• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.697-726
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• 2023

Brittleness as an important property of rock plays a crucial role both in the failure process of intact rock and rock mass response to excavation in engineering geological and geotechnical projects. Generally, rock brittleness indices are calculated from the mechanical properties of rocks such as uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength and modulus of elasticity. These properties are generally determined from complicated, expensive and time-consuming tests in laboratory. For this reason, in the present research, an attempt has been made to predict the rock brittleness indices from simple, inexpensive, and quick laboratory test results namely dry unit weight, porosity, slake-durability index, P-wave velocity, Schmidt rebound hardness, and point load strength index using multiple linear regression, exponential regression, support vector machine (SVM) with various kernels, generating fuzzy inference system, and regression tree ensemble (RTE) with boosting framework. So, this could be considered as an innovation for the present research. For this purpose, the number of 39 rock samples including five igneous, twenty-six sedimentary, and eight metamorphic were collected from different regions of Iran. Mineralogical, physical and mechanical properties as well as five well known rock brittleness indices (i.e., B₁, B₂, B₃, B₄, and B₅) were measured for the selected rock samples before application of the above-mentioned machine learning techniques. The performance of the developed models was evaluated based on several statistical metrics such as mean square error, relative absolute error, root relative absolute error, determination coefficients, variance account for, mean absolute percentage error and standard deviation of the error. The comparison of the obtained results revealed that among the studied methods, SVM is the most suitable one for predicting B₁, B₂ and B₅, while RTE predicts B₃ and B₄ better than other methods.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.393-405
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• 2019

This paper evaluates the geotechnical and geo-engineering properties of the South Pars Zone (SPZ) marls in Assalouyeh, Iran. These marly beds mostly belong to the Aghajari and Mishan formations which entail the gray, cream, black, green, dark red and pink types. Marls can be observed as rock (soft rock) or soil. Marlstone outcrops show a relatively rapid change to soils in the presence of weathering. To geotechnically characterise the marls, field and laboratory experiments such as particle-size distribution, hydrometer, Atterberg limits, uniaxial compression, laboratory direct-shear, durability and carbonate content tests have been performed on soil and rock samples to investigate the physico-mechanical properties and behaviour of the SPZ marls in order to establish empirical relations between the geo-engineering features of the marls. Based on the experiments conducted on marly soils, the USCS classes of the marls is CL to CH which has a LL ranging from 32 to 57% and PL ranging from 18 to 27%. Mineralogical analyses of the samples revealed that the major clay minerals of the marls belong to the smectite or illite groups with low to moderate swelling activities. The geomechanical investigations revealed that the SPZ marls are classified as argillaceous lime, calcareous marl and marlstone (based on the carbonate content) which show variations in the geomechanical properties (i.e., with a cohesion ranging from 97 to 320 kPa and a friction angle ranging from 16 to 35 degrees). The results of the durability tests revealed that the degradation potential showed a wide variation from none to fully disintegrated. According to the results of the experiments, the studied marls have been classified as calcareous marl, marlstone and argillaceous lime due to the variations in the carbonate and clay contents. The results have shown that an increase in the carbonate content leads to a decrease in the degradation potential and an increase in the density and strength parameters such as durability and compressive strength. A comparison of the empirical relationships obtained from the regression analyses with similar studies revealed that the results obtained herein are reasonably reliable.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.241-251
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• 2010

The polar region is in the limelight for an academic worth as well as plenty of natural resources. The study on the polar region was reviewed for better understanding of the polar region and its rock properties. The antarctica has a windy and dry climate along with the lowest temperature on the earth. The thermal distribution according to depth in the area was reported: The freezing-thawing process was repeated in shallow depth, and the temperature falls down below zero under the specific depth. There is a great temperature difference between the atmosphere and rock. A research reported for the degree of weathering of the antarctic slope by using Schmidt hammer and Taffoni test. The rock specimens weathered by repeated freezing-thawing process were tested of the shore hardness and uniaxial compressive strength: The rock strength gradually decreased as the freezing-thawing process was repeated. The comprehensive mechanical properties of the polar region rocks and the relationship between the laboratory weathering test result and the real rock property change in the site remain as future research topics.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.371-382
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• 2009

The concrete plates are most widely used structural elements in the hulls of floating concrete structures such as concrete barges and pontoons, bridge decks, basement floors and liquid storage tanks. The study on the behavior of high-strength fiber reinforced concrete (HSFRC) plates was carried out to evaluate the performance of plates under in-plane and transverse loads. The plates were tested in simply supported along all the four edges and subjected to in-plane and traverse loads. In this experimental program, twenty four 150 mm diameter cylinders and twelve plate elements of size $600{\times}600{\times}30$ mm were prepared and tested. Water-to-cementitious materials ratios of 0.3 and 0.4 with 10% and 15% silica fume replacements were used in the concrete mixes. The fiber volume fractions, $V_f$ = 0%, 1% and 1.5% with an aspect ratio of 80 were used in this study. The HSFRC mixes had the concrete compressive strengths in the range of 52.5 to 70 MPa, flexural strengths ranging from 6.21 to 11.08 MPa and static modulus of elasticity ranging from 29.68 to 36.79 GPa. In this study, the behavior of HSFRC plate elements subjected to combined uniaxial in-plane and transverse loads was investigated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.535-547
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• 2022

