bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Economic Analysis of Satellite-Based CNS/ATM Application in Iranian Air Transportation
Authors: Golmohammadi Faramarz  , Mehdizadeh Dastjerdi Aliasghar
Published: February 2025

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has developed the operational concepts known as satellite-based CNS/ATM to improve aviation communication, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management. However, switching from land-based CNS/ATM to the satellite-based imposes a significant budget on the states, airlines, stakeholders etc. which acts as a barrier. To date, in spite of the special attention on replacing the current CNS/ATM systems no concrete action has been taken in many ICAO member countries. Driving forces behind it are economic considerations. In other words, the states do not have a clear outlook for the economic benefits of the new systems. Therefore, it has been questioned whether replacing existing systems has an economic justification or not. In this regard, conducting an economic analysis contributes to ascertain the possible economic impact of the measure and explore the financial efficiency of the new systems. Correspondinglyin this study NPV methodcost/benefit analysis are used to evaluate the implementation of satellite-base CNS/ATM in the case of Iranian air transport.
Comparing Argument Diagrams
Authors: Lynch Collin  , Ashley Kevin  , Falakmasir Mohammad Hassan
Published: February 2025

Argumentation is central to law. Written and oral argument structures, however, are often difficult to analyze and employ in instruction. Diagrammatic models of argument offer a potential solution to these problems. In this paper we report on the results of an empirical study into the diagnostic utility of argument diagrams in a legal writing context. The focus is on comparing experts' and student-produced argument diagrams and on the extent to which the latter can be used to predict students' performance on subsequent writing tasks. We present the results and draw some tentative conclusions.
Selection of parameters – Discussion Session 2.1
Authors: Simpson B.
Published: February 2025

The paper presents a report of Discussion Session 2.1. The session included 18 very diverse papers, which are briefly summarised here, many of them considering either the strength or stiffness of hard soils or weak rocks. The materials considered differ greatly and the data are rarely compared with other published information, which could have been informative and is strongly recommended. Some papers attempt to make comparisons, with some success, with classical soil mechanics formulations such as critical state approaches and the relationship of structured materials to the normal compression line obtained when the material is de-structured. For measurement of strength, it is critically important to know the degree of saturation of the material, and whether the tests are carried out slowly enough to ensure drainage; this is not always clear and may be a particularly difficult in in situ tests on very stiff materials. Three papers present statistical approaches related to use of Eurocode 7. The need to consider the extent of the zone of ground affecting the occurrence of the limit state is emphasised, rather than merely the statistics of small specimens under test; autocorrelation lengths, discussed in one paper, are also relevant to this.
What learning outcomes can be achieved by incorporating case histories in geotechnical courses?
Authors: Orr T.L.L.
Published: February 2025

The use and benefits of incorporating case histories in geotechnical courses is examined, particularly with regard to the learning outcomes that can be achieved. The emphasis that has been placed in Europe in recent years on the learning outcomes to be achieved from courses under the Bologna Process is explained. The Soil Mechanics, Geotechnical and Geotechnical Design Triangles are introduced to show the importance of experience and judgement in soil mechanics and geotechnical design. The important role that case histories serve in geotechnical courses by providing students with experience and enabling them to develop the important faculty of judgement is explained. Case histories also serve to demonstrate the relevance and application of the concepts introduced in geotechnical courses and in this way to increase students' interest in geotechnics and motivate them. The different sources of case histories are listed. The following examples of case histories are presented: the Transcoma elevator, the Vaiont dam disaster, the Nicoll Highway and the Tower of Pisa. The paper concludes with a summary of the learning outcomes that can be achieved by including case histories in geotechnical courses.
Ensemble methods for large scale inverse problems
Authors: Heemink Arnold W.  , Altaf M. Umer  , Barbu Alina L.  , Verlaan Martin
Published: February 2025

Variational data assimilation, also sometimes simply called the ‘adjoint method’, is used very often for large scale model calibration problems. Using the available data, the uncertain parameters in the model are identified by minimizing a certain cost function that measures the difference between the model results and the data. A variational scheme requires the implementation of the adjoint of (the tangent linear approximation of) the original model which is a tremendous programming effort, that hampers new applications of the method. Recently a new ensemble approach to variational inverse modelling using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) model reduction has been proposed that does not require the implementation of the adjoint model. Using an ensemble of forward model simulations an approximation of the covariance matrix of the model variability is determined. A limited number of leading eigenvectors of this matrix are selected to define a model sub space. By projecting the original model onto this subspace an approximate linear model is obtained. Once this reduced model is available the minimization process can be solved completely in reduced space with negligible computational costs.
COMFy – A Conference Management Framework
Authors: Caldera Christian  , Berndt René  , Fellner Dieter W.
Published: February 2025

