Journal of Engineering Geology

---

In this paper, a constitutive model is proposed for prediction of the shear behavior of a gravely sand cemented with different cement types. The model is based on combining stress-strain behavior of uncemented soil and cemented bonds using deformation consistency and energy equilibrium equations. Cement content and cement type are considered in a model as two main parameters. Based on the proposed method, the behavior of cemented soil with different cement types is predicted for conventional triaxial test condition. Porepressure developed during undrained loading besides volumetric strains in drained condition are also modeled according to this framework. Comparison of model results with experimental data indicates its reasonable accuracy.

---

Determination of stress in earthfill dams is one of the most important parameters in dam safety studies. Stress monitoring can be done using total pressure cells which are typically installed during construction. The cell is installed with its sensitive surface in direct contact with the soil to measure total stress of soil and in combination with piezometers to measure pore-water pressure acting in the soil mass. Total pressure cells needs to be installed with care to get reasonable measurements. However, measurements are often incompatible with the theoretical predictions such that pressure cell results usually have some inaccuracies. There are several parameters effecting pressure cell errors. However, in the present paper it is only focused on the height of embankment and the duration of dam construction. For this purpose, a case study, namely Alborz embankment dam located in northern part of Iran was studied. It is an earth dam with clay core with a height of 78 m. Using the monitoring data and considering the effect of embankment height and construction period parameters, a model is presented to predict the pressure cells error with Gene Expression Programming (GEP) procedure by GeneXProTools 4.0 software. The computed coefficient of correlation (R²) for the proposed model is 0.98 showing a good agreement with the monitoring data. The obtained results indicate that the ratio of height difference to time difference for Alborz dam has a significant role in dam pressure cells errors

---

In this research attempts were made to estimate the in-situ stresses acting on a hydrocarbon reservoir based on routine activities of acid injection in oil reservoir. It was found that the relation between the re-opening pressure of fracture and principal in-situ stresses can be estimated using rock mechanics equations for the circular underground cavities. An appropriate relation between the maximum and minimum horizontal principal in-situ stresses and reservoir parameters such as permeability, reservoir pressure, Young’s modulus, acid viscosity, injection flow rate and etc., was developed by using the well-known Darcy equations for fluid flow in porous media. Accordingly, knowing the flow rate of acid injection during well operations and some other reservoir parameters, in-situ stresses may be estimated. The method was then successfully applied to a large carbonate reservoir as a case study in south-west of Iran. Maximum and minimum effective horizontal stresses were calculated by employing the presented method. 

---

The in-situ stress is one of the most important parameters in the design of underground structures. Conventional methods such as in-situ stress measurements using hydraulic fracturing method has two main disadvantages are time and cost of this methods. Acoustic emission is one of the indirect in-Situ stress measurement methods which is based on the theory of the Kaiser effect. When a rock is stressed, it release acoustic signals this phenomenon is called acoustic emission. Kaiser Effect is defined as lack of acoustic signals in the lower stress levels than the previous maximum stress level. In other words, as long as rock is not reached to the previous maximum stress level, do not show significant acoustic emission. Several factors affect on Kaiser Effect such as delay time, temperature, rock fabric, porosity, discontinuities, joints and geological structure. In this paper, effect of the delay time on Kaiser Effect has been presented. The time between coring operations and acoustic emission test is called delay time. The limestone rock is selected as main samples of test and after preloading, reloading and acoustic emission test were carried out with different delay times. The results showed that the felicity ratio is less than 1, when delay time is about 20 days and after three months has increased to be more than one.

