• 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.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.295-302
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• 2021

Cross-borehole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is an effective groundwater detection tool in geophysical investigations. In this paper, an artificial water injection test was conducted on a small clay sample, where the high-resolution cross-borehole ERT was used to investigate the moisture migration law over time. The moisture migration path can be two-dimensionally imaged based on the relationship between resistivity and saturation. The hydraulic conductivity was estimated, and the magnitude ranged from 10^-11 m/s to 10^-9 m/s according to the comparison between the simulation flow and the saturation distribution inferred from ERT. The results indicate that cross-borehole ERT could help determine the resistivity distribution of small size clay samples. Finally, the cross-borehole ERT technique has been applied to investigate the self-sealing characteristics of clay.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.329-337
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• 2019

This paper presents an experimental investigation about visualization of bulging development of geosynthetic-encased stone column (GESC) based on the digital image correlation (DIC) technique and transparent soil. Visual model tests on GESC and ordinary stone column (OSC) were carried out. In order to delete the warping effect resulting from transparent soil and experiment setup, a modification for experiment results was performed. The bulging development process of the GESC and the displacement field of the surrounding soil were measured. By comparing with the existing experimental and theoretical results, it demonstrates that the model test system developed for studying the continuous bulging development of GESC is suitable. The current test results show that the bulging depth of GESC ranges from 1.05 to 1.40 times the diameter of GESC. The influence depth of GESC bulging on surrounding soil displacement is 0~3 the times diameter of GESC.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.59-76
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• 2016

The non-linear Hoek-Brown failure criterion has been widely accepted and applied to evaluate the stability of rock slopes under plane-strain conditions. This paper presents a kinematic approach of limit analysis to assessing the static and seismic stability of three-dimensional (3D) rock slopes using the generalized Hoek-Brown failure criterion. A tangential technique is employed to obtain the equivalent Mohr-Coulomb strength parameters of rock material from the generalized Hoek-Brown criterion. The least upper bounds to the stability number are obtained in an optimization procedure and presented in the form of graphs and tables for a wide range of parameters. The calculated results demonstrate the influences of 3D geometrical constraint, non-linear strength parameters and seismic acceleration on the stability number and equivalent strength parameters. The presented upper-bound solutions can be used for preliminary assessment on the 3D rock slope stability in design and assessing other solutions from the developing methods in the stability analysis of 3D rock slopes.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.79-90
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• 2022

Soybean-urease induced carbonate precipitation (EICP), as an alternative to microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP), was employed for soil improvement. Meanwhile, soluble calcium produced from industrial waste carbide slag powder (CSP) via the acid dissolution method was used for the EICP process. The ratio of CSP to the acetic acid solution was optimized to obtain a desirable calcium concentration with an appropriate pH. The calcium solution was then used for the sand columns test, and the engineering properties of the EICP-treated sand, including unconfined compressive strength, permeability, and calcium carbonate content, were evaluated. Results showed that the properties of the biocemented sand using the CSP derived calcium solution were comparable to those using the reagent grade CaCl₂. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed that spherical vaterite crystals were mainly formed when the CSP-derived calcium solution was used. In contrast, spherical calcite crystals were primarily formed as the reagent grade CaCl₂ was used. This study highlighted that it was effective and sustainable to use soluble calcium produced from CSP for the EICP process.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.179-194
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• 2021

In this paper, to study the stability of surrounding rock during roadway excavation in different rock mass structures, the physical model test for roadway excavation process in three types of intact rock mass, layered rock mass and massive rock mass were carried out by using the self-developed two-dimensional simulation testing system of complex underground engineering. Firstly, based on the engineering background of a deep mine in eastern China, the similar materials of the most appropriate ratio in line with the similarity theory were tested, compared and determined. Then, the physical models of four different schemes with 1000 mm (height) × 1000 mm (length) × 250 mm (width) were constructed. Finally, the roadway excavation was carried out after applying boundary conditions to the physical model by the simulation testing system. The results indicate that the supporting effect of rockbolts has a great influence on the shallow surrounding rock, and the rock mass structure can affect the overall stability of the surrounding rock. Furthermore, the failure mechanism and bearing capacity of surrounding rock were further discussed from the comparison of stress evolution characteristics, distribution of stress arch, and failure modes in different schemes.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.15-28
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• 2024