Organizing the peer review process for a scientific conference can be a cumbersome task. Electronic conference management systems support chairs and reviewers in managing the huge amount of submissions. These system implement the complete work-flow of a scientific conference. We present a new approach to such systems. By providing an open API framework instead of a closed system it enables external programs to harvest and to utilize open information sources available on the internet today.
DMU Management – Product Structure and Master Geometry Correlation
Authors: Şenaltun Gülden  , Cangelir Can
Published: February 2025

One of the main principles of Concurrent Engineering is accessing the up to date design information at any moment. 3D models are the basic design information for today's industry. To work with 3D models by different departments concurrently, every model should be managed as positioned in 3D space relative to other models. This brings the term of Digital Mock-Up (DMU), digital design of the product to be developed. In order to use DMU effectively, design data should be managed in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools by the help of Product Structure. In addition to that, 3D modeling rules are also important parameters to have effective DMU. Therefore, these rules should be set and every model should be created according to these rules.
Beating the bookie: A look at statistical models for prediction of football matches
Authors: Langseth Helge
Published: February 2025

In this paper we look at statistical models for predicting the outcome of football matches in a league. That is, our aim is to find a statistical model which, based on the game-history so far in a season, can predict the outcome of next round's matches. Many such models exist, but we are not aware of a thorough comparison of the models' merits as betting models. In this paper we look at some classical models, extract their key ingredients, and use those as a basis to propose a new model. The different models are compared by simulating bets being made on matches in the English Premier League.
LKIF in Commercial Legal Practice: Transaction Configuration from Eurobonds to Copyright
Authors: Conetta Orlando  , Schafer Burkhard
Published: February 2025

This paper shall present a new theory called Transaction Configuration that describes the main task common to contract lawyers in the performance of their work, and was developed in the course of a case study at a magic circle law firm in the City of London. It will be shown how Transaction Configuration provides a practical context for legal normative assessment, as applied with LKIF, and legal reasoning systems in commercial law firms.
Havana's Experience with Participatory Design: Towards a New Method for Controlling Self-help Housing
Authors: Valladares Arturo
Published: February 2025

During the 1990s, the most widely used participatory design method in the world emerged in the context of a severe economic crisis in the Republic of Cuba. Today more than 1,000 community architects practice the participatory design method in almost all of the municipalities on the island. The guiding principle of this method is to provide self-help builders with some technical assistance in their efforts to construct their own houses. During the process families become aware of their spatial needs and are helped to create a unique design. This paper traces how the practice of participatory design has been adapted to the regulatory context of Old Havana, a world heritage site and a high density area. Key findings are that, contrary to what one would expect, the introduction of participatory design does not hinder the application of the regulations; rather, it enhances them by providing a linkage between self-builders and the regulatory framework. Further, we elaborate on the capacity of the Cuban model for diminishing informality and leading to a more ‘organised’ self-help production of the built environment.
Forecasting Insolvency of Brazilian Publicly Traded Companies
Authors: Dos Santos Átila P.  , Dos Santos Sandra I.F.  , Do Prado Hércules A.  , Ferneda Edilson
Published: February 2025

Qualified information is a fundamental asset in the decision making process, particularly when high financial resources are involved. For example, anticipated detection of company bankruptcy, for sure, will help both the investor interested in the company as their managers. The challenge of exploring the huge amount of data to consider in such analysis can benefit from adequate data mining tools. A comparative analysis of classification algorithms for this kind of application is presented in order to find a better predictive performance. The experiments were performed on data from publicly traded companies registered in the São Paulo Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange (Bovespa) that appeared at least twice from 1996 to 2010. Moreover, some experiments were carried out with the set of candidate attributes, in this case financial ratios and ledger accounts that could better explain the target variable. The better results were found with a committee of classifiers using both financial ratios and ledger accounts, although, the ledger accounts alone presented a higher prediction power than financial ratios.
Parameterising the Complexity of Planning by the Number of Paths in the Domain-transition Graphs
Authors: Bäckström Christer
Published: February 2025

We apply the theory of parameterised complexity to planning, using the concept of fixed-parameter tractability (fpt) which is more relaxed than the usual tractability concept. The parameter we focus on is the maximal number of paths in the domain-transition graphs, and we show that for this parameter, optimal planning is fpt for planning instances with polytree causal graphs and acyclic domain-transition graphs. If this parameter is combined with the additional parameters of domain size for the variables and the treewidth of the causal graph, then planning is fpt also for instances with arbitrary causal graphs. Furthermore, all these parameters are fpt to test in advance. These results also imply that delete-relaxed planning is fpt, even in its recent generalisation to non-binary variables.
Language Classification of Hierarchical Planning Problems
Authors: Höller Daniel  , Behnke Gregor  , Bercher Pascal  , Biundo Susanne
Published: February 2025