---

The Schmidt hammer provides a quick and inexpensive measure of surface hardness that is widely used for estimating the mechanical properties of rock material such as uniaxial compressive strength and Young’s modulus. On the other hand, Schmidt rebound hardness can be used for a variety of specific applications. In the mining industries, it is used to determine the quality of rock, which is common practice when constructing rock structures such as those found in long wall mining, room and pillar mining, open-pit mining, gate roadways, tunnels, dams, etc. However, a number of issues such as specimen dimensions, water content, hammer type, surface roughness, weathering, testing, data reduction and analysis procedures continue to influence the consistency and reliability of the Schmidt hammer test results. This paper presents: a) a critical review of these basic issues and b) avaluate the effect of temperature, moisture and uniaxial compressive stress on Schmidt hammer hardness. It was found that water content has a significant effect on the Schmidt rebound hardness (SRH) of rocks. So that increase of water content substantially reduced the SRH of samples. Temperature also had a considerable influence on the SRH. However, relationship between SRH decreases with increasing temperature for tested samples were linear. Also tests results showed that uniaxial loading of samples increases the SRH values.

---

In this paper, the bearing capacity of strip footings on fiber reinforced granular soil has been studied. The stress characteristics or slip line method has been used for the analysis. In the selected failure criterion, the orientation of the fibers are isotropic and fibers are not ruptured. Seismic effects have been considered in the equilibrium equations as the horizontal and vertical pseudo-static coefficients. The equilibrium equations have been solved using the finite difference method. The provided computer code can solve the stress characteristics network and calculate the bearing capacity. The bearing capacity has been presented as the bearing capacity factors due to the unit weight of the soil and surcharge. Several graphs have been prepared for the practical purposes. Also, a closed form solution has been presented for the bearing capacity factor due to the surcharge. By the parametric studies, the effects of the geometry and soil properties have been investigated. Results show that the bearing capacity increases with an increase on the average concentration and aspect ratio of the fibers, the fiber/matrix friction angle and the soil friction angle. Furthermore, the extent of the failure zone is increased with increasing the pseudo-static coefficients and decreasing the surcharge.

---

Earth-fill dams stability in steady state seepage condition is very important, especially during earthquakes. Numerical software analyses require accurate and realistic modeling of construction stages. Since earth-fill dams are constructed in different layers, so these conditions should be considered in software modeling to achieve a reasonable design. In this study, an earth-fill dam is modeled in PLAXIS software and the effects of the number and shape of layers are studied in dry and steady-state conditions. Obtained results in static and pseudo-static analyses show that modeling of earth-fill dams with different layers has significant effects on shear stresses and horizontal displacements. For example, horizontal displacements and shear stresses, increase at least 50% and 17% respectively, in comparison with single layer models. According to the obtained results, it can be mentioned that modeling of an earth-fill dam in the layered model and rather in inclined layers are more reasonable

---

Introduction
Determination of in situ stress-direction and magnitude are prerequisite for any oil well drilling and oil field development such as hydraulic fracturing. One of the simplest and most widely used methods is called borehole breakout analysis. Breakouts are compression fractures made in the direction of minimum horizontal in situ stress (Sh), if drilling mud pressure be lower than optimum mud pressure. Some borehole imaging logs such as FMI, FMS and UBI are appropriate tools for wellbore fracture detection. These fractures are distinguished in the logs as dark and symmetrical points (or lines) on both sides of the well and are used as an indicator for in situ stress studies. The size and shape of these fractures are strongly depend on the magnitude of the in situ stress. Therefore, many researchers suggested that by analyzing the geometric shape of the borehole breakout is an appropriate technique for estimation of in situ stress components. .... ./files/site1/files/0Extended_Abstract7.pdf
 

