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To cite this article: Seyed Adel Ahmadi Hosseini, S. Farid F. Mojtahedi & Hamed Sadeghi
(2019): Optimisation of deep mixing technique by artificial neural network based on laboratory and
field experiments, Georisk: Assessment and Management of Risk for Engineered Systems and
Geohazards, DOI: 10.1080/17499518.2019.1612526
Article views: 25
1. Introduction
and Kobayashi 1998, 2000; Bergado and Lorenzo 2005;
The issue of soil bearing capacity becomes important Larsson, Dahlström, and Nilsson 2005).
once structures need to be built on soft and low strength Soil treatment with cement has been the subject of
soil deposits due to complex dictating conditions. As a numerous studies (Diamond and Kinter 1965; Assarson
result, different ground improvement methods have et al. 1974; Bergado et al. 1996; Al-Rawas, Hago, and
been developed to increase soil strength parameters (Hir- Al-Sarmi 2005). In these studies, the mechanism of
kane, Gore, and Salunke 2014). DMT is one of the most improvement in soil strength due to adding cement
common and yet relatively recent methods of improving was investigated. The effect of dry DMT in soft clay
the strength and deformation characteristics of weak soil with cement on differential settlements between the
layers. This method can be used in fine sand and highly pile-supported bridges and the embankment fill was
organic soils. The procedure of DMT includes mixing investigated by Lin and Wong (1999) and observed a sig-
the in-situ soil with a certain proportion of cement or nificant reduction in the settlement as well as lateral
lime or a combination of both in slurry or powder movement. In order to further examine the effect of
form, depending on the initial water content. This is DMT on reducing settlement of large areas, a study
achieved by using special augers and vertical columns was performed along a highway in Thailand by Bergado
of improved soil with the desired centre to centre dis- et al. (1999). Their results showed a similar trend as in
tance are eventually formed. If the binders are used in Lin and Wong (1999). The long-term deterioration of
the slurry form, the method is called “wet DMT”; on improved soil–cement columns created by DMT was
the other hand, if they are used in powder form, it is investigated by Pham et al. (2017) and Song et al.
called “dry DMT”. The latter is only applicable where (2014) by means of several testing methodologies and
the water table is near the ground surface. The effective- it was revealed that needle penetration resistance test is
ness of DMT in enhancement of soil strength was the the most suitable choice compared with unconfined
motivation behind several comprehensive studies on compressive test and thermogravimetric analysis. The
different aspects of this technique from basic concepts influence of DMT on the generation of pore water
to applications (e.g. Porbaha 1998; Porbaha, Tanaka, pressure was investigated by Chen et al. (2012), which
showed that performing DMT increases the pore water Although a specific site was chosen for investigation
pressure near the columns. This increase is reached to in the current study, DMT is one of the most effective
its peak at the end of each installation. Farouk and Sha- and widely used techniques of ground improvements
hien (2013) evaluated the possibility of stabilising the when a weak soil stratum is encountered with high settle-
Nile delta by using soil–cement columns. Results of ment potential and low shear strength. In other words,
this study showed that even at a low cement content, the methodology adopted and the key conclusions
UCS could be effectively enhanced. Some quantitative drawn in this study could be of value especially to practi-
research has been conducted to investigate the evolution cing engineers once DMT is recognised as the best choice
of soil strength with cement content (e.g. Lorenzo and for a specific site by a chartered consultant.
Bergado 2004, 2006). In these studies, a correlation
between soil strength and the cement content was pro-
2. Study area
posed that is applicable for a wide variety of conditions.
Use of ANNs, as a method of estimation and optimis- The study area is located in Khuzestan province of Iran.
ation, has increased drastically in different fields of civil Khuzestan is in the south-west of Iran, and is surrounded
engineering over the past few years (Waszczyszyn 2017). by the Zagros Mountains from the North and the East.