Failure patterns of rock specimens represent valuable information about the mechanical properties and crack evolution mechanism of rock. Several kinds of research have been conducted regarding the failure mechanism of brittle material, however; the influence of brittleness on the failure mechanism of rock specimens has not been precisely considered. In the present study, experimental and numerical examinations have been made to evaluate the physical and mechanical phenomena associated with rock failure mechanisms through the uniaxial compression test. In the experimental part, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) tests equipped with Acoustic Emission (AE) have been conducted on rock samples with three different brittleness. Then, the numerical models have been calibrated based on experimental test results for further investigation and comparing the micro-cracking process in experimental and numerical models. It can be perceived that the failure mode of specimens with high brittleness is tensile axial splitting, based on the experimental evidence of rock specimens with different brittleness. Also, the crack growth mechanism of the rock specimens with various brittleness using discrete element modeling in the numerical part suggested that the specimens with more brittleness contain more tensile fracture during the loading sequences.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.471-478
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• 2021

Water damage is one of the five disasters that affect the safety of coal mine production. The erosion of rocks by water is a very important link in the process of water inrush induced by fault activation. Through the observation and experiment of fault filling samples, according to the existing rock classification standards, fault sediments are divided into breccia, dynamic metamorphic schist and mudstone. Similar materials are developed with the characteristics of particle size distribution, cementation strength and water rationality, and then relevant tests and analyses are carried out. The experimental results show that the water-rock interaction mainly reduces the compressive strength, mechanical strength, cohesion and friction Angle of similar materials, and cracks or deformations are easy to occur under uniaxial load, which may be an important process of water inrush induced by fault activation. Mechanical experiment of similar material specimen can not only save time and cost of large scale experiment, but also master the direction and method of the experiment. The research provides a new idea for the failure process of rock structure in fault activation water inrush.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.359-369
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• 2011

In this study, physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of rock samples were investigated to estimate the Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) developed during the construction of the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel. The average porosity in the EDZ was increased by about 140%. The average wave velocity, Young's modulus, and uniaxial compressive strength in the EDZ were decreased by about 11, 37, and 16%, respectively. And the thermal conductivity in the EDZ was decreased by about 20%. From the laboratory tests, the EDZ size could be estimated to be around 1.1-2.4 m.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.394-408
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• 2002

Nanostructured high strength metastable Al-, Mg- and Ti-based alloys containing different amorphous, quasicrystalline and nanocrystalline phases are synthesized by non-equilibrium processing techniques. Such alloys can be prepared by quenching from the melt or by powder metallurgy techniques. This paper focuses on one hand on mechanically alloyed and ball milled powders containing different volume fractions of amorphous or nano-(quasi)crystalline phases, consolidated bulk specimens and, on the other hand. on cast specimens containing different constituent phases with different length-scale. As one example. $Mg_{55}Y_{15}Cu_{30}$- based metallic glass matrix composites are produced by mechanical alloying of elemental powder mixtures containing up to 30 vol.% $Y_2O_3$ particles. The comparison with the particle-free metallic glass reveals that the nanosized second phase oxide particles do not significantly affect the glass-forming ability upon mechanical alloying despite some limited particle dissolution. A supercooled liquid region with an extension of about 50 K can be maintained in the presence of the oxides. The distinct viscosity decrease in the supercooled liquid regime allows to consolidate the powders into bulk samples by uniaxial hot pressing. The $Y_2O_3$ additions increase the mechanical strength of the composites compared to the $Mg_{55}Y_{15}Cu_{30}$ metallic glass. The second example deals with Al-Mn-Ce and Al-Cu-Fe composites with quasicrystalline particles as reinforcements, which are prepared by quenching from the melt and by powder metallurgy. $Al_{98-x}Mn_xCe_2$ (x =5,6,7) melt-spun ribbons containing a major quasicrystalline phase coexisting with an Al-matrix on a nanometer scale are pulverized by ball milling. The powders are consolidated by hot extrusion. Grain growth during consolidation causes the formation of a micrometer-scale microstructure. Mechanical alloying of $Al_{63}Cu_{25}Fe_{12}$ leads to single-phase quasicrystalline powders. which are blended with different volume fractions of pure Al-powder and hot extruded forming $Al_{100-x}$$(Al_{0.63}Cu_{0.25}Fe_{0.12})_x$ (x = 40,50,60,80) micrometer-scale composites. Compression test data reveal a high yield strength of ${\sigma}_y{\geq}$700 MPa and a ductility of ${\varepsilon}_{pl}{\geq}$5% for than the Al-Mn-Ce bulk samples. The strength level of the Al-Cu-Fe alloys is ${\sigma}_y{\leq}$550 MPa significantly lower. By the addition of different amounts of aluminum, the mechanical properties can be tuned to a wide range. Finally, a bulk metallic glass-forming Ti-Cu-Ni-Sn alloy with in situ formed composite microstructure prepared by both centrifugal and injection casting presents more than 6% plastic strain under compressive stress at room temperature. The in situ formed composite contains dendritic hcp Ti solid solution precipitates and a few $Ti_3Sn,\;{\beta}$-(Cu, Sn) grains dispersed in a glassy matrix. The composite micro- structure can avoid the development of the highly localized shear bands typical for the room temperature defor-mation of monolithic glasses. Instead, widely developed shear bands with evident protuberance are observed. resulting in significant yielding and homogeneous plastic deformation over the entire sample.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.17 no.2 s.86
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• pp.263-271
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• 2005

