Geological Engineering Commons^™

Prediction On Service Life Of Concrete Pipeline Buried In Chlorinated Environment Under Nonuniformly Distributed Earth Pressure, Lin Li, Weibing Gong, Jingpei Li

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper proposes an analytical model to estimate the service life of concrete pipelines buried in chloride contaminated soils, which properly considers the effects of nonuniformly distributed earth pressures on both the internal tensile stress of concrete protective cover and the chloride diffusion coefficient through the nonhomogeneous coefficient of earth pressure. It is assumed that the underground concrete pipeline arrives at the service life end when cracking induced by expansion pressure due to the corrosion products occurs in the concrete protective cover. Hence, the whole service life of underground concrete pipeline is composed of chloride diffusion period and protective cover …

Prediction Of Tunnel Wall Convergences For Natm Tunnels Which Are Excavated In Weak-To-Fair-Quality Rock Masses Using Decision-Tree Technique And Rock Mass Strength Parameters, Özgür Satici, Tamer Topal

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Tunnel wall convergences should be predicted before the excavation and should be determined accurately in order to ensure safe and economic tunnel excavation media. For this to be possible, rock mass behaviors in the tunnel should also be estimated prior to excavation. This could be ensured by site investigation studies, numerical models and predictive statistics. In this study, the development of convergences during a tunnel excavation in Turkey, excavated by NATM technique, was evaluated by using statistical prediction techniques for weak-to-fair-quality rock masses. For this aim, actual tunnel wall convergence data and rock mass strength parameters were used. For prediction …

A Flood Risk Management Program Of Wadi Baysh Dam On The Downstream Area: An Integration Of Hydrologic And Hydraulic Models, Jizan Region, Ksa, Mazen M. Abu-Abdullah, Ahmed M. Youssef, Norbert H. Maerz, Emad Abu-Alfadail, Hasan M. Al-Harbi, Nasser S. Al-Saadi

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

For public safety, especially for people who dwell in the valley that is located downstream of a dam site, as well as the protection of economic and environmental resources, risk management programs are urgently required all over the world. Despite the high safety standards of dams because of improved engineering and excellent construction in recent times, a zero-risk guarantee is not possible, and accidents can happen, triggered by natural hazards, human actions, or just because the dam is aging. In addition to that is the impact of potential climate change, which may not have been taken into account in the …

Development Of Tools For Water Management In The Hatra Watershed (Northwestern Iraq) Using Satellite Technologies, Majid S. Mohamod

Doctoral Dissertations

“All around the world the demand for water is increasing, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, including Iraq which subject to continuous desertification that is worsening, more importantly the Jezira region in northwestern Iraq. Thus, it’s crucial to have a better strategy for water management. One of these strategies is to promote groundwater recharge for restoring the aquifer depletion. The successful groundwater recharge is limited by some potential data such as the annual water budge and precipitation measurements. The atomospheric and hydrological observations are limited by sparse population which tends to be less in arid and semi-arid regions. Therefore, an …

Predictive Geohazard Mapping Using Lidar And Satellite Imagery In Missouri And Oklahoma, Usa, Olufeyisayo B. Ososami

Doctoral Dissertations

”Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and satellite imagery have become the most utilized remote sensing technologies for compiling inventories of surficial geologic conditions. Point cloud data obtained from multi-spectral remote sensing methods provide a detailed characterization of the surface features, in particular, the detailed surface manifestations of underlying geologic structures. When combined, point clouds eliminate bias from visual inconsistencies and/or statistical values. This research explores the competence of point clouds derived from LiDAR and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as a predictive tool in evaluating various geohazards. It combines these data sets with other remote sensing techniques to evaluate the sensitivity …

Imaging In Karst Terrain Using The Electrical Resistivity Tomography (Ert) And Multi-Channel Analysis Of Surface Waves (Masw) Methods, Hassan Abdullah Alzahrani

Doctoral Dissertations

"Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) methods were used to image the subsurface in karst terrain in the southeast of Missouri. A SuperSting R8 system was used to acquire the ERT profiles; a multi-channel engineering seismograph was used to acquire the MASW data. The latter data were used to constrain and verify the ERT interpreted depth to top-of-rock and soil thickness. The ERT data were used to delineate the soil/rock interface and to identify zones of anomalously high moisture content within the bedrock.