Regarding geotechnical engineering, it has been used in Major rivers flowing through this province are Karun,
several fields and laboratory studies (Shahin, Jaksa, and Karkheh, and Jarrahi. The existence of the Zagros Moun-
Maier 2001, 2002, 2008). Furthermore, different methods tains has created climatic variations from semi-arid in
of artificial intelligence for predicting maximum dry den- Azadegan plain to more humid near the mountains.
sity and UCS of cement treated soils were investigated by Drought in recent years has made the plain a high poten-
Das, Samui, and Sabat (2011). Results of this study showed tial ground for dust pollution, which is one of the most
the high applicability of using artificial intelligence in pre- serious geo-environmental concern for that region. The
dicting cement–soil admixture strength. In addition, Nar- studied site is also located within the plain areas with
endra et al. (2006) compared different methods of the latitude and longitude of 31.3183°N and 48.6706°E,
computer intelligence for predicting UCS of soft grounds. respectively. It is about 30 km away from Ahvaz, the
According to the results, ANNs was evaluated as the most capital city of Khuzestan (Figure 1(a)). Soil deposits in
accurate technique amongst those methods. this area usually consist of fine particles being loosely
This study aims to estimate the effect of DMT on packed, and hence characterised with a low shear
enhanced soil strength. In order to achieve that, both strength.
field and laboratory experiments are carried out to evalu-
ate the influence of several parameters on strength
3. Experimental study
characteristics. Afterwards, the most effective parameters
on the strength of admixture are determined and conse- Three boreholes were bored in the current study for
quently, the ANNs are used as the optimisation method improving ground by using DMT. In addition, in order
to estimate soil strength for known input parameters. to verify the analysed data obtained from laboratory
More important, ANNs are conversely trained to deter- specimens, a testing borehole was bored. The location
mine input admixture parameters for achieving a specific for all the boreholes is shown in Figure 1(b). The distance
strength level with respect to economic considerations between boreholes was considered long enough to mini-
and limitations. Finally, predictions made by ANNs on mise the mutual effects amongst them as much as poss-
data obtained from three boreholes in the field are com- ible. Each of the boreholes has a depth of 7.5 m that was
pared with laboratory measurements conducted on bored using continuous -flight augers and samples were
intact specimens retrieved from these boreholes. It is taken every 1.5 m by using Shelby tubes. Details of both
noted that field data include results of cone penetration laboratory and field tests are presented and discussed
test (CPT), plate load test (PLT) and pressure-meter accordingly.
test (PMT) before and after DMT. This relatively com-
prehensive set of laboratory and field tests has been
3.1. Methodology of laboratory tests
rarely reported altogether in the same study. The motiv-
ation behind the current research was the construction of 3.1.1. Soil type
large water reservoirs in this area. The size and impor- Undisturbed soil samples for finding natural strength
tance of serviceability for these reservoirs have raised before adding cement and classification were retrieved
serious concerns over safety and performance of the from the boreholes at 1.5 m intervals down to 7.5 m.
superstructure due to the existence of weak soil deposits Samples were first sheared in the unconfined com-
underneath. pression loading mode (ASTM D2166 2006), and the
GEORISK: ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF RISK FOR ENGINEERED SYSTEMS AND GEOHAZARDS 3
Figure 1. Location of (a) study area and (b) sampling and testing boreholes on Iran map.
disturbed soils were used afterwards for classification. of Table 1, clay contents of different boreholes are
Results revealed an almost uniform soil profile along approximately more than 50%. As a result, the natural
the depth of each borehole but three different soil types soil in the study area mostly comprises of clay which is
were classified from three boreholes. Physical tests on also supported by the measured PI on retrieved soils.
disturbed samples included soil classification (ASTM
D2487 2011), specification of mortar unit masonry 3.1.2. Preparation of cement–soil admixture
(ASTM C270 2003), Atterberg limits (ASTM D4318 Natural soils obtained from three boreholes were used
2010) and specific gravity (ASTM D854 2010). The for the preparation of cement–soil admixture. First,
grain size distribution curves for these three soil types soils were oven-dried so that water content can be
are shown in Figure 2 and summary of physical soil more precisely controlled and assured before adding
properties is given in Table 1. According to the results cement. Oven-dried samples were then mixed with
4 S. A. A. HOSSEINI ET AL.
Table 2. Chemical composition of cement used for DMT and 3.2.2. Field experiments
sample preparation.
