests in sand. A series of centrifuge cone penetration tests were performed in loose and dense silica sand at g-levels ranging between 20 and 100 with corresponding overconsolidation ratio (OCR) between 1 and 5. Based on the measured cone tip resistance (qc) profiles, improved empirical correlations have been proposed with depth factors (fD) to impart additional flexibility in accurately back predicting sand relative density (RD) at shallow embedment in normally consolidated (NC) sands. The qc - RD correlations are then extended to capture overconsolidation effects in cone tip resistance, which is broadly consistent with the changes in compressibility and in-situ lateral stresses taking place in sands with increasing OCR levels. The proposed expressions allow accurate quantification of depth corrected CPT profiles in soils of varying overconsolidation ratio, for application in the interpretation of model tests on shallow foundations and anchors and in shallowly buried structures such as pipelines. The expressions also have application for interpretation of field CPT profiles where the thickness of interbedded layers is of similar order of magnitude to the cone diameter.

Spatial Correlation of Cone Tip Resistance for Soil in Nasiriyah

Background:Quantification of soil property spatial variations is an important step in any reliability-based design. Little stochastic parameter information about the soil in Nasiriyah, which is in southern Iraq, is available.Methods:In this paper, the Scale Of Fluctuation (SOF) for the site soil is examined, which is suggested for construction of the refinery fuel station project as no random parametric quantity has been studied in this region. A Cone Penetration Test (CPT) was performed as part of the site investigation to a depth of 20 m in the vertical direction, and 24 CPTs were analyzed within the site. The spatial correlation was computed using four methods, including Single Exponent (SNE), Square Exponent (SQE), Cosine Exponent (CSE) and Second-Order Markov (SOM). Identification of the soil type depended on the most recent classification chart, which is based on CPT results. The spatial correlation was evaluated for the vertical direction considering the cone tip resistance (qc) component. Three trend functions were applied to all CPT soundings, including linear, quadratic and cubic polynomials, which were utilized to transform the non-stationary data to stationary data. Three modes of soil were employed, including the eight-meter soil layer, a twelve-meter soil layer and the entire twenty meters of soil, which includes both layers.Results and Discussion:The mean values of SOF were 0.54 m, 0.53 m, and 1.73 m for soil layers 8 m, 12 m, and 20 m, respectively. The high value of the last mean is attributed to the 20 m of stratification in the ground. This study also indicates that the SOF decreases as the polynomial degree increases, which is due to enhanced fitting. The coefficient of variation (COV) for the SOF shows little variability for most of the studied soil cases.

Use of functional cluster analysis of CPTU data for assessment of a subsoil rigidity

This paper shows an example of the grouping of piezocone penetration test (CPTU) characteristics using functional data analysis, together with the results of clustering, in the form of a subsoil rigidity model. The subsoil rigidity model was constructed based on layer separation using the proposed method, as well as the k-means method. In the construction of the subsoil rigidity model, the constrained modulus M was applied. These moduli were determined from empirical relationships for overconsolidated and normally consolidated soils from Poland based on cone tip resistance.

EFFECTS OF CEMENTATION ON HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY AND ON MECHANICAL STRENGTH OF BINARY PACKING SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT This paper addresses the topic soil stabilization for forest roads applications and analyzes the influence of the hydrated lime in structuring the sand fraction of an artificial soil composed of the sand fractions of two natural soils, simulating natural process of cementation of sands and using binary packing systems. The study included the following topics: (i) characterization of the mechanical strength and hydraulic conductivity of binary systems of the artificial soil; and (ii) effect of hydrated lime in structuring binary packing systems of the artificial soil. Soil samples were submitted to chemical pre-treatment, to obtain clean sand fractions from the two sandy soils with particle diameters ranging from 0.053 to 2 mm, following sieving and separation of them in twenty-two classes with maximum (D)/minimum (d) ratios varying from 5.7 to 13.4. Sequentially, binary packing specimens of the artificial soil were prepared and then stabilized with 2% of a commercial hydrated lime. Next, the specimens were submitted to permeability and quasi-static cone penetration tests, in order to determine their hydraulic conductivity and cone tip resistance. Based on the obtained results, it was concluded that: (i) in the artificial soil, an increase of D/d ratio led to an increase of cone tip resistance and decrease of hydraulic conductivity; and (ii) cementation with hydrated lime reduced the hydraulic conductivity and increased the cone tip resistance.