• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2024

In this case study, detailed survey of the Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) evaluation for the deep geological repository for high level nuclear waste was conducted. Oversea and Domestic case studies were compiled and investigated. EDZ is considered a crucial factor in the performance assessment of spent fuel disposal, leading to numerous studies worldwide aiming to understand the characteristics of the EDZ and quantitatively assessment of its extent through field and laboratory tests at Underground Research Laboratory (URL) sites. To enhance the understanding of EDZ, this study begins with defining and exploring the history of EDZ, compiling factors influencing EDZ, and summarizing the impacts caused by EDZ. Subsequently, an analysis of EDZ and rock properties is performed, followed by presenting generalized outcomes, limitations drawn from previous research, and proposing future research directions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2013

The seismic response of RC space frame structures with isolated footing resting on a shallow soil stratum on rock is presented in this paper. Homogeneous soil stratum of different stiffness in the very soft to stiff range is considered. Soil, footing and super structure are considered to be the parts of an integral system. A finite element model of the integrated system is developed and subjected to scaled acceleration time histories recorded during two different real earthquakes. Dynamic analysis is performed using mode superposition method of transient analysis. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effect of flexibility of soil in the dynamic behaviour of low-rise building frames. The time histories and Fourier spectra of roof displacement, base shear and structural response quantities of the space frame on compliant base are presented and compared with the fixed base condition. Results indicate that the incorporation of soil flexibility is required for the realistic estimate of structural seismic response especially for single storey structures resting on very soft soil.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1207-1217
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• 2018

Geomechanics parameters are critical to numerical simulation, stability analysis, design and construction of geotechnical engineering. Due to the limitations of laboratory and in situ experiments, back analysis is widely used in geomechancis and geotechnical engineering. In this study, a hybrid back analysis method, that coupling numerical simulation, response surface (RS) and relevance vector machine (RVM), was proposed and applied to identify geomechanics parameters from hydraulic fracturing. RVM was adapted to approximate complex functional relationships between geomechanics parameters and borehole pressure through coupling with response surface method and numerical method. Artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm was used to search the geomechanics parameters as optimal method in back analysis. The proposed method was verified by a numerical example. Based on the geomechanics parameters identified by hybrid back analysis, the computed borehole pressure agreed closely with the monitored borehole pressure. It showed that RVM presented well the relationship between geomechanics parameters and borehole pressure, and the proposed method can characterized the geomechanics parameters reasonably. Further, the parameters of hybrid back analysis were analyzed and discussed. It showed that the hybrid back analysis is feasible, effective, robust and has a good global searching performance. The proposed method provides a significant way to identify geomechanics parameters from hydraulic fracturing.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.4
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• pp.497-505
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• 2018

Three points bending flexural test was modeled numerically to study the crack propagation in the pre-cracked beams. The pre-existing edge cracks in the beam models were considered to investigate the crack propagation and coalescence paths within the modeled samples. The effects of particle size on the single edge-notched round bar in bending test were considered too. The results show that Failure pattern is constant by increasing the ball diameter. Tensile cracks are dominant mode of failure. These crack initiates from notch tip, propagate parallel to loading axis and coalescence with upper model boundary. Number of cracks increase by decreasing the ball diameter. Also, tensile fracture toughness was decreased with increasing the particle size. In the present study, the influences of particles sizes on the cracks propagations and coalescences in the brittle materials such as rocks and concretes are numerically analyzed by using a three dimensional particle flow code (PFC3D). These analyses improve the understanding of the stability of rocks and concretes structures such as rock slopes, tunnel constructions and underground openings.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.239-255
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• 2020

Experimental and discrete element method were used to investigate the effects of joint number and its angularities on the shear behaviour of joint's bridge area. A new shear test condition was used to model the gypsum cracks under shear loading. Gypsum samples with dimension of 120 mm×100 mm×50 mm were prepared. the length of joints was 2cm. in experimental tests, the joint number is 1, 2 and 3 and its angularities change from 0° to 90° with increment of 45°. Assuming a plane strain condition, special rectangular models are prepared with dimension of 120 mm×100 mm. similar to joints configuration in experimental test, 9 models with different joint number and joint angularities were prepared. This testing show that the failure process is mostly governed by the joint number and joint angularities. The shear strengths of the specimens are related to the fracture pattern and failure mechanism of the discontinuities. The shear behaviour of discontinuities is related to the number of induced tensile cracks which are increased by increasing the rock bridge length. The strength of samples decreases by increasing the joint number and joint angularities. Failure pattern and failure strength are similar in both of the experimental test and numerical simulation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.769-774
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• 2018