A series of field tests was carried out before and after per-
Type Percentage
forming DMT to assess the influence of employing DMT
Calcium oxide (CaO) 64.5
Magnesium oxide (MgO) 3.12 on enhancing the in-situ soil strength. Three types of
Silica (SiO2) 19.68 field tests including PMT, PLT and CPT were run
Iron oxide (Fe2O3) 3.25
Alumina (Al2O3) 4.20 according to Menard (1975), ASTM D1194 (2003) and
Sulphur trioxide (SO3) 4.44 Schmertmann (1978), respectively. Each type of test was
Loss on ignition 0.81
assigned to a specific borehole according to Table 1 and
GEORISK: ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF RISK FOR ENGINEERED SYSTEMS AND GEOHAZARDS 5
was conducted nearby the improved soil column. It is also admixture) are depicted against PI for different values
noted that PLT was conducted on a 0.3 m-diameter steel of curing time in Figure 4. In order to make a fair com-
disk at 1 m below the ground surface. parison, the data presented in the figure belong to soil
specimens with the cement content and water–cement
ratio of 20% and 0.8, respectively. According to Figure 4,
3.3. Interpretation of laboratory test results an increase in PI results in a decrease in ΔUCS after add-
ing cement slurry. There is a good agreement between
3.3.1. Effects of different parameters on shear the results of the current study and those obtained by
strength of cement–soil admixture Miller and Azad (2000), which showed the increase in
The influences of several variables on the evolution of PI results in a lower change in the UCS after adding
UCS measured on different specimens are presented cement slurry.
and discussed in this section. Figure 3 shows the vari- As shown in Figure 3, for each borehole, a logarithmic
ations in UCS with cement content for three types of equation in the form of y = a Ln(x) + b was used to cor-
soil. Data points plotted in Figure 3 were selected so relate added cement to the enhanced strength. The
that all specimens have a water–cement ratio of 0.8 equation is represented as follow:
and a curing time of 7 days. These variables were kept
constant to eliminate the contribution of other influen- UCS = a Ln(cement content) + b (1)
cing factors on test results. As shown in Figure 3,
strength increases as cement content increases but at a where UCS is the unconfined compressive strength of
reducing rate for all soil types considered. However, cement–soil admixture in kPa, α and β are fitting par-
different soil types used in the preparation of cement– ameters corresponding to each borehole. The logarith-
soil admixture gain different strength possibly as a con- mic form was proposed and used since it can well
sequence of different physical properties. According to capture non-linear ascending trends observed between
the results, soil types obtained from borehole #1 and cement content and the soil shear strength. The α par-
borehole #2 indicate the highest and lowest strength, ameter in Equation (1) represents the effect of soil type
respectively, and the data from borehole #3 lie some- on the enhancement of soil strength. It should be
where in between at a given cement content. This obser- noted that the effect of soil type has been simplified by
vation on different strength measured at fixed conditions considering PI as the representative parameter for a
except soil type is attributed to the intrinsic soil proper- specific soil, i.e. α can be correlated to the soil type as fol-
ties. PI, in particular, seems to play a major role in lows:
strength behaviour as the average measurements on a = f (PI) (2)
samples from three boreholes revealed the PI values of
30%, 10%, and 15% for the borehole #1, borehole #2 In a logarithmic equation such as Equation (1), a high
and borehole #3, respectively. The influence of PI on value for α implies a high curve concavity and vice versa.
observed shear strength is discussed in further details Therefore, a lower curve concavity in Figure 3 suggests a
accordingly. higher potential for the soil to gain strength. In order to
Changes in UCS (ΔUCS = the difference between soil further investigate the potential of gaining strength in
strength before adding cement and that of cement–soil different soils, the α parameter is plotted against soil PI
Figure 3. Variations in UCS with cement content for W/C of 0.8 Figure 4. Effect of PI on change in UCS for samples with cement
and curing time of 7 days. content of 20% and W/C of 0.9.
6 S. A. A. HOSSEINI ET AL.
Figure 8. 3D representation of variations in UCS against cement Figure 10. 3D representation of variations in UCS against cement
content and W/C for samples retrieved from borehole #1 and content and W/C for samples retrieved from borehole #3 and
cured for 28 days. cured for 28 days.
