MN471

Underground Space Technology

Dr. Nikhil Sirdesai (Asst. Professor)

GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS: Phasing of Investigation
• Therefore Site Investigation includes performing the following tasks depending on the stage of the project:
TASK SUBTASK STAGE OF PROJECT
LITERATURE REVIEW AND Collection and Review of Available Information
INFORMATION STUDY Topographical Data
Site Reconnaissance and Preliminary Surveys
Topographic Surveys
1. Planning and Feasibility Study
SURVEYS AND SITE Hydrographical Surveys
RECONNAISSANCE Utility Surveys
Identification of Underground Structures and Other Obstacles
Structure Preconstruction Survey
Discontinuity type
Discontinuity orientation
Discontinuity infilling 2. Corridor and Alignment Alternative Study
GEOLOGICAL MAPPING
Discontinuity spacing
Discontinuity persistence 3. Environmental Impact Studies (EIS) and
Weathering
Conceptual Design
Soil and Rock Identification and Classification
Test Borings and Sampling
SUBSURFACE 4. Preliminary Design and Final Design
Field Testing Techniques (Pre-Construction)
INVESTIGATIONS
Laboratory Testing
Groundwater Investigation 5.Construction
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY
SEISMICITY STUDY
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
• Geophysical Tests are indirect methods of exploration in which changes in certain physical characteristics
such as magnetism, density, electrical resistivity, elasticity, or a combination of these are used as an aid in
developing subsurface information.
• Geophysical methods provide a quick and economical means of supplementing information obtained by
direct exploratory methods, such as borings, and in-situ testing.
• They help in identifying local anomalies that might have been missed by other methods of exploration.
• They help in defining strata boundaries between widely spaced borings for more realistic prediction of
subsurface profiles.
• Typical uses of geophysical tests include determination of the top of bedrock, the excavability of rock, the
depth to groundwater, the presence and location of voids and utilities, the location and depth of existing
foundations, and the location and depth of other obstruction.
• In addition, geophysical testing can also obtain stiffness and dynamic properties.
• Geophysical testing can be performed on the surface, in boreholes (down or cross hole), or in front of the
TBM during construction
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Classification of geophysical techniques
• There are many geophysical techniques available during ground investigation. These techniques may be
categorized by the following:
✓ Control of input
Methods may be divided into two groups based on the input:
1. Passive Techniques: The anomalies measured by the technique pre-exist. They cannot be varied by the
investigator. Repeat surveys can be carried out to investigate the effects of variations of background
‘noise’, but apart from varying the time of the survey, and the equipment used, no refinement is
possible. In using passive techniques, the choice of the precise technique and the equipment to be used
are very important. Generally these techniques involve measurements of local variations in the Earth’s
natural force fields (for example, gravity and magnetic fields).
2. Active Techniques: These techniques measure perturbations created by an input, such as seismic energy
or nuclear radiation. Signal-to-noise ratio can be improved by adding together the results of several
surveys (stacking), or by altering the input geometry.
• In general, interpretation is more positive for active than for passive techniques, but the cost of active
techniques tends to be greater than for passive techniques.
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Classification of geophysical techniques
✓ Types of measurement
Some geophysical techniques detect the spatial difference in the properties of the ground. Such differences (for example,
the difference between the density of the ground and that of a water-filled cavity) lead to perturbations of the
background level of a particular measurement (in this case, gravitational pull) which are measured and interpreted. These
perturbations are termed anomalies. Other geophysical techniques measure particular events (for example, seismic shear
wave arrivals, as a function of time), and during interpretation these measurements are converted into properties (in this
case, seismic shear wave velocity). A particular geophysical technique will make measurements of only a single type.
Commonly used techniques measure:
1. seismic wave amplitude, as a function of time;
2. electrical resistivity or conductivity;
3. electromagnetic radiation;
4. radioactive radiation;
5. magnetic flux density; and
6. gravitational pull.
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Distinction between passive and active
• In the case of passive techniques:
1. Gravity methods respond to differences in the mass of their surroundings, which results either from
contrasts in the density of the ground, or from variations in geometry (cavities and voids,
embankments, hills, etc.);
2. Magnetic methods detect differences in the Earth’s magnetic field, which are produced locally by the
degree of the magnetic susceptibility (the degree to which a body can be magnetized) of the
surroundings. Such methods will primarily detect the differences in the iron content of the ground,
whether natural or artificial.
3. Natural gamma logging detects the very small background radiation emitted by certain layers in the
ground.
