Effects of Soil-Cement Stabilization on the Index Properties of Subgrades of Three Selected Roads in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

In this study, the impact of soil-cement stabilization on the index properties of the subgrade of roads was investigated. Efforts were on the means of improving the bearing capacity of the subgrade of a flexible pavement structure. Three selected roads (Ogbia-Nembe, section of the East-West Road and section of Port Harcourt-Aba Road) in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria were examined to determine the effect of sand-cement stabilization on the compaction index property of their undisturbed subgrade and the optimal ratio of soil-cement on the expansive soils at which the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is optimized. Disturbed soil samples were collected from twenty trial pits on each of the three study roads using a hand ulger and tested for their respective compaction index properties. It was discovered that their California Bearing Ratio (CBR) was very low. Some of the collected specimen materials were stabilized with varying percentages of soil-cement contents ranging from 6% - 14% in order to ascertain its effects on the compaction index properties of the sample soils. Results of the various stabilization test procedures show that: Stabilization of the soil using Soil-Cement Stabilization affected the Compaction Index properties of the soil and further improved the California Bearing Ratio (CBR). On the Ogbia-Nembe Road;Soil-Cement stabilization improved the CBR and is optimized at a 10% sand-cement ratio with optimum moisture content ranging from 6.2% - 14%, maximum dry density ranges from 1700 - 1780 kg/m3, yielding an average CBR of 42.7% for soaked samples. On the section of East-West Road from Eleme Junction to Etteh Junction;Soil-Cement stabilization improved the CBR and is optimized at a 14% sand-cement ratio with optimum moisture content ranging from 6.2% - 14.2%, maximum dry density ranges from 1660 - 1800 kg/m3, yielding an average CBR of 43.9% for soaked samples. On the section of Port Harcourt-Aba Express Road from Eleme Junction to Osisioma Junction;Soil-Cement stabilization improved the CBR and is optimized at a 12% sand-cement ratio having an optimum moisture content ranging from 5.4% - 17.3%, maximum dry density ranges from 1610 - 1740 kg/m3, and an average California Bearing Ratio for soaked samples at 40%.

Development of Empirical Models for the Estimation of CBR Value of Soil from Their Index Properties: A Case Study of the Ogbia-Nembe Road in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

This study developed empirical-mathematical models to predict the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) using soil index properties in Ogbia-Nembe road in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The determination of CBR of soil is a laborious operation that requires a longer time and materials leading to increased cost and schedule;this can be reduced by adopting an empirical-mathematical model that can predict the CBR using other simpler soil index properties such as Plastic Limit (PL), the Liquid Limit (LL), the Plasticity Index (PI) and the Moisture Content (MC), which are less laborious and take lesser time to obtain. Thirteen models were developed to understand the relationship between these soil index properties: the independent variable and the California Bearing Ratio (CBR): the dependent variable;Six linear, Six quadratic and One multiple linear regression models were developed for this relationship. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the thirteen models showed that the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) and the Maximum Dry Density (MDD) are better independent variables for the prediction of the CBR value of Ogbia-Nembe soil generating a quadratic model and a multiple linear regression model having a better coefficient of determination R2 = 0.96 and 0.94 respectively, mean square error (MSE) of 0.74 and 1.152 respectively with Root mean square errors of 0.861 and 1.073 accordingly. These models were used to predict the CBR of the soil. The CBR values predicted by the model were further compared with those of the actual experimental test and found to be relatively consistent with minimal variance. This establishes that CBR of any soil can be predicted from the Index Property of the soil and this is more economical and takes lesser time and can be universally adopted for soil investigation.

Selection of regression models for predicting strength and deformability properties of rocks using GA

Recently,many regression models have been presented for prediction of mechanical parameters of rocks regarding to rock index properties.Although statistical analysis is a common method for developing regression models,but still selection of suitable transformation of the independent variables in a regression model is diffcult.In this paper,a genetic algorithm(GA)has been employed as a heuristic search method for selection of best transformation of the independent variables(some index properties of rocks)in regression models for prediction of uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)and modulus of elasticity(E).Firstly,multiple linear regression(MLR)analysis was performed on a data set to establish predictive models.Then,two GA models were developed in which root mean squared error(RMSE)was defned as ftness function.Results have shown that GA models are more precise than MLR models and are able to explain the relation between the intrinsic strength/elasticity properties and index properties of rocks by simple formulation and accepted accuracy.