Table 3. Results of field PMT before and after deep mixing. 3.4.3. Results of CPT
Depth (m) Eoed before DMT (kPa) Eoed after DMT (kPa) CPT is used to highlight the difference in soil strength
1.5 64 256 before and after performing DMT. The test was con-
3 84 312
4.5 59 249 ducted 0.5 m apart from borehole #3. Results of CPT
6 96 562 usually contain two parameters: fs or frictional resistance
and qc or tip resistance. In this study, tip resistance is
considered and the variations in qc with depth before
essential parameters obtained from the PMT test results and after performing DMT were plotted in Figure 12.
is the oedometer loading modulus (Eoed). The results of A significant increase in strength can be observed by
PMT in terms of measured Eoed both before and after comparing qc before and after DMT. However, the
performing DMT are summarised in Table 3. The con- effect is negligible in some limited zones along the bore-
siderable increase in Eoed after performing DMT accord- hole depth, for example, at the initiation of the test and
ing to Table 3 at all depths is an indicator of its positive also 7.5 m below ground surface. A possible explanation
effect on ground improvement. The analysis of test is that results of CPT at the start of penetration are not
results reveals a fourfold to fivefold increase in Eoed usually reliable and hence be mostly removed from the
due to the field application of DMT. analysis (Schmertmann 1988). Regarding test results at
7.5 m, the inappropriate mixing of slurry with soil
could be a possible reason for negligible enhancement
3.4.2. Results of PLT
in tip resistance with DMT.
Similar to the PMT, the PLT was performed 0.5 m away
from borehole #2 to evaluate the effect of DMT on settle-
ment properties of improved soil profile after 28 days of
4. Optimisation of DMT by ANN
curing the soil–cement admixture. Soil settlement is one
of the key output of the PLT test. Therefore, results in As a mathematical optimisation model, ANN is used to
terms of load-settlement curves before and after per- connect one set of input data to another set as output
forming DMT are shown in Figure 11(a,b), respectively. one. This model, simulating the biological neural net-
Comparison on the order of magnitude in the ordinate of work systems, has been widely used in geotechnical
two sub-figures indicates the considerable effect of DMT engineering in recent years (Sulewska 2017). In this
on the reduction of settlement. This observation is, in study, ANN is utilised as an optimisation method to
fact, a consequence of the stiffening effect of DMT on find the statistical correlations between key factors
in-situ soil properties, which is consistent with the results influencing the UCS of soil–cement admixture. As
of the PMT on another borehole. Two key conclusions shown in Figure 13, for example, the input parameters
can be made based on the results of Figure 11. First, per- (I1, I2, and I3) for the conceptual ANN model can be
forming DMT results in a significant decrease in settle- cement content, water–cement ratio and curing time
ment of soil under a given load; for example, the and the output parameter (O1) can be the UCS of
settlement under a load of 4 tons before DMT is cement–soil admixture. Furthermore, number of hidden
29 mm and it reduces to about 0.5 mm after performing layers in the ANN can be different in order to reach
DMT. Second, DMT has a notable influence on the different accuracy levels.
reduction of irreversible settlement. In other words, the There is not unfortunately any empirical or semi-
elastic region of improved soil seems to be considerably empirical equation for DMT that can predict the
enlarged. improved strength value based on the most significant
Figure 11. Field PLT test performed (a) before, and (b) after DMT.
GEORISK: ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF RISK FOR ENGINEERED SYSTEMS AND GEOHAZARDS 9
4.1.1. Case I
In Case I, soil strength is the output parameter estimated
based on physical soil properties and the amount of
cement content and water–cement ratio. Four different
ANNs were trained for getting more accurate results.
