No description available.

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Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003.

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published_or_final_version / Applied Geosciences / Master / Master of Science

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-114). Also available in electronic version.

The whole of this thesis is my work unless specifically indicated to the contrary in the text, and has not been submitted in part or in whole to any other University. Some thirty years ago the author operated a deep sounding machine, one of the first in the country, on a misty lake in Ireland and marvelled at the way subsoil information could be garnered. The magic of the moment never entirely passed and when the opportunity arose to use the technique in Natal the die was cast. The development of the national road system surged in the early 1970's and since many of these roads on the Natal coastal routes crossed extensive recent alluvial deposits, the geotechnical problems of instability and settlement became major factors in the road design. Traditional methods of investigation consisted of boreholes with sampling and laboratory testing. Whilst these were satisfactory, provided they were of adequate quality, they were relatively expensive if sufficiently detailed models of the subsoil were to be obtained for design purposes. Cone penetration testing provided a potential a solution and this led to research work conducted over a period of twenty five years which continues today. The initial development of ideas for improvements to the mechanical equipment took place whilst the author was carrying out preliminary investigations for freeway routes over the coastal alluvial deposits. This was followed by a period devoted largely to cone penetration testing research and deVelopment and to embankment design methods at the National Institute for Transport and Road Research, and to the initial registration for a Master's degree under the supervision of Professor K Knight in 1975. This research programme was completed as originally envisaged, but not submitted because during its course the author conceived the idea of the piezometer cone. This proved to be such an exciting prospect that the research and development continued for a number of years until piezometer cone testing has now become almost routine for geotechnical investigations on alluvial deposits. In 1983, due to Professor Knight's retirement from the University, Mr Phillip Everitt was appointed as the supervisor. At that stage piezometer testing was becoming accepted internationally and new aspects and information frequently appeared. It was apparent, however, that the essential proof of the system for the prediction of embankment performance was to use it at embankments where the performance had been monitored. Eventually grants were provided by the Department of Transport for this, which enabled two research projects to be conducted during 1989 - 1990 and 1991 - 1992. After completion of the first of these a presentation of the author's work on cone penetration testing since the mid 1960's was made to the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Natal. The Executive Committee of the University Senate subsequently approved, in August 1991, that the registration be upgraded to doctoral status. Mr Everitt's encouragement during this extended period has been a vital factor in ensuring an outcome for this task and the author wishes to express his gratitude for this. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.

Many embankments on the soft, highly variable, recent alluvial deposits along the South African coast have suffered large settlements necessitating ongoing costly repairs. Due to the soft variable soils, borehole sampling is difficult and laboratory testing requires to be extensive for adequate subsoil modelling; cone penetration testing was considered to be a potential means to overcome these problems. Twenty five years ago in South Africa, as elsewhere, cone penetration testing equipment was relatively crude and the methods of interpretation were simplistic. The application of cone penetration testing to recent alluvial deposits therefore required improvements to both the equipment and the derivation of soil parameters. The equipment was upgraded by introducing strain gauge load cells capable of measuring cone pressures in soft clays with adequate accuracy. Hence, correlations of cone pressures with compressibility and shear strength became possible. Predictions of settlement times and magnitudes are of equal importance and a consolidometer-cone system was developed to assess both of these. A piezometer was incorporated into a cone to ascertain whether the settlements were due to consolidation. The piezometer cone performed so well that it superseded the consolidometer-cone and by 1977 a field piezometer cone was in regular use. Developments in piezocone interpretation have taken place concurrently with those in equipment; coefficients of consolidation are evaluated from pore pressure dissipations, and soils identified from the ratio of pore and cone pressures. These developments have been validated in two recent research projects, by comparing measured and predicted settlements at eleven embankments monitored for up to fifteen years. The data shows that for embankments on the recent alluvial deposits the constrained modulus coefficient, am is : am = 2,6 ± 0,6 The data also shows that coefficients of consolidation from piezometer cone dissipation tests are correlated with those from laboratory tests and back analysed embankment performance as follows : Embankment c = 3 CPTU c = 6 Lab cv It is concluded that piezometer cone penetration testing is particularly suitable for the geotechnical investigation and the subsequent design of embankments on recent alluvial deposits and should be considered as complementary to boreholes with sampling and laboratory testing. The existing database of embankment performance should be expanded with particular emphasis on long term measurements and on thorough initial determination of basic soil parameters / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 121-123. / by Gary E.B. Choot. / M.S.

A Barragem de Itaipu é uma obra de engenharia de grande importância. Localizada na fronteira entre o Brasil e o Paraguai no Rio Paraná e com coordenadas geográficas aproximadas 25°24\'29\"S, 54°35\'21\"O, ela fornece energia elétrica a estes dois países e deve ser constantemente monitorada de modo a manter níveis de qualidade e segurança. Mais de dois mil instrumentos foram instalados e fornecem dados contínuos sobre diversas características da fundação e estrutura da barragem, incluindo mais de 650 piezômetros. A avaliação de níveis piezométricos em barragens é importante, pois refletem os valores de subpressão que atuam na estrutura da barragem. A utilização de novos métodos em tais análises pode permitir agilidade na tomada de decisões por parte da equipe de segurança de barragens. Dependendo do método aplicado, uma melhor compreensão do fenômeno no tempo e espaço pode ser obtida. Este estudo aplica Redes Neurais Artificiais (RNA) para simular o comportamento dos piezômetros instalados em uma descontinuidade geológica na fundação da Barragem de Itaipu. Ele considera diferentes tipos de dados de entrada em uma Rede Neural Multicamadas e determina a melhor arquitetura de RNA que mais se aproxima da situação real. / Itaipu Dam is an engineering work of high importance. Located at the border between Brazil and Paraguay in the Paraná River and with approximated geographical coordinates 25°24\'29\"S, 54°35\'21\"W, it provides electrical energy to these two countries and has to be constantly monitored in order to maintain its levels of quality and security. Over two thousand instruments have been installed and they provide continuous data about several characteristics of the dam foundation and structure, including more than 650 piezometers. The evaluation of piezometric levels in dams is important for it reflects the values of the uplift pressure that acts on the structure of the dam. The utilization of new methods in such an analysis can provide agility to decisions-taking by the security team of the dam. Depending on the method applied, a better comprehension of the phenomenon in time and space may be achieved. This study employs Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to simulate the behavior of the piezometers installed in a geological discontinuity in the foundation of Itaipu Dam. It considers different types of entry data in a Multilayer Neural Network and determines the best ANN architecture that is closest to the real situation.