---

Introduction
CO₂ injection in deep geological formations, such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs, in addition to the environmental benefits, is one of the effective method for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) as tertiary EOR. Presence of reservoirs with a pressure drop which require injection of gas in the southwest of Iran and having the technical and environmental effects of CO₂ injection have created a huge potential for CO₂ injection to EOR in this region. In the first step, to perform CO₂-EOR, the geomechanical assessment is needed to find out pore pressure, in-situ stress magnitudes and orientations and fractures and faults conditions. In this paper, the initial in-situ pore pressure is predicted using modified Eaton method for 47 wells in the length of the study field and calibrated using repeat formation test and mud pressure data. In-situ stress was obtained by the poroelastic method for 47 wells in the length of the study field and calibrated using leak off test and extended leak off test. Then, the orientation of in-situ stresses is obtained based on image logs. Hydraulical and mechanical activities of fractures and faults were performed by critically-stressed-fault hypothesis
Material and Methods
In this paper, the initial pore pressure is calculated using modified Eaton method and other corrections that are proposed by Azadpour et al. (2015). The estimated initial pore pressure is validated using mud weight pressure (Pmw) and repeat formation tester (RFT) data. In-situ stresses are composed of three orthogonal principal stresses, vertical stress (S_V), maximum horizontal stress (S_H), and minimum horizontal stress (S_h) with specific magnitude and orientations. The magnitude of S_V is calculated by integration of rock densities from the surface to the depth of interest. The poroelastic horizontal strain model is used to determine the magnitudes of the S_H and S_h. Then, the estimated minimum horizontal stress from poroelastic horizontal strain model is validated against direct measurements of LOT and XLOT tests. The orientation of breakouts was determined based on compressively stressed zones observed in the UBI log and using Caliper and Bit Size (BS) logs. The hole elongates perpendicular to the S_H and breakouts develop at the azimuth of S_h. Fractures and faults reactivation analyses are very important, they can potentially propagate upwards into the lower caprock and further through the upper caprock due to CO₂ injection. Fractures and faults identification were performed based on image logs. Based on performed seismic interpretations by NISOC (National Iranian South Oil Company), 15 faults have been detected in the field. Fractures and faults conductivity and activity in the current stress filed affect on fluid flow and mechanical stability or instability of the CO₂ injection site. Critically stressed fault hypothesis, introduced by Barton et al. (1995), states that in a formation with fractures and faults at different angles to the current stress field, the conductivity of fluids through their apertures are controlled by the interplay of principal stress orientations and fracture or fault directions. Hence, conductive and critically stressed fractures and faults in the current stress field were evaluated using critically stressed fault hypothesis. Fractures and faults are plotted in normalized 3D Mohr diagrams (normalized by the vertical stress), therefore conductive and critically stressed fractures and faults were determined.
Results and discussions
The maximum distribution of initial pore pressure was 20-25 MPa in the field and the average of initial pore pressure was 25 MPa in the field. Unlike the World Stress Map, the stress regime is normal in the reservoir. Because the Kazeroon fault and Dezful Embayment act as a strike-slip tensional basin, resulting in the subsidence of Dezful compared with other regions. The frequency distribution of calculated in-situ stress in 47 studied wells in the length of the field has been presented. The maximum frequency distribution of S_V, S_H and S_h were between 60-70, 50-60 and 30-40 MPa, respectively. A large amount of fracturing is observed in 20-25 m below the caprock. Based on the continuity of their low amplitude traces on the acoustic amplitude image of UBI, fractures are classified into 4 classes: discontinuous-open, continuous-open, possible-open and closed fractures. OBMI and UBI image logs processing were performed in 7 wells. As can be seen from the image log, and caliper analysis the most dominant strike of S_H around the well is 27^◦ and S_h strike is 117◦. These have two dominant orientation, some faults are along the strike of the Zagros fold-thrust belt (NW-SE) and the others are perpendicular to the Zagros fold-thrust belt strike (NE-SW).
Based on the normalized 3D Mohr diagrams it is clear that the fractures and faults that are oriented to the S_H will be the most permeable, because the faults and fractures experience the least amount of stresses in the direction of S_H and they have minimum resistance to flow in this direction, therefore will have relatively high permeability. Also, results showed the faults number 15, 6, 10 and 2 will be the most dangerous faults during CO₂ injection.
 