Multi-Quality Properties Capability Analysis for Prestressing Strand of Prestressed Concrete

Prestressed concrete structures are main conformati on for the construction of high way bridges. The quality of prestressed concrete s tructures is mainly affected by the tensile strength of prestressing strand. In order to attain the purpose of economic design and long life span of prestressin g strand, the less relaxation property of strand type is suitable for constructi on and usage. Thus, the research and development of prestressing strand is requi red to reach the goals of high tensile strength and low relaxation. To ensure th e required quality of prestressing strand, the strand pull test and long period relaxation test are two important items for the quality assurance. There are thr ee specific items of the tensile strength test are belong to larger-the-better quality type. The quality type of smaller-the-better is for the long period r elaxation test. However, many existing methods are able to measure process capab ility for product with single quality characteristic and cannot be applied to mo st products with multiple properties. Thus, the indices of C pu and C pl, for larger-the-better and smaller-the-better quality type respec tively proposed by Kane, are quoted and combined to propose a new index to evalu ate the quality of multiple characteristics of prestressing strand in this paper . Then, the principle of statistics is used to derive the one-to-one mathemati cal relationship of this new index and ratio of tallied. Finally, the procedure and criteria to evaluate the quality of prestressing strand is proposed. This in tegrated multi-quality property capability analysis model can be used to evalua te the multi-process capabilities and provide continuous improvement on manufac turing process of prestressing strand.

QSPR Analysis of the Physicochemical Properties for Phthalic Acid Esters

Based on quantitative structure-property relationship （QSPR） of organic compounds, the molecular connectivity indices of 21 phthalic acid ester compounds were extracted. Relationship between the physicochemical properties （n-octanol/air partition coefficient, vapor pressure, water solubility） and the molecular connectivity indices of phthalic acid ester compounds have been established by multiple linear regression （MLR） method. The results showed that the zero-order valence connectivity index （0Xu） is the topology parameter which affects octanol/water partition coefficient and water solubility, and the topology parameter which affects vapor pressure is the first-order connectivity index （1X）. This indicated to a certain extent_that the molecular connectivity indices can be well used to express the quantitative relationship between the physicochemical properties and structure descriptions of phthalic acid ester compounds. The models constructed have good robustness and highly predictive capability.

Properties of Ceramic Fiber and Ceramic Shot in Wet-laid Processes

The paper deals with the different sinking properties of ceramic fiber and the ceramic shot in wetlaid nonwoven processes. The difference between the sinking properties of the fiber and the shot is very great according to theory analysis and the test. From results of calculating and practical testing, the method of removing ceramic shots during manufacturing is put forward.

Prediction of the residual strength of clay using functional networks

Landslides are common natural hazards occurring in most parts of the world and have considerable adverse economic effects. Residual shear strength of clay is one of the most important factors in the determination of stability of slopes or landslides. This effect is more pronounced in sensitive clays which show large changes in shear strength from peak to residual states. This study analyses the prediction of the residual strength of clay based on a new prediction model, functional networks（FN） using data available in the literature. The performance of FN was compared with support vector machine（SVM） and artificial neural network（ANN） based on statistical parameters like correlation coefficient（R）, Nash–Sutcliff coefficient of efficiency（E）, absolute average error（AAE）, maximum average error（MAE） and root mean square error（RMSE）. Based on R and E parameters, FN is found to be a better prediction tool than ANN for the given data. However, the R and E values for FN are less than SVM. A prediction equation is presented that can be used by practicing geotechnical engineers. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to ascertain the importance of various inputs in the prediction of the output.