The primary objective of the research was to determine the cause of …

An Integrated Wellbore Stability Study To Mitigate Expensive Wellbore Instability Problems While Drilling Into Zubair Shale/Sand Sequence, Southern Iraq, Ahmed Khudhair Abbas

Doctoral Dissertations

”The Zubair Formation is the most prolific reservoir in Iraq, which is comprised of sandstones interbedded with shale sequences. Due to the weak nature of the shale sequence, the instability of a wellbore is one of the most critical challenges that continuously appears during drilling across this formation. Historically, over 90% of wellbore problems in the Zubair Formation were due to wellbore instability. Problems associated with wellbore instability, such as tight hole, shale caving, stuck logging tools along with subsequent fishing, stuck pipe, and sidetracking result in increasing the non-productive time. This non-productive time has cost an enormous amount of …

Soil Fatigue From Induced Seismicity, Merissa L. Zuzulock, Oliver Denzil S. Taylor, Norbert H. Maerz

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Induced seismicity and the effects on civil engineering systems are not completely understood and infrequently studied. One specific area that is not well known is soil fatigue which includes factors such as understanding the natural conditions of the subsurface as well as operational parameters under short duration impulse loads. With the increase of Geo induced seismic activity, soil fatigue becomes of greater concern to structures in the vicinity of this seismic load. The foundations of these structures can be affected by impulse loads which can ultimately cause failure. The lack of quantitative data puts the reliability of these civil engineering …

Geophysical Assessment Of The Lake Chesterfield Site, Missouri, Diya Ali Ahmad Alfuqara

Doctoral Dissertations

"Since construction of the Lake Chesterfield, Missouri in 1986, significant leaks have occurred causing the lake to lose substantive volumes of water. Mitigation efforts, have not solved the problem. Indeed, in June of 2017, the water level in Lake Chesterfield dropped at an alarmingly rapid rate. Prior to authorizing additional mitigation work, the Lake Chesterfield. Home Owners Association (LCHOA) decided to acquire geophysical data across the drained and dry lake bed. These information would help a geotechnical engineering firm determine the most appropriate mitigation plan.

In the summer of 2018, electrical resistivity tomography, multichannel analysis of surface wave, and spontaneous-potential …

Geophysical Characteristics Of Nickel And Copper Deposits In Wadi Al Khadra Prospect, Southwestern Of Saudi Arabia, Abdulrahman Ahmed Aljabbab

Doctoral Dissertations

“Three geophysical datasets (self-potential, magnetics, and time - domain electromagnetics) were acquired at Wadi Al Khadra Ni-Cu prospect in southwest Saudi Arabia, and were processed and interpreted for the Saudi Geological Survey. The primary objectives were to map the distribution of metallic mineralization, map structures, verify the integration of the geophysical interpretations and its signatures in conjunction with boreholes information, distinguish the similarities and differences in the integrated interpretation of geophysical data, and design optimal processing and interpretation data parameters. The self-potential tool was used to map the variation in natural surface potential differences to map lateral variations in the …

Geo-Engineered Induced Seismicity And The Effects On Federal Infrastructure, Merissa L. Zuzulock

Doctoral Dissertations

“The study of human-induced seismicity and the effects on civil engineering systems are not completely understood or often studied. Moreover, existing studies are focused on the cause of the seismicity and not on the potential damage to infrastructure from these seismic events. There are recent studies that are beginning to focus on shallow induced seismic activity and the effects on infrastructure by establishing innovative ways to quantify that damage. These studies that focus on the potential damage neglect to included considerations for small magnitude cluster events. As geo-induced seismic events increase, soil fatigue becomes of greater concern to structures within …

Evaluation Of Engineering Properties Of Soil In Al Butayn, Mudarraj Al Qassim And Turubah - Hail Saudi Arabia, Turki Essam A. Sehly