 

---

Introduction
 Analysis of time, location and magnitude of foreshocks and aftershocks has been one of the most important cases for experts in various scientific fields such as: seismology, structural engineering and crisis management, and other interrelated fields. Since this analysis and the result of studies on seismotectonic and cases of earthquakes help us identify the foreshocks and aftershocks with the goal of decreasing losses and nervious stress of the injured community in quake-stricken areas and skilled crisis management. The cause fault of earthquake plays the important role in foreshocks and aftershocks of the earthquake. So, study on fault behaviour is a suitable method for analyzing and routing the basic parameters of foreshocks and aftershocks. Also, foreshocks and aftershock are important parts of any earthquake in a seismic area. The analysis of the basic parameters of the foreshocks is one of the most practical researches for reducing the risk of earthquakes. The identification of behavioral pattern of foreshocks can help researchers detect the active fault conditions for the occurrence of earthquakes in different areas. The present study is concerned with the study of behavioral patterns earthquakes, foreshocks, and aftershock of Zohan earthquake. Experience of large aftershocks in different parts of the world indicates that, following earthquakes and depending on seismic-tectonic conditions, large aftershocks are likely to occur in the earthquake-effected zone, which will aggravate the damage caused by earthquakes (Omi et al., 2013). The main factor contributing to the worsening of damage caused by aftershocks is the performance of structures that are weakened but not destroyed by main earthquakes and are, thus, highly likely to be destroyed by large aftershocks (Saket and Fatemi Aghda, 2006).
Material and methods
The present paper makes use of data collected in a real earthquake and similar expriences in other earthquakes for presenting a practical pattern for predicting primary earthquake patterns, determining the location, magnitude, and time of aftershocks. The target of this case is decreasing the effects of earthquake. To this end, we used the results from studies on basic parameters of foreshocks and aftershocks of Zohan earthquake, and 2012 earthquake in South Khorasan province. The rationale for selecting the aforementioned studies is: location of event, the Zohan earthquake, had been identificated as an area with high risk for the occurrence of earthquakes, although there has been no wide-scale earthquake in this area in the last two decades. These conditions are important causes for more concentrated studies on this area because there is a high chance for wide-scale earthquakes striking this area.
Result and Discussion
In this part of research, we conduct a study on the location, magnitude and depth of foeshocks. Some of the world-wide research suggested that these data can help to predict the time of  mainshocks. Studies conducted on the variations of frequency in foreshocks can follow this goal.
In this paper, the available statistical data such as periodical variations of seismicity in the weeks leading up to the main shock can be used as a tool for estimating the approximate time of a future important earthquake. The weekly variations of seismicity before Zohan earthquake indicate a relative increase and then decrease within a 100 km radius around the epicenter of the main shock.
 
Table 1: Variations of frequency of foreshock based magnitude before Zohan earthquake

Week before main shock	Frequency of foreshock in the Radius of 100Km from main shock	Frequency of foreshock(with M>2.5) in the Radius of 100Km from main shock
6	0	0
5	1	1
4	1	0
3	2	0
2	5	3
1	2	0

 
Studies on numerous earthquakes in Iran and other regions in the world show that the distribution of aftershocks can be related to fault type or the direction of principal stress (Saket and Fatemi Aghda, 2006) and (King et al., 1994). Whereas maximum Coulomb stress change is related to maximum principal stress in earthquakes, the concentration of aftershocks can coincide with the direction of maximum principal stress (σ₁) of the causative fault in mainshock. Considering the direction of maximum principal stress and its adaptation to the scattering of aftershocks, the above hypothesis is confirmed.
Also studies on frequency changes and seismic quiescence of small aftershocks help us in predicting future aftershocks. The results the of presented research by Itawa (2008) on the World earthquake catalogue suggest that seismic quiescence theory is true for different regions of the world. Based on the results of the  study mentioned above, this case can be used as a tool for predicting large aftershocks in Zohan earthquake.

