Search

The determination of the overconsolidation ratio (OCR) of clay deposits is an important task in geotechnical engineering practice. This paper examines the potential of a support vector machine (SVM) for predicting the OCR of clays from piezocone penetration test data. SVM is a statistical learning theory based on a structural risk minimization principle that minimizes both error and weight terms. The five input variables used for the SVM model for prediction of OCR are the corrected cone resistance (qt), vertical total stress (σv), hydrostatic pore pressure (u0), pore pressure at the cone tip (u1), and the pore pressure just above the cone base (u2). Sensitivity analysis has been performed to investigate the relative importance of each of the input parameters. From the sensitivity analysis, it is clear that qt=primary in situ data influenced by OCR followed by σv, u0, u2, and u1. Comparison between SVM and some of the traditional interpretation methods is also presented. The results of this study have shown that the SVM approach has the potential to be a practical tool for determination of OCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently developed region-specific GMPEs are used for a comprehensive seismic hazard analysis (SHA) of the North and Central Himalayas (NCH) using a probabilistic approach considering two source models. Vulnerable seismic sources in the areas are identified based on the Seismotectonic Atlas (Dasgupta et al. 2000), published by the Geological Survey of India. An up to date, homogenized and declustered earthquake catalogue is compiled from various sources, with earthquake data since 250 BC, to create a new digitized seismotectonic representation of the region. Regional seismic zones having similar seismicity are recognized based on the Gutenberg-Richter (GR) parameters and the region is delineated into 5 seismic zones. The study area is divided into grids of size 0.05° × 0.05° and the hazard in terms of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) at the centre of each grid point is estimated and presented as hazard maps for individual seismic sources, maximum of all sources, and average of both sources. From the current study, it could be concluded that the PGA estimated in the regions is comparatively higher than what is reported in the codal provisions for seismic zonation and estimation of design horizontal acceleration for the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]