Masters Theses

"Fractures, sinkhole, building cracks, and ground subsidence have spread in many regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, some of which are related to seismic activity, others due to the presence of unstable soils (collapsing soils and Expansive soils) and others because of faults, while others result from drawing groundwater at great rates. The current study has several facts related to the formation of cracks and landslides, including:
1) A general study of geomorphology and geology of the study areas.
2) The causes affecting the formation of cracks and subsidence.
3) Detailed geomorphological and geological studies of the locations of …

Data Analytics Of Natural Gas Injection Enhanced Oil Recovery For Unconventional Reservoirs, Ali Waqar

Masters Theses

"Unconventional Enhanced Oil recovery, via the injection of natural gas has attracted great attention, as studies and projects have shown to be promising. An overview of pertinent studies has been carried out. Core Scale Laboratory Experiments, Core Scale Simulation, Field Scale simulation and pilot projects are analyzed. Data is collected for Core, Reservoir, Operational, and recovery information. Thereafter, Data analysis techniques are applied to identify data ranges, distributions, trends, relationships, and to eventually reach conclusions.

Huff and Puff injection is the preferred mode of injection, delivering most promising results for unconventional reservoirs. Across all the studies, with increase in amount …

Micro-Analysis Of Contaminants In Suspended Load And Bank Deposits From The Mineral Fork Creek Watershed In Potosi, Missouri, 2019-2020, William Joseph Miller

Masters Theses

”There are rising concerns pertaining to water contamination produced by toxic heavy metal contaminants such as lead and zinc. For this study, lead, zinc, and barite are three identified contaminants currently threatening Missouri water supplies. A microanalysis of the amounts of lead, zinc, and barite in the water of Mineral Fork Creek was conducted, involving both field and laboratory work. The purpose of the study was to determine the levels of lead, zinc, and barite contaminants, contributing to Big River, by Mineral Fork Creek, in Potosi Missouri, Washington County.

This research study uses a quantitative micro-analysis approach to determine the …

Prediction Of Nonlinear Vertical Settlement Of A Pile Group Consisting Of New And Existing Displacement Piles In Clay Strata, Lin Li, Weibing Gong

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Reusing existing displacement piles is economical, timesaving, and environment friendly. This paper presents an analytical approach for predicting the load carrying behavior of pile groups consisting of new and existing displacement piles. The evolutions of the undrained shear strength and shear modulus of clay adjacent to the piles from installation through consolidation to long-term ageing are investigated to determine the load carrying behavior of displacement piles. The nonlinear load-settlement behavior of an individual pile is modelled by load-transfer method, where the exponential function-based load-transfer models integrating the two developed soil parameters are employed to represent the nonlinear behavior at the …

The Effect Of Testing Conditions On The Performance Of Lost Circulation Materials: Understandable Sealing Mechanism, Montri Jeennakorn, Mortadha Alsaba, Runar Nygaard, Arild Saasen, Olav Magnar Nes

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Lost circulation materials (LCMs) are added to drilling fluids to mitigate lost circulation (LOC) problems. Designing the fluid requires a good understanding of sealing mechanisms and all the parameters affecting the sealing performance. Laboratory testing apparatus is the key concept for LCM evaluation ensuring successful treatment. The high-pressure test cell containing fracture discs is an effective tool among the broadly designed apparatus. A variety of formulations has been developed from the LCM physical properties. Recently, the testing conditions such as the slot wall angles, and the fracture disc thickness were found to have significant effects on the evaluation results. However, …

Development Of Lidar Assisted Terrestrial Radar Interferometry For Rock Deformation Monitoring, Ricardo Javier Romero Ramirez

Doctoral Dissertations

"Rock and soil slope movements cost millions of dollars annually. During the past few decades, engineers have relied on traditional methods to detect slope movements. These tools are valuable for small spatial areas but, may not be adequate or cost effective for large spatial areas. Remote sensing methods such as terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and terrestrial radar interferometry (TRI) provide excellent spatial coverage, and with adequate post-data-processing software, sub-millimetric scale deformation sensitivity can be achieved.