Theoretical results on HTN planning are mostly related to the plan existence problem. In this paper, we study the structure of the generated plans in terms of the language they produce. We show that such languages are always context-sensitive. Furthermore we identify certain subclasses of HTN planning problems which generate either regular or context-free languages. Most importantly we have discovered that HTN planning problems, where preconditions and effects are omitted, constitute a new class of languages that lies strictly between the context-free and context-sensitive languages.
Lakatos Games for Mathematical Argument
Authors: Pease Alison  , Budzynska Katarzyna  , Lawrence John  , Reed Chris
Published: February 2025

We present a dialogue game representation of Lakatos's theory of justification and discovery in mathematics and describe our implementation of the game. As well as demonstrating a new domain for dialogue games, this could provide the basis for systems which can be used to aid mathematicians in their work.
Methods for flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete elements using steel plates
Authors: Olajumoke Akinropo Musiliu  , Dundu Morgan
Published: February 2025

When reinforced concrete elements are incapable of safely sustaining the anticipated load, flexural strengthening may be necessary. Two major construction methods have been reported in literature for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) elements in bending. These methods include Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) and Near Surface Mounting (NSM). The aim of this paper is review these methods, including the extensive surface preparation that must be performed on bonded elements. Previous investigations have shown that these techniques are effective in salvaging old and distressed reinforced concrete structures. This paper identifies the problems associated with the utilisation of steel plates as strengthening material for RC elements in EBR and NSM techniques.
Parameter identification for supports and cracks in beams with non-classical boundary conditions
Authors: Feklistova Ljubov  , Hein Helle
Published: February 2025

This article addresses parameter identification problem in vibrating Euler-Bernoulli beams with an open crack or elastic intermediate supports. The crack is simulated by a line spring model. The boundary value problem is solved by the aid of Haar wavelets. The characteristic parameters are predicted using the artificial neural networks. Two different approaches based on natural frequencies and Haar wavelets are compared. The significance of the second approach lies in its ability to make fast and trustworthy predictions on the selected parameters.
Study of properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete for possible applications in Pakistan
Authors: Khan Asad-ur-Rehman  , Zahra Tatheer
Published: February 2025

Steel fibers have been used worldwide to enhance properties of concrete but have not yet gained popularity in Pakistan. An experimental study was conducted to study the mechanical properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete that would lead to recommendation for possible use in Pakistan. Steel fibers conforming to recommendations of ACI Committee 544 were used with cement, sand and silica fume to cast samples for testing. Coarse aggregates were not used in order to compare the properties with famous Ultra High Performance ductile Concrete (UHPdC). Three different mixes were made with 2.5%, 5% and 8% of steel fibers by total weight of batch mix. Water cement ratio was kept as low as 0.25 to obtain high strength. Super plasticizer was added to increase workability. Reduction in flowability of concrete was observed with increasing percentage of fibers. Compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths were defined by testing standard cylinders and beams made up of different mixes of SFRC. Highest compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths were observed for steel fiber content of 8% followed by 5% and then 2.5% fiber contents as expected. Achieved compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths were much higher than the conventional concrete strengths used in Pakistan. Results of the study indicate that SFRC has the potential to be used in Pakistan in structures where high strength and is desired. Durability aspects of SFRC have to be looked into before it can be used in structures exposed to aggressive environments or located in coastal areas.
Foam geopolymers: state of the art and preliminary experimental results
Authors: Abdollahnejad Zahra  , Torgal F. Pacheco  , De Aguiar J.L. Barroso
Published: February 2025

Buildings are responsible for more than 40% of the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Thus increasing building energy efficiency is the most cost effective way to reduce emissions. The use of thermal insulation materials constitutes the most effective way of reducing heat losses in buildings thus reducing heat energy needs. These materials have a thermal conductivity factor, k (W/m.K) lower than 0.065 while other insulation materials like for instance aerated concrete can go up to 0.11. Current insulation materials are associated with negative impacts in terms of toxicity. Polystyrene, for example contains anti-oxidant additives and ignition retardants, additionally, its production involves the generation of benzene and chlorofluorocarbons. Polyurethane is obtained from isocyanates, which are widely known for their tragic association with the Bhopal disaster. Besides current insulation materials releases toxic fumes when subjected to fire. This paper reviews literature on foam geopolymers that could constitute a lower toxicity alternative to current commercial insulator. Current methods use foaming agents (blowing agents) such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), sodium perborate (NaBO3), silica fume, powder alumina. Results of an experimental research on foam hybrid alkaline cements are reported.
Mechanical properties and microscopic structure of cement based materials with very low water-cement ratio
Authors: Lin Xiqiang  , Song Zhongnan  , Zhang Tao  , Huo Liang
Published: February 2025