• Active methods require more consideration, because surveys using these methods can be optimized if the
principles of the methods.
• The most common active method used in surveying is the seismic method
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Seismic Method: Introduction
• The seismic method provides valuable information on the stiffness variations in the ground.
• The seismic method relies on the differences in velocity of elastic or seismic waves through
different geological or man-made materials.
• An elastic wave is generated in the ground by impactive force (a falling weight or hammer blow)
or explosive charge.
• The resulting ground motion is detected at the surface by vibration detectors (geophones).
• Measurements of time intervals between the generation of the wave and its reception at the
geophones enable the velocity of the elastic wave through different media in the ground to be
determined
• A seismic disturbance in elastically homogenous ground, whether natural (earthquakes) or
artificially induced, will cause the propagation of four types of elastic wave, which travel at
different velocities.
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Longitudinal waves (‘P’ waves)
• These are propagated as spherical fronts from the source of the seismic disturbance.
• The motion of the ground is in the direction of propagation.
• These waves travel faster than any other type of wave generated by the seismic disturbance.
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Transverse or shear waves (‘S’ waves)
• Transverse waves, like longitudinal waves, are propagated as spherical fronts.
• The ground motion, however, is perpendicular to the direction of propagation in this case.
• S waves have two degrees of freedom unlike P waves which only have one.
• In practice, the S wave motion is resolved into components parallel and perpendicular to the surface of the ground, which are known
respectively as SH and SV waves.
• The maximum velocity of an S wave is about 70% of the P wave velocity through the same medium.
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Rayleigh waves (R waves)
• These waves travel only along the ground surface. The particle motion associated with these waves is
elliptical (in the vertical plane).
• Rayleigh waves generally attenuate rapidly with distance. The velocity of these waves depends on
wavelength and the thickness of the surface layer.
• In general, Rayleigh waves travel slower than P or S waves.
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Love waves (L waves)
• These are surface waves which occur only when the surface layer has a low P wave velocity than the underlying
layer. The wave motion is horizontal and transverse.
• The velocity of these waves may be equal to the S wave velocity of the surface layer or the underlying layer
depending on the wavelength of the Love wave.
• Energy sources used in seismic work do not generate Love waves to a significant degree. Love waves are therefore
generally considered unimportant in seismic investigation.
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Seismic Method: Introduction
• Soils generally comprise two phases (the soil skeleton and its interstitial water) and may have three phases
(soil, water and air).
• P-wave energy travels through both the skeleton and the pore fluid, while S-wave energy travels only
through the skeleton, because the pore fluid has no shear resistance.
• Traditionally, the geophysical industry mostly used P waves. These are easy to detect, since they are the
first arrivals on the seismic record.
• However, in relative soft saturated near-surface sediments the P-wave velocity is dominated by the bulk
modulus of the pore fluid.
• If the ground is saturated, and the skeleton relatively compressible, the P-wave velocity will not be much
different from that of water (about 1500 m/s).
• Therefore it is not possible to distinguish between different types of ground on the basis of P-wave
velocities until the bulk modulus of the skeleton of the soil or rock is substantially greater than that of
water. This is only the case for relatively unweathered and unfractured rocks, for which the P-wave velocity
can be as high as 7000 m/s.
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Seismic Method: Introduction
• Shear wave energy travels at a speed which is determined primarily by the shear modulus of the soil or
rock skeleton, modified by its state of fracturing.
• Since the bulk density of soil is not very variable, the variation of S-wave velocity gives a good indication to
the very small strain stiffness variations of the ground.
• The general behavior of soils is non-linear plastic in nature. Soils behave in a linear-elastic manner at very
small strain levels
• Since the strains around excavation projects are typically very small when compared to tectonic
movements, stiffnesses measurements obtained from geophysical methods are relatively equal to those
required for design of structures. For rocks the operational stiffness is similar to that obtained from field
seismic method.
• Since other geophysical methods have a large uncertainty in determining ground stiffnesses, seismic
geophysical methods of determining S-wave velocities are becoming increasingly important in geotechnical
site investigations.
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Use of Seismic wave velocities
• The compressional and shear wave velocities (VP and VS) can be used to estimate dynamic mechanical
properties and estimate the rock mass condition with the following equations