This work will present a comparative experimental study between TLS and TRI. The comparative experimental study will allow us to achieve the two main objectives …

Assessment And Prediction Of Surface Water Vulnerability From Non-Point Source Pollution In Midwestern Watersheds, Fadhil K. Jabbar

Doctoral Dissertations

"Non-point source pollution is the leading cause of impairment in surface water in the Midwest. In this research, we seek to predict which watersheds are most vulnerable to point source pollution without field sampling using publically available GIS databases. Watersheds with higher vulnerability ratings can then be targeted for water quality monitoring, and funds used to improve watershed health can be distributed with greater efficacy. To better understand and target watershed vulnerability, we used three different approaches. In the first project, 35 sub-watersheds were sampled in the Lower Grand Watershed, which is a highly agricultural watershed in northern Missouri/southern Iowa. …

Military Applications Of Geological Engineering, Stephen H. Tupper

Doctoral Dissertations

"This work examines the premise that military engineering and geological engineering are intellectually paired and overlapped in practice to a significant extent. Geological engineering is an established, albeit young, academic discipline that enjoys wide industry and civil demand and is supported by many professional organizations. In contrast, military engineering is an ancient, empirically derived training or "OJT" program with practice-based trade-associations that has narrow government-only utility. The premise is formed by decades-long observation of U. S. Army military engineer officers completing a Master of Science degree in geological engineering as a complement to their practice-based training in military engineering at …

Using Lidar To Measure Subsurface Movement Of Slow-Moving Landslides And Study The Interaction Between The Soil And Lidar Scanning Targets, Chengxun Lu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) technology has been used for predicting and researching geological hazards for two decades. This research focuses on using LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) to measure the slow-moving displacement of both surface and subsurface soil of landslides. Two kinds of computer simulation software, FLAC3D® and PFC3D® were used to simulate the landslide process to compare with the LiDAR scanning results.

The primary contributions from this research are as follows:

1. Several error tests were done to prove that the three-dimensional LiDAR scanner used in this research can precisely obtain the three-dimensional position, the displacement and the rotational …

Thermomechanical Analysis Of Rock Asperity In Fractures Of Enhanced Geothermal Systems, Chao Zeng

Doctoral Dissertations

"Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) offer great potential for dramatically expanding the use of geothermal energy and become a promising supplement for fossil energy. The EGS is to extract heat by creating a subsurface system to which cold water can be added through injection wells. Injected water is heated by contact with rock and returns to the surface through production well. Fracture provides the primary conduit for fluid flow and heat transfer in natural rock. Fracture is propped by fracture roughness with varying heights which is called asperity. The stability of asperity determines fracture aperture and hence imposes substantial effect on …

Evaluation Of Naturally Occurring And Anthropogenic Contamination In Missouri Streams, Christina Jane Sehrt

Masters Theses

"The goal of this study is to observe the values and variability of water quality parameters and benthic macroinvertebrates in watersheds with very little anthropogenic impact and to compare these values with those acquired in watersheds with more anthropogenic impact. The following five HUC 12-digit watersheds had very little anthropogenic impact and were considered "pristine": Rogers Creek, Mill Creek, Middle West Fork-Black River, Bee Fork, and Ottery Creek. Five largely urban sub-basins were also considered; these basins are: Grand Glaize Creek, Glaize Creek, Sugar Creek, Hominy Creek, and Grindstone Creek. For each watershed, both water quality parameters and benthic macroinvertebrates …

Detection And Elimination Of Rock Face Vegetation From Terrestrial Lidar Data Using The Virtual Articulating Conical Probe Algorithm, Kenneth John Boyko

Doctoral Dissertations

"A common use of terrestrial lidar is to conduct studies involving change detection of natural or engineered surfaces. Change detection involves many technical steps beyond the initial data acquisition: data structuring, registration, and elimination of data artifacts such as parallax errors, near-field obstructions, and vegetation. Of these, vegetation detection and elimination with terrestrial lidar scanning (TLS) presents a completely different set of issues when compared to vegetation elimination from aerial lidar scanning (ALS). With ALS, the ground footprint of the lidar laser beam is very large, and the data acquisition hardware supports multi-return waveforms. Also, the underlying surface topography is …

Using The Ert Method To Differentiate Resistivity Anomalies Attributed To Natural And Man-Made Activities, Ibrahim Faisal Alshareef

Masters Theses

"Karst terrain is considered to be a very complex topography compared with most other geological environments. Many features can be observed such as sinkholes, air-filled cavities, losing streams, and solution widened joints. These karst features can cause subsidence and damage infrastructure such as buildings and roads thus causing economic hardship and disruption of life. The typical geological and hydrological studies are not enough to understand the karst processes.