Fig 1. Adaptation of direction of maximum principal stress with scatering of the aftershocks of Zohan earthquake. a: direction of maximum principal stress (σ₁) of the causative fault in mainshock. b- scaterring of the aftershocks
Table 2: Seismic sequience versus magnitude of aftershocks

Row	Seismic Quiescence for aftershocks	Aftershock Magnitude	Data and Time of aftershocks
1	13	3.0	2012/12/05 17:21:03
2	36	3.4	2012/12/05 17:57:03
3	161	3.1	2012/12/05 20:38:09
4	3906	3.9	2012/12/08 13:44:19

In addation, frequency of aftershocks and certain time distance (seismic quiescence) between their can use precursors for detecting the time of large aftershocks. The relevant analysis in this study showed that methods such as: time series beside seismic quiescence can help in conducting a more accurate time forecast of large aftershocks.
Conclusion

• The results of this research suggest that we can identify some of the charactristics of the main shock by focusing on location, magnitude and depth of foeshocks.
• In Zohan earthquake, the direction of maximum principal stress is adpated to the scattering of aftershocks, and this case suggests that there is a specific relationship between them.
• The relevant analysis in this study showed that the methods such as: time series beside seismic quiescence can help conduct a more accurate time forecast of large aftershocks../files/site1/files/144/saket.pdf

---

Introduction
Shallow tunnels have a vital role in urban planning, railway and highway transportation lines. The presence of underground cavities can leads to stress concentration and consequently, instability of the spaces against static and especially dynamic loads. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of elliptical cavity and its inclination on sandstone rock behavior under compressive static and tensile dynamic loads. In order to evaluate the effect of the cavity under static stress conditions, two groups of intact and hole-bearing sandstone cores with 0, 30, 60, and 90 degrees of hole inclination were prepared and tested under uniaxial compressive loading test. During the test, in addition to the stress recording, damage and deformability of the samples were recorded by using the strain gauge, acoustic emission sensor and camera. Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) test apparatus was used for doing dynamic loading test. Furthermore, the damage process was recorded using a high-speed camera with 10 micro-seconds interval of frame capability. The obtained results showed that presence of the cavity reduced the rock strength in maximum state (θ=0) up to 55% and in minimum state (θ=90) up to 77% of its initial uniaxial compressive strength. Dynamic tensile loading tests illustrate that the elliptical hole near the free end of sample (reflection boundary of compressive wave to tensile wave) is stable due to locating in superposition area, while the other cavity out of the area with each inclination was undergone to spalling failure. Assessment of failure surface using scanning electron microscope and thin section study indicates that the dominant fracture is grain-boundary type and iron oxide cement has a vital role in developing of this type of fracture.
 


 