2 2 2 100 (𝑉𝑃 −3500)ൗ

𝜌𝑉 (3𝑉 − 4𝑉 ) [ 1000]
′ 𝑆 𝑃 𝑆 𝑅𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑄 = 𝑈𝐶𝑆 × 10
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑠 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝐸 =
𝑉𝑝2 − 𝑉𝑆2
This applies only under the following conditions:
2 2 • Height of overburden (H): 500>H>25 (m)
𝑉𝑃 − 2𝑉𝑆
𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛′ 𝑠 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 (𝜈) = 𝑉𝑆
2(𝑉𝑝2 − 𝑉𝑆2 ) • ൗ𝑉𝑃 = 0.5 𝑡𝑜 0.66

𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ (𝑈𝐶𝑆) = 6 × 10−7 𝑉𝑆2.3821

 PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Use of Seismic wave velocities: Example
′
𝜌𝑉𝑆2 (3𝑉𝑃2 − 4𝑉𝑆2 )
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑠 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝐸 = (GPa)
𝑉𝑝2 − 𝑉𝑆2 • With the help of the following data, calculate
the Q, UCS, E and ν of the 3 ground layers:

′
𝑉𝑃2 − 2𝑉𝑆2 Layer Depth VP (m.s-1) VS (m.s-1) Bulk Density (kg.m-3)
𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑠 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 (𝜈) = (dimensionless) 1 50 m 4500 2500 2500
2(𝑉𝑝2 − 𝑉𝑆2 )
2 75 m 4200 2300 2200
3 95 m 3200 1900 1750

𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ (𝑈𝐶𝑆) = 6 × 10−7 𝑉𝑆2.3821 (MPa) Using the elastic theory, calculate the horizontal
stresses at each stratum
(𝑉𝑃 −3500) ൗ1000]
100
𝑅𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑄 = 𝑈𝐶𝑆 × 10[
This applies only under the following conditions: (dimensionless) 𝜈
• Height of overburden (H): 500>H>25 𝐾=
1−𝜈
• 𝑉𝑆ൗ𝑉𝑃 = 0.5 𝑡𝑜 0.66

𝜎𝐻 = 𝐾 × 𝜎𝑉

𝜎𝑉 = 𝛿 × 𝑔 × 𝐻
PHASE: SURSURFACE INVESTIGATION: GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION
Method Procedure Limitations/Remarks
Cross-Hole At least 2 boreholes are required: a source borehole within Receivers must be properly oriented and
which a seismic pulse is generated, and a receiver borehole in securely in contact with the side of the
which a geophone records generated compression and shear borehole. Boreholes deeper than about
waves. For increased accuracy additional receiver boreholes are 30 ft should be surveyed using an
used. inclinometer or other device to
determine the travel distance between
holes.
Up-Hole or Performed in a single borehole. In up-hole method, a sensor is Data limited to area in immediate
Down- placed at the ground surface and shear waves are generated at vicinity of the borehole.
Hole various depths in the borehole. In down-hole method, seismic
wave is generated at the surface and one or more sensors are
placed at different depths within the hole.
Parallel Used to determine the depth of existing foundations, an impulse Requires access to top of foundation.
Seismic wave is generated at the top of the foundation, and a sensor in
an adjacent borehole records arrival of the stress wave at set
depth increments.