The first one was trained using all the data related to
192 specimens. It was assumed that the parameters
affecting the soil strength before mixing include percen-
tage of fine particles, sand, and gravel content as well as
PI. In the other three sets of ANNs, the effect of soil type
was removed from analyses. Therefore, to train an ANN
for each borehole, the data of 64 specimens from the cor-
Figure 13. Conceptual model of ANN used for optimisation. responding borehole was adopted. Detailed information
regarding these four ANNs is summarised in Table 4. A by using analytical or experimental methods. However,
comparison between measured and estimated UCS using determination of input parameters especially when
four sets of trained ANNs is made in Figure 14. Figure 14 experimental methods have to be used is costly and
(a) is related to the ANN trained for all sets of data also time consuming. Analytical approaches also fail
including soil type while Figure 14(b–d) belongs to to give a robust answer to field studies due to the com-
trained ANNs based on data from borehole #1, borehole plexity of in-situ soil conditions and hence the uncer-
#2, and borehole #3, respectively. As shown in Figure 14 tainties involved. In order to cope with these
(a), the performance of trained ANN including soil type limitations, the cement content and water–cement
is relatively good by delivering a coefficient of determi- ratio are used as output parameters while soil type
nation as high as 0.93. The prediction capability of and UCS are input values in Case II. In other words,
ANN gets much improved if it is specifically trained cement content and water–cement ratio to reach a tar-
for a given soil type as shown in Figure 14(b–d). The get strength level can be estimated following this
coefficient of determination for the predication capa- approach. It is noted that in training the ANN, the
bility of trained ANNs based on data of specific bore- curing time of 28 days is used as it was revealed
holes is more than 0.96. Results again reveal that soil from the experimental work that the most significant
type is one of the influencing factors on the UCS and rise in strength occurred during this period. In
hence the performance of optimisation. In other words, addition, the goal of conducting DMT is to reach the
if better performance of ANN is required for a wide ultimate strength level which is expected to be margin-
range of soils, the input data should also include various ally higher than that gained after 28 days of curing.
soil types. It is noted that a wide practical range for other Therefore, only data related to the curing period of
parameters including curing time, cement content and 28 days are used in optimisation. Besides, physical
water–cement ratio was already considered in training soil properties including percentages of gravel, sand
ANNs. and fine particles along with PI were used as input
parameters in addition to UCS. The reason was to con-
4.1.2. Case II sider the soil type in optimisation and results of ana-
A different approach with a more practical application lyses. The ANN of Case II is then supposed to
is taken in Case II. Detailed information regarding the deliver both cement content and water–cement ratio
ANN of Case II is given in Table 4. In most laboratory as output parameters corresponding to a specific soil
and field experiments, a specific strength level is type and strength level for the range considered in
needed, for which the input parameters are determined this study. It should be noted that in some cases,
Figure 14. Comparisons between measured and predicted USC using ANN for experimental data from (a) all three boreholes, (b) bore-
hole #1, (c) borehole #2, and (d) borehole #3.
GEORISK: ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF RISK FOR ENGINEERED SYSTEMS AND GEOHAZARDS 11
there is more than one answer for these output values. 4.3. ANN-based mathematical prediction models
However, the ANN was set to give the more economic
In this section, trained ANNs are discussed in further
choice based on the economic strategy defined, which
details. For the Case I and II, five different ANNs were
will be discussed in the following section. The com-
trained with different characteristics and input and out-
parison between predictions and measured values of
put parameters which are given in Table 4. It is noted
cement content and water–cement ratio is made in
that ANNs consist of one hidden layer. In addition,
Figure 15(a,b), respectively. Results show a satisfactory
each case and its corresponding ANNs has four hidden
correlation between experimental data and predictions
neurons in its hidden layer. Furthermore, the hyperbolic
made by the ANN since the coefficient of determi-
tangent (tanh) and linear transfer functions were used
nation is 0.94 and 0.93 for cement content and
for the hidden layer and output layer nodes, respectively.
water–cement ratio, respectively.
As a result, the formulation of the ANN becomes on the
basis of Equation (3) as:
4.2. Economic considerations in training the ANN
O = B2 + WO . tanh (B1 + I.WH ) (3)
The economics of geotechnical design plays an impor-
tant role in field work, especially at large scales. DMT where O is the output, B2 is the bias for the output
is a ground improvement technique being mostly used layer nodes, WO is the weights of the output layer
to affect large areas comprising of weak soil deposits. nodes, B1 is the bias for the hidden layer nodes, and
Therefore, an economic decision making on the WH is the weights of the hidden layer nodes. Before
required amount of mixing materials would be highly training the ANNs, in order to determine the final
desirable. Regarding DMT, cement and water are the mathematical formulation for each ANN, it is
two mixture materials need to be optimised based on required that the input and the output of the ANN
economic considerations. Apart from the equipment be in the same range to ensure that all the input par-
employed in DMT, the economic decision making is ameters are fairly considered in the training process.