The sealing anchor mortar is a special cement-based engineered material with water-cement ratio (W/C) less than 0.18 and early (1 day) compressive strength greater than 40 MPa. It used high frequency shock pressure molding prepared mortar material with W/C of 0.09-0.18 and pure cement as the gelling material. Among them, the early (1 day) compressive strength of the mortar with W/C of 0.13 and 0.18 being more than 65MPa, and a high late (56 days) strength of 102.4MPa. SEM analysis showed when the W/C was 0.09, only the surface of the cement particles with early hydration (3 days) was hydrated, appearing a loose form and failed to stick together as a whole. The material with W/C of 0.13 and 0.18 produced more C-S-H gel phase and the overall cement particles cemented together whose microstructure was compact and uniform. Unhydrated cement particles mainly played the role of filling and micro-aggregates in the material.
Extracting Legal Arguments from Forensic Bayesian Networks
Authors: Timmer Sjoerd T.  , Meyer John-Jules Ch.  , Prakken Henry  , Renooij Silja  , Verheij Bart
Published: February 2025

Recent developments in the forensic sciences have confronted the field of legal reasoning with the new challenge of reasoning under uncertainty. Forensic results come with uncertainty and are described in terms of likelihood ratios and random match probabilities. The legal field is unfamiliar with numerical valuations of evidence, which has led to confusion and in some cases to serious miscarriages of justice. The cases of Lucia de B. in the Netherlands and Sally Clark in the UK are infamous examples where probabilistic reasoning has gone wrong with dramatic consequences. One way of structuring probabilistic information is in Bayesian networks (BNs). In this paper we explore a new method to identify legal arguments in forensic BNs. This establishes a formal connection between probabilistic and argumentative reasoning. Developing such a method is ultimately aimed at supporting legal experts in their decision making process.
(How) Can Robots Make Commitments? A Pragmatic Approach
Authors: Michael John  , Salice Alessandro
Published: February 2025

Commitment is a fundamental building block of social reality. In particular, commitments seem to play a fundamental role in human social interaction. In this paper, we discuss the possibility of designing robots that engage in commitments, are motivated to honor commitments, and expect others also to be so motivated. We identify several challenges that such a project would likely confront, and consider possibilities for meeting these challenges.
Moral Competence in Robots?
Authors: Malle Bertram F.
Published: February 2025

I start with the premise that any social robot must have moral competence. I offer a framework for what moral competence is and sketch the prospects for it to be developed in artificial agents. After considering three proposals for requirements of “moral agency” I propose instead to examine moral competence as a broader set of capacities. I posit that human moral competence consists of five components and that a social robot should ideally instantiate all of them: (1) A system of norms; (2) a moral vocabulary; (3) moral cognition and affect; (4) moral decision making and action; and (5) moral communication.
Micro-grid Design Modeling and Prototyping
Authors: Chao Hung-Lin  , Hsiung Pao-Ann
Published: February 2025

Smart grid is one of solutions of global warming and shortages of energy, which is an important issue that the world is facing seriously in the last decade. The governments devote to developed and researched green resources technologies to mitigate the effects of those problems. A smart grid is composed of numerous Micro Grids, each micro grid allows the integration of distributed renewable energy resources into the conventional electricity distribution power grid such that the goals of reduction in power cost and in environment pollution can be met through an intelligent and efficient matching between power generators and power loads. However, renewable energy resources are hard to provide a reliable power supply between micro grids. In this case, renewable energy is difficult to fair distribute to all micro grids. In this paper, we propose a multi-agent system based smart grid framework, which not only provides a fair energy allocation mechanism for micro grids, but also implemented a simulation environment for real smart grid operation. We adopted the Java Agent DEvelopment Framework (JADE) to simulate the multi-agent based micro grids, and use Matlab/Simulink simulation platform for design and implement power generators and power loads.
Efficiently tracking TANET suspicious packets and identifying the devices using Splunk
Authors: Chien Hung-Yu  , Chiang Meng-Yuan  , Hsin Yi-Ting  , Hung Chun-Pei
Published: February 2025

Information security is a vital issue. Many suspicious attacking traits and proofs are kept in various system logs. Therefore, filtering and identifying these traits and proofs in these logs is critical. However, it is a big challenge for system managers to handle these distributed raw data. Conventionally, they need to browse and filter these data cross devices, platforms and different formats; it is very time-and-labor consuming and error-prone. To solve the issue, we adopt Splunk which provides flexible and scalable architecture to fit various organization architectures and has powerful but easy-to-learn search language to identify key information in big data. This paper discusses our case study of applying Splunk on solving a classical TANET security problem-tracing suspicious TANET packets and locating the devices. Contrary to conventional approach, our approach is more efficient and robust. It not only saves lots of manpower cost but also greatly improves productivity.
Using EPUB 3 and the Open Web Platform for Enhanced Presentation and Machine-Understandable Metadata for Digital Comics
Authors: Heyvaert Pieter  , De Nies Tom  , Van Herwegen Joachim  , Vander Sande Miel  , Verborgh Ruben  , De Neve Wesley  , Mannens Erik  , Van de Walle Rik
Published: February 2025