---

Introduction
Stone column installation method is one of the popular methods of ground improvement. Several studies have been performed to investigate the behavior of stone columns under vertical loads. However, limited research, mostly focused on numerical investigations, has been performed to evaluate the shear strength of soil reinforced with stone column. The stress concentration ratio (n) is one of the important parameters that uses in soil improvement by stone column method. Stress concentration ratio is the ratio of the stress carried by stone column to that carried by the surrounding soil. In this paper, the results of a laboratory study were used to examine the changes in the stress concentration ratio when normal and shear stress applied. Direct shear tests were carried out on specimens of sand bed material, stone column material and sand bed reinforced with stone column, using a direct shear device with in-plane dimensions of 305*305 mm and height of 152.4 mm. Experiments were performed under normal stresses of 55, 77 and 100 kPa. In this study, three different area replacement ratios (8.4%, 12%, 16.4%), and three different stone column arrangements (single, square and triangular) were considered for investigation. Loose sand and crushed gravel were used to make the bed and stone columns, respectively. In this study, the equivalent shear strength and equivalent shear parameters measured from experiments were also compared with those predicted by analytical relationships at stress concentration value of 1 and stress concentration value obtained from experiments.
Material Properties
Fine-grained sand with particle size ranging from 0.425 to 1.18 mm was used to prepare loose sand bed, and crushed gravel with particle size ranging from 2 to 8 mm was used as stone column material. The sand material used as bed material had a unit weight of 16 kN/m³ and a relative density of 32.5%, and the crushed stone material used in stone columns had a unit weight of 16.5 kN/m³ and a relative density of 80%. The required standard tests were performed to obtain the mechanical parameters of bed material and stone column material. As the diameters of model scale stone columns were smaller than the diameters of stone columns installed in the field, the particle dimensions of stone column material were reduced by an appropriate scale factor to allow an accurate simulation of stone columns behavior.
Testing Procedure
In this study, large direct shear device was used to evaluate the shear strength and equivalent shear strength parameters of loose sand bed reinforced with stone column. Experiments were performed under normal stresses of 55, 75 and 100 kPa. Two class C load cells with capacity of 2 tons were used to measure and record vertical forces and the developed shear forces during the experiments, and a Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) was used to measure horizontal displacement. The main objectives of this study was to calculate the stress concentration ratio of stone columns in different arrangement. Stress concentration ratio is the ratio of the stress carried by stone column to that carried by the surrounding soil, and can be calculated using Equation 1. For this purpose, the direct shear device was modified. Two miniature load cells with capacity of 5 kN were employed. The load cells were mounted on the rigid loading plate with dimensions of 305*305 mm² and thickness of 30 mm, as shown in Figure 1, All achieved data from the experiments including data on vertical forces, shear forces and horizontal displacements were collected and recorded using a data logger, and an especial software was used to transfer data between the computer and the direct shear device. All specimens were sheared under a horizontal displacement rate of 1 mm/min.
Experiments were performed on single stone columns and group stone columns arranged in square and triangular patterns. The selected area replacement ratios were 8.4, 12 and 16.4% for single, square and triangular stone column arrangements. To eliminate boundary effects, the distance between stone columns and the inner walls of the shear box was kept as high as 42.5 mm. In total, 11 direct shear tests were carried out, including two tests on loose sand bed material and stone column material, and 9 tests on stone columns with different arrangements. From the tests performed on group stone columns, 3 tests were performed on single stone columns, 3 tests on stone columns with square arrangement and 3 tests on stone columns with triangular arrangement. Hollow pipes with wall thickness of 2 mm and inner diameters equal to stone column diameters were used to construct stone columns. To prepare the specimens, first, the hollow pipes were installed in the shear box according to the desired arrangement. Then, bed material with unit weight of 16.5 kN/m³ was placed and compacted in the box in 5 layers, each 3 cm thick. Stone material was uniformly compacted to construct stone columns with uniform unit weight.
Results and discussion

1. The SCR value increases for settlement up to 3 mm and then decreases with increasing the horizontal displacement and then approaches almost a constant value. Results also show that stress concentration ratio decreases with increase of stone column diameter. Results show that the value of stress concentration ratio in square pattern is higher than that in single and triangular pattern. Moreover, results show that stress concentration ratio decreases with increase of normal stress.
2. The value of the internal friction angle in (peak) state, for loose bed increases from 33 to 40 degrees in square arrangement and in the corresponding state of displacement of 10 % from 30 degrees in a loose bed increase to 32 degrees, for loose sand reinforced with stone column. Shear strength increases with the increase of modified area ratio in all stone column installation patterns in both the peak and the corresponding state of the horizontal displacement of 10%.
3. For stone columns with the same modified area ratio, the installation pattern has an effective role in defining the shear strength. Group stone columns mobilize higher shear strength compared to single stone columns. Among the installation patterns investigated in this study, stone columns with square arrangement experienced the highest increase in shear strength value while single stone columns experienced the lowest.
4. The equivalent shear strength values measured from experiments are higher than those obtained from analytical relationships. Accordingly, it is conservative to use analytical relationships to calculate shear strength parameters. It is worth explaining that these relationships assume that the value of stress concentration ratio is equal to 1. Results from this study show that the value of stress concentration ratio should be accurately calculated and used in the relationships.
5. Comparison between shear strength parameters obtained from experiments and those predicted by analytical relationships shows that in single stone columns, the value of stress concentration ratio should be 3 to 4.5, and in square and triangular patterns, this value should be 6 to 7 and in triangular patterns 4.5 to 5, respectively, to achieve good agreement between experimental and analytical results in peak condition. In horizontal displacement 10% the value of stress concentration ratio should be 2.5 to 3, in single, square and triangular patterns, to achieve good agreement between experimental and analytical results../files/site1/files/151/2.pdf