mainly dictated by the required amount of cement As a result, our data are normalised according to
and water. This is due to the fact that the cost of pro- Equation (4) as:
viding equipment is almost constant and independent
of mix design. Therefore, cement content and water– X − Xmin
Xn = (4)
cement ratio are two key factors playing role in optim- Xmax − Xmin
isation of cost analysis. As water price is much lower
than the price of Portland cement for a given mass where X is the sample in the data to be normalised,
in Iran (For a specific weight for both the cement Xmin is the minimum sample, Xmax is the maximum
and water, cement costs approximately 100 times the sample, and Xn is the final normalised sample.
water), it is desirable to lower the cement content Based on the general Equation (3) and training the
and raise the water content as much as possible to ANNs with the normalised parameters, weights and
reach a target strength level. Therefore, the strategy biases of each ANN can be calculated and used to derive
taken in ANN training was to choose the option the mathematical formulations of the ANNs in
with lower cement content when two answers are Equations (5)–(10). The number of the equations related
available. to the specific ANNs is presented in the last column of
Figure 15. Comparison between measured input parameters in DMT and predicted ones using Case II ANN for (a) cement content, and
(b) water–cement ratio.
12 S. A. A. HOSSEINI ET AL.
where UCS is the normalised unconfined compressive addition, the predictions made by ANNs following two
strength, CT is the normalised curing time, WC is the scenarios of Case I and Case II are depicted in Figure 16
normalised water–cement ratio, CC is the normalised for the sake of comparison. There is a satisfactory
cement content, PI is the normalised plasticity index, G match between measurements and predictions. How-
is the normalised gravel percentage, S is the normalised ever, there are some discrepancies that could arise
sand percentage, and F is the normalised fine percentage. from some potential source of errors. First of all, the
soil type from Testing Borehole is different from the
soil type based on which the ANN was trained. Second,
4.4. Verification of the proposed methodology for
there is an inevitable difference in testing and application
DMT
conditions between laboratory and field experiments
After carrying out a comprehensive set of laboratory and even if the origin of soil remains essentially the same.
field experiments along with the ANN analyses, the per- For example, in-situ conditions, temperature, humidity,
formance of the proposed methodology is verified. In and hence curing environment, machine operation,
order to achieve that, a DMT was planned to be con- etc., could be some potential sources of noise affecting
ducted based on the predictions made by the trained the performance of ANN predictions. Nevertheless, bet-
ANNs. As the new borehole, namely Testing Borehole ter predictions would be expected. More important, the
(Figure 1) is far from the previous three boreholes, the scattering of data along the borehole depth may also
index soil properties are also different. Detailed proper- suggest the nonhomogeneous improvement caused by
ties of soil retrieved from this borehole are summarised DMT along with the depth. A possible reason is the natu-
in Table 1. Following the scenario of Case II, it was ral variability in natural soil deposits. However, the
revealed that the required amount of cement content differences in measurements on five specimens are not
and water–cement ratio to reach the target UCS dictated so huge and only limited to 80 kPa (9% of UCS on aver-
by the employer is 22% and 0.95, respectively. Therefore, age). The verification field test proves the robustness of
the mixture design optimised by the ANN was followed the adopted methodology for conducting DMT.
in the Testing Borehole and the improved area was left
for 28 days as the optimum curing time. Soil specimens
5. Conclusions
were accordingly taken nearby the borehole at 1.5 m
intervals from the ground surface down to 7.5 m for lab- The current study aimed at investigating the effects of
oratory verification tests. Afterwards, the performance of DMT variables on the shear strength of the improved
Case I and II was verified through the comparison of pre- base soil. Several soil specimens with different base soil
dicted UCS and the measured laboratory value on field represented by PI were prepared with different cement
specimens. The verification test revealed the satisfactory contents and water–cement ratios and then cured for
performance of both Case I and II scenarios. Indeed, soil varied curing time. Afterwards, the specimens were
index properties, 22% cement content, and 0.95 water– sheared in the unconfined compression test and conse-
cement ratio were used as input variables to predict the quently, a comprehensive set of data including 192
UCS following Case I. element tests were provided for evaluating the influence
Measured experimental data on specimens retrieved of several key factors on soil strength. In addition to lab-
from the new borehole are plotted in Figure 16. In oratory investigations, field experiments and ANN ana-
lyses were done to optimise the procedure of DMT.