Various methods are needed to extract information from current (digital) comics. Furthermore, the use of different (proprietary) formats by comic distribution platforms causes an overhead for authors. To overcome these issues, we propose a solution that makes use of the EPUB 3 specification, additionally leveraging the Open Web Platform to support animations, reading assistance, audio and multiple languages in a single format, by using our JavaScript library comicreader.js. We also provide administrative and descriptive metadata in the same format by introducing a new ontology: Dicera. Our solution is complementary to the current extraction methods, on the one hand because they can help with metadata creation, and on the other hand because the machine-understandable metadata alleviates their use. While the reading system support for our solution is currently limited, it can offer all features needed by current comic distribution platforms. When comparing comics generated by our solution to EPUB 3 textbooks, we observed an increase in file size, mainly due to the use of images. In future work, our solution can be further improved by extending the presentation features, investigating different types of comics, studying the use of new EPUB 3 extensions, and by incorporating it in digital book authoring environments.
Using GeoRM to Communicate Geotechnical Risks Between Engineers and Managers
Authors: Vervoorn R.R.E.  , Dekker H.R.E.
Published: February 2025

Rijkswaterstaat has recently stated that the use of GeoRM is obligatory for projects with major geotechnical risks. Underground construction of freeway's in high-profile areas, such as the business district Zuidas in Amsterdam or railway links in densely populated areas, always introduce major geotechnical risks. It is not uncommon for these locations to have all the facets that require strong geotechnical risk management: underground construction occurs adjacent to high-rise structures, locations have a very busy surface area, there are financially dependent stake-holders and concerns prevail after issues on earlier projects.
Non-intrusive Reliability Analysis of Multi-layered Slopes in Spatially Variable Soils
Authors: Xiao Te  , Li Dianqing  , Cao Zijun  , Tang Xiaosong
Published: February 2025

Stochastic finite element method and random finite element method can provide rigorous tools for slope reliability analysis incorporating spatial variability of soil properties. However, both of them are difficult to be applied into practice due to the modification of finite-element codes and the low efficiency, respectively. To address these problems, this paper develops a more practical approach called non-intrusive stochastic finite element method (NISFEM) for slope reliability analysis in spatially variable soils. In the NISFEM, the random fields of spatially variable soils are generated using Karhunen-Loeve expansion, and the safety factor of slope stability is calculated using commercial finite-element package. After that, the Hermite polynomial chaos expansion is used to express the safety factor explicitly for slope reliability analysis. In addition, this paper suggests an easy dimension reduction technique to further improve the efficiency of NISFEM, namely, to adopt a relatively small truncated ratio in Karhunen-Loeve expansion. The proposed method is illustrated and verified using a multi-layered soil slope example. Through the sensitivity study, it is found that the vertical spatial variability affects the slope failure probability and the sensitivity of uncertain soil properties significantly.
Accounting for Uncertainty and Variability in Geotechnical Characterization of Offshore Sites
Authors: Nadim Farrokh
Published: February 2025

This paper presents an overview on how uncertainty and variability of mechanical soil properties are dealt with in offshore site investigation and presents some ideas for utilizing the reliability tools in a more optimal manner for this purpose. Two types of problems are addressed. First, how to extract the maximum amount of information from geotechnical site investigation, which is often constrained by high costs. Second, how to establish characteristic or representative soil properties for design while taking into account the uncertainties caused by the natural variability of soil properties and the interpretation of the in situ and laboratory tests.
A Consideration on Deterioration Model for Cold Region Tunnel Lining Based on Life-cycle Concept
Authors: Sutoh Atsushi  , Maruyama Osamu  , Kanakiyo Hiroaki T.  , Sato Takashi
Published: February 2025

This paper proposes the tunnel lining deterioration model which is based upon actual inspection data in order to carry out strategic maintenance and to rationalize life cycle cost analysis for tunnel structures. The evaluation value of deteriorating tunnel structures is a non-stationary stochastic process, and reliability problems of such structures are needed to the consideration of the future risk. In Japan, the probability that an earthquake occurs is high compared with other countries. A risk analysis of seismic motion and technical components as well as damages associated with cost variables have to be dealt with. The model of the tunnel management system presented in the paper is applied to the asset management of the cold region road tunnels. This research will be developed to the efficient tunnel maintenance system and a quantitative criterion from pictures of tunnel lining using the life cycle cost analysis. And also, in order to describe the deterioration model of the life cycle assessment is needed to consider the large-scale earthquake phenomena in Japan.
A Proposal for Some Modifications of EN 1997-1 Design Approaches
Authors: Länsivaara Tim  , Knuuti Mika
Published: February 2025