The rapid development of the economy has compelled the widen of highways, and the main challenge of this undertaking lies in the uneven settlement of road embankments. Through field and numerical experiments, this study explores the deformation mechanism of shallow buried pipelines due to road widening. The utilization of Plaxis3D software, which is adapt at simulating complex engineering geological conditions, enables the simulation of the settlement of both the central and right-side road embankments. Comparing with other numerical software such as ABAQUS and COMSOL, Plaxis provided more constitutive models including HS, HSS and Hoek-Brown model. The work concludes that the uneven settlement of road cross-sections is positively correlated with the horizontal distance from the pipeline, with a maximum settlement of 73 mm observed after construction. Furthermore, based on the Winkler's assumption, theoretical settlement and stress calculation methods are established. Results indicate that the maximum difference between the calculated values of this formula and simulated values is 1.9% and 7%, respectively. Additionally, the study investigates the stress and settlement of the pipeline's top under different angles to understand its behavior under various conditions. It finds that with traffic loads applied to the new embankment, a lever effect occurs on the lower pipeline, with the fulcrum located within the central isolation zone, leading to a transition in curve type from "single peak and single valley" to "double peak and single valley." Moreover, the settlement of pipelines on both sides of the central isolation zone and the normal stress of the pipeline's top section are symmetrical.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2016

The high permeability-high strength concrete belongs to the typical of porous materials. It is mainly used in underground engineering for cold area, it can act the role of heat preservation, also to be the bailing and buffer layer. In order to establish a suitable model to predict the thermal conductivity and directly applied for engineering, according to the structure characteristics, the thermal conductivity predicting model was built by resistance network model of parallel three-phase medium. For the selected geometric and physical cell model, the thermal conductivity forecast model can be set up with aggregate particle size and mixture ratio directly. Comparing with the experimental data and classic model, the prediction model could reflect the mixture ratio intuitively. When the experimental and calculating data are contrasted, the value of experiment is slightly higher than predicting, and the average relative error is about 6.6%. If the material can be used in underground engineering instead by the commonly insulation material, it can achieve the basic requirements to be the heat insulation material as well.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.159-170
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• 2021

Particle size of tailings in different areas of dams varies due to sedimentation and separation. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of high-stacked talings materials are seriously affected by void ratio and particle breakage. Conjoined consolidation permeability tests were carried out using a self-developed high-stress permeability and consolidation apparatus. The hydraulic conductivity decreases nonlinearly with the increase of consolidation pressure. The seepage pattern of coarse-particle tailings is channel flow, and the seepage pattern of fine-particle tailings is scattered flow. The change rate of hydraulic conductivity of tailings with different particle sizes under high consolidation pressure tends to be identical. A hydraulic conductivity hysteresis is found in coarse-particle tailings. The hydraulic conductivity hysteresis is more obvious when the water head is lower. A new hydraulic conductivity-void ratio equation was derived by introducing the concept of effective void ratio and breakage index. The equation integrated the hydraulic conductivity equation with different particle sizes over a wide range of consolidation pressures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.275-284
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• 2024

This paper aims to explore the evolution of the pullout behavior of geocell reinforcement insights from three-dimensional numerical studies. Initially, a developed model was validated with the model test results. The horizontal displacement of geocells and infill sand and the passive resistance transmission in the geocell layer were analyzed deeply to explore the evolution of geocell pullout behavior. The results reveal that the pullout behavior of geocell reinforcement is the pattern of progressive deformation. The geocell pockets are gradually mobilized to resist the pullout force. The vertical walls provide passive pressure, which is the main contributor to the pullout force. Hence, even if the frontal displacement (FD) is up to 90m mm, only half of the pockets are mobilized. Furthermore, the parametric studies, orthogonal analysis, and the building of the predicted model were also carried out to quantitative the geocell pullout behavior. The weights of influencing factors were ranked. Ones can calculate the pullout force accurately by inputting the aspect ratio, geocell modulus, embedded length, frontal displacement, and normal stress.