The key conclusions drawn are:
of water–cement ratio than this range, the specimen ASTM, C. 2003. 270, Standard Specification for Mortar for Unit
lost strength as the state changed from solid to liquid. Masonry. Annual Book of ASTM Standards, 4.
. Soil type affects the optimised water–cement ratio due ASTM, D. 2006. Standard Test Method for Unconfined
Compressive Strength of Cohesive Soil. ASTM Standard
to the fact that when the PI increases, the optimised D2166.
water–cement ratio increases too. ASTM, D. 2010. 4318-10 Standard Test Methods for Liquid
. The laboratory database was used to construct 3D Limit, Plastic Limit, and Plasticity Index of Soils. West
plots for variations in UCS against other two arbitrary Conshohocken, PA: American Society for Testing and
key variables. The important finding is that the Materials, ASTM International.
ASTM, D. 2010. Standard Test Methods for Specific Gravity of
observed “hump-shaped” three dimensional trend in
Soil Solids by Water Pycnometer. D854.
all plots suggests the existence of a clear peak strength ASTM, D. 2011. 2487 (2006) Standard Practice for
corresponding to specific variables. Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes (Unified
. 3D plots can be effectively used for interpolation/ Soil Classification System). Book of Standards, 4(08).
extrapolation of strength at any arbitrarily selected Bergado, D. T., L. R. Anderson, N. Miura, and A. S.
variables for a DMT mixture design. Balasubramaniam. 1996. Soft Ground Improvement in
Lowland and Other Environments. New York: ASCE.
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tool for prediction purposes. Two prediction scenarios Method for Cement Deep Mixing.” Geo-Frontiers 2005,
were adopted including (I) prediction of soil strength 130–142, 1787–1796.
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prediction of input parameters (e.g. cement content Balasubramaniam. 1999. “Deep Soil Mixing Used to
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out in a borehole. The ANN was revealed to be a 2012. “Field Tests, Modification, and Application of Deep
powerful tool not only for optimisations of field Soil Mixing Method in Soft Clay.” Journal of Geotechnical
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The authors would like to thank Mohammadsadegh Saberian Diamond, S., and E. B. Kinter. 1965. Mechanisms of Soil-Lime
for his help in data presentation and visualisation. The last Stabilization. Highway Research Record, (92).
author is also grateful to the Office of the Vice-President for Farouk, A., and M. M. Shahien. 2013. “Ground Improvement
Research and Technology of Sharif University of Technology. Using Soil–Cement Columns: Experimental Investigation.”
Alexandria Engineering Journal 52 (4): 733–740.
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Disclosure statement Improvement Techniques.” International Journal of
Inventive Engineering and Sciences 2: 11–13.
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Landeras, G., A. Ortiz-Barredo, and J. J. López. 2008.
“Comparison of Artificial Neural Network Models and
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Samples Using Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization-Based The practical application of 3D plots in Figures 8–10 is intro-
Artificial Neural Networks.” Measurement 60: 50–63. duced via a design flowchart in Figure A1. The use of this
Narendra, B. S., P. V. Sivapullaiah, S. Suresh, and S. N. Omkar. flowchart in conjunction with 3D plots is elaborated through
2006. “Prediction of Unconfined Compressive Strength of giving two examples as follows:
Soft Grounds Using Computational Intelligence Techniques: Example 1: Assume that the desired UCS after ground
A Comparative Study.” Computers and Geotechnics 33 (3): improvement using DMT was set to 1000 kPa by an employer.