The growth of cities requires the construction of new tunnels close to the existing ones. Prediction and control of ground movement around the tunnel are important especially in urban area. The ground respond due to EPB (Earth Pressure Balance) pressure are investigated using the finite element method by ABAQUS in intersection of the triplet tunnels (Line 2, 3 and 4) of Mashhad Urban Railway in Iran. Special attention is paid to the effect of EPB pressure on the tunnel face displacement. The results of the analysis show that in EPB tunneling, surface settlement and face displacement is related to EPB pressure. Moreover, it is found that tunnel construction sequence is a great effect in face displacement value. For this study, this value in Line 4 where is excavated after line 3, is smaller than that line. In addition, the trend of the displacement curves are changed with the depth for all lines where is located in above and below, close to and above the centerline tunnel face for Line 2, 3 and 4, respectively. It is concluded that: (i) the surface settlement decreases with increasing EPB pressure on the tunnel face; (ii) at a constant EPB pressure, the tunnel face displacement values increase with depth. In addition, this is depended on the tunneling sequence; (iii) the trend of the displacement curves change with the depth.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 1994

Rocks are composed of the discrete elements of microstructures such as different grains and microcracks. The studies of these microstructures are of increasing interest in engineering geology and civil engineering related to construction of a deep under-ground space. Accordingly, instead of a simplified continuum approach, discrete structural elements and mechanical properties of various grains must be accounted. But it is difficult to analyse crack and discontinuity surfaces in Euclidean geometry. So, Mandelbrot( 1983) developed fractal theory to manage irregular body in nature. In this study, geometrical properties of microstructures to estimate a relation between crack propagation and stress were calculated. Then it is shown that fractal theory can be applied to research real mechanical behavior of rocks.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.121-129
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• 2012

All contemporary seismic Codes have adopted smooth design acceleration response spectra, which have derived by statistical analysis of many elastic response spectra of natural accelerograms. The above smooth design spectra are characterized by two main branches, an horizontal branch that is 2.5 times higher than the peak ground acceleration, and a declining parabolic branch. According to Eurocode EN/1998, the period range of the horizontal, flat branch is extended from 0.1 s, for rock soils, up to 0.8 s for softer ones. However, from many natural recorded accelerograms of important earthquakes, the real spectral amplification factor appears to be much higher than 2.5 and this means that the spectrum leads to an unsafe seismic design of the structures. This point is an issue open to question and it is the object of the present study. In the present paper, the spectral amplification factor of the smooth design acceleration spectra is re-calculated on the grounds of a known "reliability index" for a desired probability of exceedance. As a pilot scheme, the seismic area of Greece is chosen, as it is the most seismically hazardous area in Europe. The accelerograms of the 82 most important earthquakes, which have occurred in Greece during the last 38 years, are used. The soil categories are taken into account according to EN/1998. The results that have been concluded from these data are compared with the results obtained from other strong earthquakes reported in the World literature.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1027-1044
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• 2017

Membrane penetration is the most important factor influencing the measurement of volume change for triaxial consolidated-drained shear test for coarse-grained soil. The effective pressure p, average particle size $d_{50}$, thickness $t_m$ and elastic modulus $E_m$ of membrane, contact area between membrane and soil $A_m$ as well as the initial void ratio e are the major factors influencing membrane penetration. According to the membrane deformation model given by Kramer and Sivaneswaran, an analytical solution of the membrane penetration considering the initial void ratio is deduced using the energy conservation law. The basic equations from theory of plates and shells and the elastic mechanics are employed during the derivation. To verify the presented solution, isotropic consolidation tests of a coarse-grained soil are performed by using the method of embedding different diameter of iron rods in the triaxial samples, and volume changes due to membrane penetration are obtained. The predictions from presented solution and previous analytical solutions are compared with the test results. It is found that the prediction from presented analytical solution agrees well with the test results.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 2014

Mudstone is a very common rock that, when in contact with water, can exhibit considerable volume change and breakdown. This behavior of mudstone is frequently encountered in geotechnical engineering and has a considerable influence on infrastructure stability. This is particularly important in the present work, which focuses on mitigating the harmful properties of mudstone. The samples studied are of Permian Age mudstone from Shandong Province, China. Modification tests using organic silicone additive material were carried out. The mechanisms of physical properties modification of mudstone were comparatively studied using corresponding test methods, and the modification mechanism of organic silicone additive material acting on mudstone was analyzed. The following conclusions were drawn. The surface texture and characters of mudstone changed dramatically, surface character turns from hydrophilic to hydrophobic after organic silicone additive material modification. The changes in the surface character indicate a reduction in the water sensitivity of mudstone. After modification, the shape of porosity and fracture of mudstone changed unremarkable, and the total and free expansion ratios decreased obviously, whereas the strength increased markedly.