Investigation into engineering parameters of marls from Seydoon dam in Iran

The quality of designed structures embedded in rocks is strongly related to rock strength parameters of intact rock.Measuring different parameters from tests could be very expensive in designing phase of projects.Estimating some parameters from other ones can reduce costs and time of project procedure.In this paper,the relationships between static and dynamic parameters of marls are studied by using the single and multiple linear regressions.For this purpose,several marl core samples from Seydoon region,Khoozestan Province in Iran are collected and tested.Some equations with sufficient correlation have been obtained to predict the engineering parameters of marls,especially the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS).

Plasmonic gold nanoshell induced spectral effects and refractive index sensing properties of excessively tilted fiber grating

We demonstrate a fiber refractive index（RI） sensor based on an excessively tilted fiber grating（ExTFG）immobilized by large-size plasmonic gold nanoshells（GNSs）. The GNSs are covalently linked on ExTFG surface.Experimental results demonstrate that both the intensity of the transverse magnetic（TM） and transverse electric（TE） modes of ExTFG are significantly modulated by the localized surface plasmon resonance（LSPR） of GNSs due to the wide-range absorption band. The wavelength RI sensitivities of the TM and TE modes in the low RI range of 1.333–1.379 are improved by ～25% and ～14% after GNSs immobilization, respectively, and the intensity RI sensitivities are ～599%/RIU and ～486%/RIU, respectively.

Experimental far-field imaging properties of high refractive index microsphere lens

The far-field imaging properties of a high index microsphere lens spatially separated from the object are experimentally studied. Our experimental results show that, for a Blu-ray disk whose spacing is 300 nm, the high index microsphere lens also can discern the patterns of the object sample when the distance between the lens and the object is up to 5.4 μm. When the distance is increased from 0 to 5.4 μm, for the microsphere lens with a diameter of 24 μm, the lateral magnification increases from 3.5× to 5.5×, while the field of view decreases from 5.1 to 3.0 μm. By varying the distance between the lens and the object, the optical image can be optimized. We also indicate that the far-field imaging capability of a high index microsphere lens is dependent on the electromagnetic field intensityprofile of the photonic nanojet under different positions of the microsphere lens.

Research on strong earthquake type division and forecast method for subsequent strong earthquakes

The relationships between energy, amplitude and frequency of eanhquake are correlative with the property of the seismic source. And the grade of the correlativity can be used as an index to distinguish the types of strong earth quakes. Primarily the strong earthquake can be divided into three types of main-after earthquakes, double-main earthquakes and swarm of strong earthquake. There are similarity and a certain repeatability at the quantificational indexes of hypocenter property between the same type of strong earthquakes, which supply basis for the forecast of subsequent strong shocks. The reference indexes of after strong shock forecast which are valuable for the applica tions of the method of type-divided forecast come from the analysis about more than fifty strong shock wide-band (BPZ wave) recording data of CDSN from 1988 to 1997.

Compositional Features of Fine Sediments Involved in the Montescaglioso Landslide(Southern Italy)

This paper presents the multidisciplinary study of the southern Italy Plio-Pleistocene sediments involved in the large Montescaglioso Landslide.The principal aim of the work is to assess the compositional characters(i.e.,grain-size,mineralogy,petrography and geochemistry)and some rheological features(Atterberg’s limits,plasticity index and activity)of these sediments to enrich our knowledge about the Montescaglioso fine sediments and correlation among the lithological properties studied.Two types of sediments,from a deep geognostic borehole and from the surrounding landslide area,were collected and analysed.No significant compositional differences have been found between the core and landslide area sediments.Conversely,some changes have been detected in sediments along the core.Particularly,the-15 to-20 m lithostratigraphic level hosts the highest percentages of phyllosilicates and clay fraction(CF),commonly considered as possible hazard factors for the landslide triggering.Further more,in the studied core sediments,the CF contents correlate with the Atterberg’s liquid and plastic limits and a CF value of about 38%was suggested as threshold value for the changing of index properties of sediments.Other factors,such as the weathering degree and clay mineral type,do not show significant correlations with the rheological properties of sediments here studied.