196–208. In addition, the soil properties have the most similarities to
Pham, V. N., B. Turner, J. Huang, and R. Kelly. 2017. “Long- those of soil samples obtained from the borehole #2. The opti-
Term Strength of Soil-Cement Columns in Coastal Areas.” mised design mixture was asked. Solution: As the minimum
Soils and Foundations 57 (4): 645–654. required UCS was defined, the problem is restricted by
Porbaha, A. 1998. “State of the art in Deep Mixing Technology: strength as the necessary condition. Considering the relevant
Part I. Basic Concepts and Overview.” Proceedings of the soil type and 28 days of curing time, Figure 9 should be used
Institution of Civil Engineers-Ground Improvement 2 (2): for design. Following the 3D plot of Figure 9, the minimum
81–92. cement content required to reach the target UCS is 16%.
Porbaha, A., S. Shibuya, and T. Kishida. 2000. “State of the Art Accordingly, the corresponding water–cement ratio is
in Deep Mixing Technology. Part III: Geomaterial obtained as 0.76 on the third dimension. In summary, the
Characterization.” Proceedings of the Institution of Civil design specifications are as follows:
Engineers-Ground Improvement 4 (3): 91–110. UCS = 1000 kPa
Porbaha, A., H. Tanaka, and M. Kobayashi. 1998. “State of the Cement content = 16%
Art in Deep Mixing Technology: Part II. Applications.” Water–cement ratio = 0.76
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Ground Example 2: Due to the lack of budget, it was decided not to
Improvement 2 (3): 125–139. use more than 15% of cement content in a ground improve-
Schmertmann, J. H. 1978. Guidelines for Cone Penetration ment project following the DMT. The in-situ soil properties
Test: Performance and Design (No. FHWA-TS-78-209). can be best represented by the soil type encountered in the
Federal Highway Administration. borehole #1 and the optimum mixture design was requested.
Schmertmann, J. H. 1988. Guidelines for Using the CPT, CPTU Solution: According to the assumptions made in this example,
and Marchetti DMT for Geotechnical Design (No. FHWA/ the necessary condition is dictated by the amount of material
PA-87-022 + 84-24). used. Given the 15% of cement content for 28 days of curing
Shahin, M. A., M. B. Jaksa, and H. R. Maier. 2001. “Artificial the admixture and calling the 3D plot in Figure 8, the maxi-
Neural Network Applications in Geotechnical mum achievable UCS is 900 kPa. Consequently, the water–
Engineering.” Australian Geomechanics 36 (1): 49–62. cement ratio related to these specific values is determined as
Shahin, M. A., M. B. Jaksa, and H. R. Maier. 2002. “Artificial unity. In conclusion, the admixture design can be summarised
Neural Network Based Settlement Prediction Formula for as follows:
Shallow Foundations on Granular Soils.” Australian UCS = 900 kPa
Geomechanics: Journal and News of the Australian Cement content = 16%
Geomechanics Society 37 (4): 45. Water–cement ratio = 1.00
Shahin, M. A., M. B. Jaksa, and H. R. Maier. 2008. “State of the Although using the flowchart in Figure A1 based on the
Art of Artificial Neural Networks in Geotechnical input 3D plots is quite straightforward, there are some limit-
Engineering.” Electronic Journal of Geotechnical ations related to design considerations. First of all, the 3D
Engineering 8: 1–26. plots presented in Figures 8–10 were constructed for a limited
Song, G. A. O., H. M. Zhao, C. A. O. Jing, and Z. G. Song. 2014. types of soils, i.e. a new plot may be necessary if the soil type is
“Strength Test Research on Cement-Soil of Peat Soil in significantly different from those reported in this study.
Kunming.” Applied Mechanics & Materials 730: 15–20. Second, 3D plots were developed based on a laboratory
Sulewska, M. J. 2017. “Applying Artificial Neural Networks for element testing protocol, where the conditions are not essen-
Analysis of Geotechnical Problems.” Computer Assisted tially the same as field conditions. For example, there are
Methods in Engineering and Science 18 (4): 231–241. some inevitable sources of noise and error including machin-
Waszczyszyn, Z. 2017. “Artificial Neural Networks in Civil ery actions, natural variability, climatic changes etc. Therefore,
Engineering: Another Five Years of Research in Poland.” there is still a lot of room for improvement.
16 S. A. A. HOSSEINI ET AL.
Figure A1. The flowchart of how to use 3D plots for design purposes.