For this reason, two geophysical methods were involved in investigating the subsurface in the study area. In this research, the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and multichannel analysis of surface wave (MASW) data …

Temporal Changes Of Nutrients Within The Lower Grand River Watershed And Selected Sites, Weston Scott Duley

Masters Theses

"This report presents the results of a study carried out in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to estimate total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) at five USGS monitoring sites within Lower Grand River Watershed (LGRW) and two monitoring sites on the Missouri River. The objective of this study was to quantify temporal changes in TN and TP concentrations and compare those to best management practices (BMPs).

In this study, the approach to the analysis of long-term surface water-quality data by using Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge and Seasons models …

Geophysical Imaging Beneath Lake Chesterfield, Missouri, James Daniell Hayes

Masters Theses

"Lake Chesterfield in Wildwood, Missouri, has been leaking since construction of the earth-fill dam was completed in 1986, despite numerous mitigation efforts. The mitigation efforts, including the injection of grouting and the emplacement of clay liners, has not solve the leakage problem.

In the current study, geophysical (subsurface imaging) data was acquired across the drained and dry lake bed and along the base of the earth-fill dam to 1) map variable depth to top of bedrock, 2) determine the variable quality of the bedrock to depths on the order of 80 ft., 3) identify any significant karst features beneath the …

The Effect Of Wellbore Circulation On Building An Lcm Bridge At The Fracture Aperture, Ghassan Alshubbar, Runar Nygaard, Montri Jeennakorn

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Different laboratory experimental setups with slotted disks, simulating fractures' apertures, have been used extensively to formulate effective loss circulation materials (LCM) recipes. The amount of fluid loss and sealing pressure have been used as the evaluation criteria. The question still remains is how valuable these tests are when LCM fluids are circulated in the wellbore to stop losses. The main objective of this work is to study the effect of the annular fluid flow on building an LCM bridge at the fracture aperture. To address the objective, a fluid loss apparatus has been developed to mimic wellbore circulation. Tapered slotted …

Spectral Analysis Of Surface Waves To Detect Subsurface Voids, Payman Hajiani, Neil Lennart Anderson, J. David Rogers

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Systems and methods for detecting a subsurface cavity. A source applies a force to ground under inspection and a plurality of sensors coupled to the ground detect resulting surface waves. A processor is configured to extract phase and frequency components of the acquired seismic data, identify a phase shift in surface waves in the ground under inspection based on the extracted phase and frequency components, and determine one or more physical characteristics of a subsurface cavity based on the identified phase shift

Limit Analysis On Seismic Stability Of Anisotropic And Nonhomogeneous Slopes With Anti-Slide Piles, Wei Bing Gong, Jing Pei Li, Lin Li

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study employs the limit analysis method to evaluate the seismic stability of anisotropic and nonhomogeneous slopes stabilized with anti-slide piles. The pseudo-static approach is used to simplify the earthquake load. The yield seismic acceleration factor is obtained from the optimization procedure and the results are verified with the published data. Then, the seismically unstable slope is reinforced with anti-slide piles, and the seismic stability of the reinforced slope is explored. The results show that the anisotropy and Non homogeneity of soils have significant effects on the stabilizing force required from the anti-slide piles and the optimal location of the …

Failure Of The Alexander Dam Embankment And Reconstruction Using Drainage Mitigation On Kauai, Hawaii, 1930-1932, Kerry D. Cato, J. David Rogers

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Alexander Dam is a hydraulic fill earth dam and the second-highest embankment dam in Hawaii, having been built in 1929-1932 on the south side of the Hawaiian island of Kauai to provide irrigation for McBryde Sugar Company Ltd. It was constructed across Wahiawa Stream mauka (Hawaiian for "stream that comes from the mountains," literally "toward the mountains"), upstream of Kalaheo, to store 800 million gallons (5 million m3) of water to irrigate sugarcane fields. The embankment dam was intended to have a maximum height of 125 ft (38 m), a crest length of 620 ft (189 m), and a maximum …