All Eurocodes are currently under a critical review, while the work for a second generation of codes are about to start in 2015. For the geotechnical design EN 1997-1 is facing high demands for harmonization and simplification of the present code. The paper presents some proposals for improving the code regarding ultimate limit state (ULS) design. The goal is to make the code better in accounting for uncertainties involved in the design and possible consequences of an ultimate limit state. When applying a material factor approach (MFA), the partial safety factors are suggested to depend on both the uncertainty of the material and the consequence of failure. Such an approach is well suited for slope stability analysis. However, the authors suggest that also the uncertainties involved with loads should be placed on the material factors. For retaining wall design and load factor approach (LFA) is suggested in addition to MFA similar to present Design Approach (DA) 1 in the Eurocode. This approach gave the most consistent design for all cases in a comprehensive study preformed. Some modifications are though suggested also for DA1 to make the design simpler and even more consistent.
Evaluation Settlement models Test Embankments Bloemendalerpolder – GeoImpuls Program
Authors: Hoefsloot F.J.M.
Published: February 2025

In the Bloemendalerpolder two test embankments were constructed, starting October 2010, to study the long term behavior of embankments on very soft soils with respect to settlement and lateral pile loading resulting from horizontal soil deformations. A detailed description of the test embankments, performed soil investigation, laboratory tests and instrumentation is given in an accompanying paper. This paper provides a brief description of both test embankments consisting of sand fill with a height of 3.0 m and a plan area 26 x 36 m2with slopes 1:2. At the embankment overlying 5.7 m of clay/peat, wick drains are installed at a triangular spacing of 1.0 m. The second embankment overlying 4.0 m of clay/peat is not provided with any additional drainage accelerating measures. From the laboratory tests settlement parameters were derived for three settlement models; Koppejan-Terzaghi-Buisman, NEN-Bjerrum isotache model and the a,b,c-isotache model. Additionally parameters for Terzaghi and Darcy consolidation models were derived as well: consolidation coefficient, permeability and strain dependent permeability strain factor. Based on applied field loading increments predictions were made. Test results of both embankments will be shown including predictions. Because of the limited dimensions of the test embankments a correction of the monitoring results is applied to match one-dimensional conditions. Based on the measurements a fit of input parameters for all models have been generated matching the settlement of both embankments. Based on these results recommendations are given for application of the models for the site preparation in the Bloemendalerpolder. Researchers, however, are invited to analyse the data to develop more general settlement models for such very soft soils.
Reliability of Percussion Drilling as a Mean to Define Rock Surface
Authors: Tanttu Kimmo  , Korkiala-Tanttu Leena  , Häkkinen Ilona  , Liukas Juha
Published: February 2025

In Finnish ground investigation methods percussion drilling has an important role as a mean to define the rock surface. Ground conditions in Finland vary a lot, however, it is quite common that the soil layers are relatively thin and the rock surface lies in around 3...5 meters depth. Besides that the rock is usually very hard, so it has to be blasted away in many cases. Not only is blasting much more expensive than excavation, the level of rock also often determines the foundation depth and the design solutions. Therefore, the knowledge of rock surface is essential before construction work starts. Based on the pointwise ground investigations, like percussion drillings and measurements, the rock surface is normally modeled as three dimensional soil surface in design programs, where the surface geometry is described as triangulated irregular network (TIN). Geotechnical solutions, and the calculation of costs and quantities are often based on this model and thus, it should be as accurate as possible. The aim of this study is to analyze how reliably the rock surface can be modeled with percussion drillings, and also how the density of drillings affects the reliability. The study will be based on the statistical data from four Finnish construction sites, situating in different parts of Finland. Monte Carlo method is implemented in the statistical studies to define the effect of the amount of drillings. The goal is to determine proper drilling densities for different situations. The analysis includes the measurement errors and variability of the ground conditions. The results are studied in terms of relative volume differences, which is useful indicator in quantity calculations. Based on the results, percussion drilling grid density of about 15 m x 15 m provides a sufficient estimate of rock surface profile in most cases. If more accurate results are needed, drilling density should be adopted appropriately.
Bayes Factors and the Observational Method
Authors: Baecher Gregory B.  , Christian John T.
Published: February 2025

The statistics course most engineers took in college—seldom more than one—introduced them to a particular species of statistics, which, regrettably, is of limited use in geotechnical practice: frequentist sampling theory. That species of statistical thinking arose to address problems of agricultural experimentation, biology, and economics. It is mostly applicable to narrow domains in medical trials, political polls, and the like, where carefully planned experiments lead to large databases and p-value tests of hypotheses. These are not the problems facing the geotechnical engineer. He or she faces extremely limited numbers of observations (maybe only one), measurements of differing types and quality, a blend of qualitative and quantitative information, and a need to make sequential decisions as data arrive.
Grasping the Heterogeneity of the Subsurface: Using Buildup Scenarios for Assessing Flood Risk
Authors: Hijma Marc  , van der Meij Raymond  , Lam Kin Sun
Published: February 2025