---

Introduction
The ring footings are very important and sensitive due to widespread use in various industries such as oil and gas; so finding some ways for improving the behavior of these types of footings can be very valuable. One of these ways, which is very affordable and also can be help in environmental protection, is the use of granulated rubber that made from disposable materials like scrape tires, as the soil reinforcement. In the present study, the behavior of ring footings with outer constant diameter of 300 mm and variable inner diameters (90, 120 and 150 mm with inner to outer diameter ratio of 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) placed on unreinforced sand bed and also granulated rubber reinforced bed, has been investigated by field test. The effects of important parameters like inner to outer diameter ratio of ring footing and thickness of rubber-soil mixture on the behavior of ring footing in terms of bearing capacity, settlement and inside vertical stresses of footing bed have been studied and the optimum values mentioned parameters have been determined.
Material and methods
In all tests, a sandy soil was used to fill the test trench which was excavated in the natural bed of the earth with a length and width of 2000 mm and a height of 990 mm. It should be noted that the type of this soil is well-graded sand (SW) according to the Unified Classification System (ASTM D 2487-11). This sand had medium grain size, D₅₀, of 2.35 mm, moisture content of 5.4% and friction angle of 41.7^∘. The granulated rubber particles with dimensions between 2-20 mm, a mean particle size, D₅₀, of 14 mm and a specific gravity, Gs, of 1.15, have been used in all tests for using in rubber-soil mixture layer.
The loading system consists of several parts such as loading frame for providing reaction force, hydraulic jack, load cell, load transfer system (including loading shaft which was located below Load cell and footing cap which was located under the loading shaft) and rigid steel loading plates with different inner to outer diameter ratios (d/D=0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 and constant outer diameter of 300 mm). Some devices like load cell, LVDT, pressure cell, data logger and unit control were applied to collect the data and control the system. Both soil and rubber-soil mixture layers were compacted by vibrating plate compactor to gain their maximum densities. After preparing the tests, the static load was applied on the system at a rate of 1 kPa per second until 1000 kPa or until backfill failure.
Results and discussion
The results of tests on both unreinforced and rubber reinforced beds indicated that the ring footing with inner to outer diameter ratio (d/D) of 0.4 had the maximum bearing capacity in all settlement levels. This behavior can be related to the arching phenomenon within the internal spaces of ring footing with optimum inner to outer diameter ratio. In fact, when the ring footing with optimum inner to outer diameter ratio is subjected to a certain level of loading, the soil inside the ring seems to be compacted due to interface effect of the two sides of the ring. However, by increasing the inner to outer diameter ratio more than its optimum value, the ring behaves like two independent strip footings without any interface effect and therefore the bearing capacity decreases.
The results of tests showed that the vertical inside stresses in different depths of footing bed (both unreinforced and rubber reinforced beds) decrease with increasing d/D ratio. This stress reduction process can be due to the transfer of stress concentration from the points close to the center of the ring to the outer point because of turning from the ring mode with interface effect to the two independent strip footings that mentioned earlier.
The results of rubber reinforced cases illustrated that, regardless of the footing settlement level and also irrespective of d/D ratio, the bearing capacity of ring footing increases with increasing the thickness of rubber-soil mixture layer (h_rs) up to the value equals 0.5 times the outer diameter of ring footing and further increase in this thickness more than mentioned optimum value (h_rs/D=0.5) can decrease the bearing capacity. Even in some cases of reinforced base (h_rs/D=1), the bearing capacity can be reduced to the value less than that of unreinforced cases. It can be due to high compressibility of rubber reinforced layers with higher thicknesses than optimum value.
It should be mentioned that the rubber reinforced layer can reduce the vertical inside stresses compared to unreinforced cases. It can be due to this fact that the rubber reinforced layer acts as a wide slab. Such that it can spread the applied loading over a wider area. Also rubber reinforced layer has high capacity of absorbing energy and therefore can decrease the vertical inside stresses.
Conclusion
In the present study the behavior of ring footing placed on rubber reinforced bed have been investigated by field test. The effect of different parameters such as inner to outer diameter ratio of ring footing and the thickness of rubber-soil mixture layer on the bearing capacity, settlement and vertical inside stresses of the footing bed were studied. The result indicates that:
- In both unreinforced and rubber reinforced bed, the ring footing with inner to outer diameter ratio (d/D) of 0.4 had the maximum bearing capacity, regardless of settlement level.
-The vertical inside stresses in different depths of footing bed decrease with increasing d/D ratio.
-The bearing capacity of ring footing increases with increasing the thickness of rubber-soil mixture layer (h_rs) up to the optimum value equals 0.5 times the outer diameter of ring footing.
-The vertical stresses can be reduced by using rubber reinforced layer../files/site1/files/151/5.pdf
 