HPFRCC(High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composite) is a class of FRCCs(Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites) that exhibit multiple cracking. Multiple cracking leads to improvement in properties such as ductility, toughness, fracture energy, strain hardening, strain capacity, and deformation capacity under tension, compression, and bending. These improved properties of HPFRCCs have triggered unique and versatile structural applications, including damage reduction, damage tolerance, energy absorption, crack distribution, deformation compatibility, and delamination resistance. These mechanical properties of HPFRCCs become different from the kinds and shapes of used fiber, and it is known that the effective size of fiber in macro crack is different from that in micro crack. This paper reports an experimental findings on the mechanical properties of HPFRCCs reinforced with the micro fiber(PP50, PVA100 and PVA200) and macro fiber(PVA660, SF500). Uniaxial compressive tests and three point bending tests are carried out in order to compare with the mechanical properties of HPFRCCs reinforced with micro fibers or hybrid fibers such as compressive strength, ultimate bending stress, toughness, deformation capacity and crack pattern under bending, etc.,

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.4645-4687
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• 1978

This study was attempted to investigate the mechanical properties of concrete and crack control effects of reinforced concrete with steel and glass fiber. The experimental program includes tests on the properties of fresh concrete containing fibers, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, Young's modulus, Shrinkage and deformation of steel or glass fiber reinforced concrete. Also this study was carried out to investigate the effect of steel or glass fiber to retard the development in reinforced concrete subject to uniaxial tension and thus facilitate the use of steels of higher strength. The major conclusions that can be drawn from the studies are as follows: 1. The effect of the fibers in various mixes on fresh concrete confirmed that fibers do have a significant effect on the properties of fresh concrete, bringing much more stable and exhibiting a signiflcant reduction in surface bleeding, and that the cohesion is greatly improved and the internal resistance increases with fiber concentration. But the addition of an excess contents and length of fibers brings about the reduction of workability. 2. With the addition of steel fibers(1.5% Vol.) to concrete, the compressive strength as compared with plain concrete showed a very slight increase, but excess addition, over 1.5% Vol. of steel and glass fiber reduced its strength. 3. Splitting tensile strength of fiber reinforced concrete showed a significant increase tendency, as compared with plain concrete. In case of containing steel fiber (2.5%, 30mm), it showed that the maximum increase rate of 1.48 times as much rate, and in case of containing glass fiber (2.5%, 30mm), the increase rate of strength was 1.25 times as much rate. 4. Flexural strength of fiber reinforced concrete showed a significant tendency, as compared with plain concrete. Containing steel fiber (2.5%, 30mm) showed the maximum increase rate of 1.64 times as much rate and containing glass fiber (2.5%, 30mm) showed the increase rate of strength of 1.32 times as much rate, and in general, the 30mm length brougth the best results. 5. The strength ratio ($\sigma$b/$\sigma$c and $\sigma$t/$\sigma$c) increased, when steel fiber's average spacing was up to 3.05mm, but decreased when beyond 3.05mm, and it was confirmed that tensile or flexural strengths of steel fiber reinforced concrete are apparently governed by fiber's average spacing. 6. The compressive strain of fiber reinforced concrete showed a significant increasing tendency as the fiber was added, but Young's modulus. with the addition of steel and glass fibers, showed a slight decrease tendency. And according to the increase of flexural strength, a considerable increase was seen in toughness. 7. With the addition of fiber's the shrinkage of concrete was significantly decreased, in both case of adding steel fibers 12.5%, 30mm, and showed a significant decrease ratio, in average 30.4% and 36.7%, as compared with plain concrete. 8. With the increase of fiber volume fraction and length, the gained stress in reinforcing bar in concrete specimens increased in all crack widths, but at different rates, with the decrease of fiber diameter, the stress showed a considerable increasing tendency. And the duoform steel fibers showed the greatest improvement, as compared with the other types tested. 9. The influence of fiber dimensions in order of significanse on the machanical properties of concrete and the crack control of reinforced concrete was explained as follows: content, length, aspect ratio and dimeter.