The subsurface plays an important role when assessing flood risk and its build up has to be known in considerable detail to properly determine the chance of flood-protection failure. Currently, the subsurface below flood-protections is often characterized by geotechnical cross sections that are constructed using e.g. cone penetration tests (CPTs). In most cases, however, the available density of information is insufficient to account for the relevant heterogeneity of the subsurface. By ignoring this it is possible that buildups that have a negative impact on flood risk are missed and the strength of the flood protection is overestimated. In addition, due to the uncertainty about the buildup of the subsurface, the assessment criteria have to be conservative meaning that parts of flood protections will be assessed ‘unsafe’ unnecessarily. The existing uncertainty can be reduced significantly by incorporating additional, geological knowledge that exists about the general principles behind the buildup of the subsurface and to use both this knowledge and the measurements to make stochastic schematizations using subsurface buildup scenarios. The latter consist of a set of alternative buildup scenarios that characterize the subsurface in a certain segment. Each scenario has its own probability of encountering and is made up of stacked units that are described in terms of their geotechnical properties. The scenarios can be used in probabilistic assessments. The approach is flexible, meaning that scenarios can be easily expanded and adapted to incorporate additional data or information on the subsurface.
Generation Of 3D Soil/Asphalt Porosity Patterns For Numerical Modelling
Authors: Chiarelli Andrea  , Dawson Andrew R.  , Garcia Alvaro
Published: February 2025

The aim of this paper is the creation of 3D porosity patterns from virtual models of granular soil or asphalt with controlled characteristics, namely air voids content and voids size. 3D soil/asphalt models are generated by combining 2D planes of virtual particles that are converted to 3D and stacked to obtain a multi-layered structure that can represent effectively real samples. The virtual samples are generated with an algorithm that places and grows particles randomly inside a 2D domain of chosen shape and size. The particles can be circles or ellipses, and they are grown based on the biological concept of contact inhibition, thus, they stop growing as soon as they touch each other. The convergence of the algorithm is based on the planar air voids content, which is used as the target of each simulation. Since the method is based on the randomization of all the parameters of interest, it is possible to create a virtually infinite number of different 3D slabs of arbitrary thickness from any number of 2D randomized layers. In the 3D soil/asphalt models there exists a portion of space that is not occupied by particles and can be considered as the void network seen in real samples. The virtual porosity patterns are generated with a sampling method that is able to find the empty space in any previously-generated 3D soil/asphalt domain. The 3D representations of the voids are meant to recreate the porous channels seen in real specimens in order to allow their use for numerical simulations, e.g. for the analysis of permeability or for the study of thermal convection phenomena. The comparison between the distribution of virtual voids and real void data from X-ray CT scans is performed. Using a statistical method to exclude the outliers in the analysis of data, it is shown that the pore size distribution of virtual specimens is very similar to that of real ones, thus, confirming the validity of the approach.
Prediction Of Seismic Response And Damage Mitigation For Pile-Supported Wharf Structures
Authors: Panagiotidou Andriani I.  , Vytiniotis Antonios  , Whittle Andrew J.
Published: February 2025

Many ports in the US are located in areas of high seismicity and remain vulnerable to damage from large earthquake events. Waterfront structures such as pile-supported wharves are particularly vulnerable to damage associated with lateral spreading of the underlying loose soil fills. This paper describes results of analyses to understand the performance of a typical pile-supported wharf and the effectiveness of mitigation measures. The analyses use a sub-structuring approach in which the ‘free-field’ response of the soil fill is simulated using finite element analyses that are able to represent the complex non-linear stress-strain properties of sands under seismic loading using the model proposed by Dafalias and Manzari (DM, 2004). Ground deformations and excess pore water pressures are then treated as boundary conditions in modeling the response of the pile-supported wharf structure, using a macro-element proposed by Varun and Assimaki (2012) to represent local soil-structure interaction. The paper presents the performance of the pile-supported wharf for a suite of 56 ground motions, and highlights the occurrence of deep-seated failure mechanisms in the supporting rows of piles. The effects of lateral spreading in the soil fill can be addressed by installing full-depth Pre-fabricated Vertical (PV) drains at locations behind the crest of the fill. Analyses with this mitigation system show that structural damage is limited to the pile-deck connections enabling much simpler designs for structural retrofitting
Caracterización de Suelos Granulares Gruesos
Authors: Quiroga Gabriel Pérez  , Cánchero Joaquín
Published: February 2025