---

Introduction
Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most important stimulation methods for oil and gas reservoirs with low permeability. Various factors, such as in-situ stresses, joints and natural fractures of the formation, fluid rheology, mechanical properties of the formation, injection fluid flow rate and perforation operation, effect on the pressure and hydraulic fracture geometry. Many researchers have studied hydraulic fracturing behavior of rocks since decades ago. The researches have showed that hydraulic fracturing operations increase the production of oil wells by up to 30 percent and increase gas wells by 90 percent. Currently, this operation is performed on about 60% of all drilled wells.
Material and methods
In this research, for the experimental investigation of the hydraulic fracturing, considering the reservoir condition, 39 concrete cubic samples with 100 × 100 × 100 mm dimensions and 60 concrete cylindrical samples with a diameter of 54 mm and a height of 110 mm were constructed and the effect of the sample geometry and in-situ stress field on the fracture geometry, breakdown pressure, the pattern of crack propagation and finally the cross fractures in vertical wellbores were investigated.
Results and discussion
In cubic specimens under uniaxial stress, with increasing vertical stress to 8 MPa, first the breakdown pressure has been increased by about 132% and then with increasing vertical stress to 16 MPa, the breakdown pressure has been decreased by about 69%. In cylindrical specimens under uniaxial stress, with increasing vertical stress to 12 MPa, first the breakdown pressure increased by about 113% and then with increasing vertical stress to 16 MPa, the breakdown pressure decreased by about 6%. As the vertical stress increases to a certain limit, the pores and micro-cracks inside the sample close, thus the tensile strength and breakdown pressure increase. In the following, increasing vertical stress causes more small cracks to open and reduces the tensile strength of the rock. In cubic specimens under triaxial stresses, with increasing vertical stress, the breakdown pressure has been increased. Also, in cylindrical specimens under triaxial stresses as the maximum horizontal stress increased, the breakdown pressure increased.
Conclusion
The obtained results demonstrated that increasing the uniaxial stress in the vertical wellbore in both types of studied sample geometry, first the breakdown pressure increases and then from one boundary onwards, with increasing vertical stress, the breakdown pressure decreases. In cubic specimens under triaxial stress, with increasing vertical stress, the breakdown pressure increases. Additionally, in cylindrical specimens under triaxial stresses as the maximum horizontal stress increases, the breakdown pressure increases, so that, in the 8 MPa maximum horizontal stress, the breakdown pressure increases by about 81%../files/site1/files/151/3.pdf