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It has been realized that the raft (mat) foundations are capable of bearing very large loads when they are assisted with a pile
group. The contribution of both raft and piles to carry the surcharge loads is taken into account, considering the stiffness and
strength of involved elements in the system, i.e. piles, raft and surrounding soil. The piles are usually required not to ensure the
overall stability of the foundation but to act as settlement reducers. There is an alternative design in which, the piles are nonconnected
from the raft to reduce the settlement, which are then known to be "settlement reducer non-connected piles" to increase
the system stiffness. In this paper, two and three dimensional finite element analysis of connected and non-connected pile-raft
systems are performed on three case studies including a 12-storey residential building in Iran, a 39-storey twin towers in
Indonesia, and the Messeturm tower, 256m high, in Frankfurt, Germany. The analyses include the investigation of the effect of
different parameters, e.g. piles spacing, embedment length, piling configuration and raft thickness to optimize the design. The role
of each parameter is also investigated. The parametric study results and comparison to a few field measurements indicate that
by concentrating the piles in the central area of the raft foundation the optimum design with the minimum total length of piles is
achieved, which is considered as control parameter for optimum design. This can be considered as a criterion for project cost
efficiency. On the other hand, non-connected piled-raft systems can significantly reduce the settlements and raft internal bending
moments by increasing the subsoil stratum stiffness. Finally, the comparison indicates that simple and faster 2D analysis has
almost similar results to the time consuming and complicated 3D analysis.

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Among the different ways of in-situ soil investigation, cone penetration test data are selected to evaluate the spatial variability

of geomaterials and the scale of fluctuations is chosen to evaluate the correlation structure of CPT data. In this regard six case

studies in sandy materials from Australia, U.S.A. and Iraq are selected. Various techniques for the calculation of the scale of

fluctuation of geotechnical parameters are suggested in literature e.g. VXP, SAI, AMF, BLM and VRF without any preference or

privilege for any specific procedure. In order to isolate the stochastic portion of cone tip resistance, deterministic trend was first

removed by regression analysis. This study suggests that quadratic trend removal is more suitable for selected CPT data

soundings. The closeness of the estimated scale of fluctuation using different approaches is assessed too. Mean value of the scale

of fluctuation by five established methods ranges between 0.44 to 1.52 meter for six different cases and the coefficient of

variation for the scale of fluctuation calculated by these methods varies between 12 to 27 % showing that available established

methods produce almost compatible and comparable results.

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In a rare engineering experience throughout the world, we successfully stabilized relatively coarse materials of drain using

cement grouting. The grouting work was performed at the Karkheh earth dam, southwest Iran, and was part of the efforts to

extend the dam’s cut-off wall. Since the dam was completed, the execution of the new cut-off wall from the dam crest was

inevitable. Hence, one of the main difficulties associated with the development of the new cut-off wall was trenching and execution

of plastic-concrete wall through the relatively coarse materials of drain in the dam body. Due to high permeability of drain, the

work was associated with the possible risk of excessive slurry loss which could result in the collapse of the trench. In order to

achieve an appropriate grouting plan and to determine the mix ratio for the grouting material, a full-scale test platform consisting

of actual drain materials was constructed and underwent various tests. Results of the testing program revealed that a grouting

plan with at least 2 grouting rows and a Water/Cement mix ratio of 1/ (1.5-2) can successfully stabilize the drain materials. After

finalizing the technical characteristics of the grouting work, the method was applied on the drain materials of the Karkheh dam

body. The results were satisfactory and the drain materials were stabilized successfully so that the cut-off wall was executed

without any technical problem.

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Three common approaches to determine the axial pile capacity based on static analysis and in-situ tests are presented, compared and evaluated. The Unified Pile Design (UPD), American Petroleum Institute (API) and a SPT based methods were chosen to be validated. The API is a common method to estimate the axial bearing capacity of piles in marine environments, where as the others are currently used by geotechnical engineers. Seventy pile load test records performed in the northern bank of Persian Gulf with SPT profile have been compiled for methods evaluation. In all cases, pile capacities were measured using full scale static compression and/or pull out loading tests. As the loading tests in some cases were in the format of proof test without reaching the plunging or ultimate bearing capacity, for interpretation the results, offset limit load criteria was employed. Three statistical and probability based approaches in the form of a systematic ranking, called Rank Index, RI, were utilized to evaluate the performance of predictive methods. Wasted Capacity Index (WCI) concept was also applied to validate the efficiency of current methods. The evaluations revealed that among these three predictive methods, the UPD is more accurate and cost effective than the others.

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We consider the problem of continuous dynamic berth allocation to containerships in a tidal seaport. In some container ports, low water depth in coastal area causes many restrictions on providing vessel's services. Therefore, berth allocation planning for relatively large vessels with high draft is subject to tidal conditions when the vessels are in the access channel as from anchorage area to the quay. Tidal conditions sometimes have a significant effect on possibility of entrance and departure of these ships to or from ports. Shahid Rajaee Port Complex, Iran's largest container seaport and the case study of this research, located at northern coast of Persian Gulf and has low water depth in its area. Historical data of seaside operations in this port is applied to the proposed model. This model also takes into account the variations of water depth in different berths. Simultaneous programming for two or more container terminals and exertion of priority and precedency coefficients based on vessel size and voyage type altogether are other attributes of this model. Here, genetic algorithm in combination with pattern search algorithm was used for solving the problem. Computational experiments have indicated that the proposed heuristic is relatively effective just for small size instances.

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Physical modeling for study of deep foundations can be performed in simple chambers (1g), calibration chambers (CC),

and centrifuge apparatus (ng). These common apparatus face certain limitations and difficulties. Recently, Frustum Confining

Vessels (FCV) have been evolved for physical modeling of deep foundations and penetrometers. Shaped as the frustum of a

cone, this device applies steady pressure on its bottom and creates a linear stress distribution along its vertical central core.

This paper presents the key findings in FCV, as developed in AUT. The FCV has a height of 1200 mm, with top and bottom

diameters of 300 and 1300 mm, respectively. By applying bottom pressure up to 600 kPa, the in-situ overburden stress

conditions, equivalent up to 40 m soil deposits, become consistent with the embedment depth of commonly used piles.

Observations indicated that a linear trend of stress distribution exists, and this device can create overburden stress in the

desired control volume along the central core. Moreover, a couple of compressive and tensile load tests were performed on

steel model piles driven in sand with a length of 750 mm, and different length to diameter (L/D) ratios between 8-15.

Comparison between measured and predicted ultimate capacity of model piles performed in FCV demonstrate a suitable

conformity for similar confinement conditions in the field. Therefore, the FCV can be considered as an appropriate approach

for the investigation of piling geotechnical behavior, and the examination of construction effects.