En el proyecto minero El Pachón, ubicado en la cordillera de los Andes San Juan, perteneciente a la compañía minera Glencore, se ejecutaron ensayos in situ y en laboratorio que permitieron caracterizar los suelos gravosos del sector de implantación de la planta concentradora de la futura mina. En este trabajo se presentarán los resultados de ensayos triaxiales en probetas de diámetro mayor al tradicional ejecutados en la Universidad Nacional de San Juan que permitieron caracterizar y escalar las propiedades resistentes de los suelos presentes en el sitio. La planta concentradora se ha ubicado sobre un gran depósito glaciar de material granular grueso compuesto por gravas y arenas con finos arcillosos de baja plasticidad, con bloques y bolones que alcanzan hasta 16". Dada la gran presencia de partículas de gran tamaño es que se ha observado que los ensayos estándares para obtener parámetros de resistencia y deformación no son escalables a las condiciones reales de terreno.
Juan Manuel de Rosas Water Treatment Plant. Design and Dynamic Testing of Precast Piles
Authors: Vardé Oscar A.  , Aradas Rodolfo  , Guidobono Rodolfo E.
Published: February 2025

In order to supply drinking water to the northern area of Buenos Aires, AySA, the local water and sewer public company, awarded the contract to build the North Potable Water Treatment System to the joint venture Aguas del Paraná. The project comprises a fluvial water intake on the Paraná de las Palmas river, a 15 km long tunnel, a water treatment plant and 48 km distribution pipelines. The main structures of the plant were founded on precast piles driven to dense silty sands and sands. A thorough analysis was carried out in order to develop a systematic approach for assessing pile capacity at given depths, acceptability of pile hammers and overall acceptance criteria. This paper contains the description of the analysis carried out to support this work, the comparison between the static and dynamic load tests, and the evaluation of the setup based on CAPWAP analysis of the results obtained from the pile driving analyzer (PDA) system.
Evaluation of structural indices inferred from nondestructive deflection tests on pavements
Authors: Beltran Gloria  , Romo Miguel
Published: February 2025

Based on measured responses of pavements to impact deflection tests, it is possible to estimate both layer moduli and some additional indices of empirical nature, proposed as stiffness classifiers of pavement. It was found that pavement systems with different features and diverse deflection responses, could lead to similar values in each parameter derived from deflection basins, making it difficult to select the pavement property they are supposed to be linked to. Detailed evaluations of these empirical indices, related to basin deflection shape are carried out in this study, taking into account different pavement systems and deflection responses. The results of the comprehensive analysis carried out, allow formulating some recommendations to select the most appropriate indicators to assess the structural adequacy of pavements.
Effect of Grain Size Distribution on the Hydraulic Properties of Unsaturated Granite Sand
Authors: Siahdashti M.J.  , Côté Jean  , Sirois Philippe
Published: February 2025

The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and water retention curve are key functions to characterize the unsaturated soils. This paper presents the results of multi-step outflow experiments to determine the effect of grain size distribution on water retention curve of reconstituted samples of the Québec Valcartier granite sand. The relative hydraulic conductivity was estimated using the van Genuchten-Mualem model (1,2). The saturated hydraulic conductivity of the tested materials were calculated using the Kunze et al. (3) equation and were compared to Fillion (4) experimental results. The effect of grain size distribution on water retention curve and hydraulic conductivity behaviour was studied for each one of the tested materials.
Influencia de la granulometría en la permeabilidad del concreto asfáltico para presas
Authors: Gaxiola Alberto  , Ossa Alexandra  , Flores Osvaldo  , Gonzalez José
Published: February 2025

En la construcción de una presa de almacenamiento se requiere contar con un elemento impermeable ya sea en el núcleo o en la cara de la misma. Para tal efecto, se han utilizado distintos sistemas y materiales con el propósito de cumplir con la baja permeabilidad requerida, los sistemas más comunes han sido los núcleos de arcilla y las caras de concreto. En ocasiones y principalmente por cuestiones económicas otras alternativas han surgido con desempeños altamente satisfactorios y competitivos, un ejemplo de esto es la utilización de núcleos y caras de concreto asfáltico. El concreto asfáltico es un material fabricado con agregados pétreos y asfalto en proporciones que se dosifican a discreción, variando estas proporciones se pueden controlar gran cantidad de parámetros físicos, entre ellos la permeabilidad. El presente trabajo muestra la influencia del contenido de asfalto, la distribución granulométrica y calidad de agregados en la permeabilidad del concreto asfáltico a utilizarse en barreras impermeables de presas.
Modulus of Elasticity Estimation with One Dimensional Consolidation Test
Authors: Tanriseven Esra N.  , Bilgin Hasan A.  , Duzgun Sebnem H.
Published: February 2025

The modulus of elasticity has primary importance in geotechnical engineering, since it defines the deformability of soil under existing field stresses and applied static loads. Elastic modulus (Es) is most commonly derived from field tests (plate load test, standard penetration test, and cone penetration test etc.) and laboratory tests (unconfined compression tests, triaxial compression tests). Apart from these common methods, empirical relations may also be used to predict modulus of elasticity from one dimensional consolidation test, when other methods are inapplicable. In this study, this empirical relation is used to estimate modulus of elasticity of copper tailings material stored in a tailings dam.