1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

Application of electric imaging in geotechnical engineering

AuthorKanitthorn Adisornsupawat
Call NumberAIT Thesis no.GE-03-03
Subject(s)Imaging systems in geophysics

NoteA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
Series StatementThesis ; no. GE-03-03
AbstractNowadays, near surface geophysics or shallow geophysics can be used as supplement exploratory borehole data to reduce the site-characterization cost. Among geophysical techniques, Electric Imaging (ED is a useful method that has proven its applicability in soil contaminant monitoring, landslide and environmental engineering studies. The main objective of this study is to review and assess applicability of electric imaging technique in a developing country like Thailand and to promote application of this method in geotechnical engineering. At present, field resistivimeter have been rapidly improved. Most of the commercial manufacturers produce to automatic recording system that is easily operated but costly. In this study, a semi-automatic procedure with switching unit was developed to compromise the advantage and disadvantage of manual and automatic instrument. The comparisons between semi-automatic and automatic measurements are proved that the semi-automatic setup could work very well and save the cost of investigation. One application that electric imaging can be a useful tool is to detect a buried object or structure which has resistivity contrast to surrounding medium. In this study, a2D EI was applied for detection of a buried water pipe, which is made up of concrete, air and also has water inside. The results obtained from this application show the location of buried pipe that conform to the location of the pipe in the field. Another 2D EI application in this study is to identify the thickness of a weathered granite layer in the hilly area. The inverse analyses were taking into account the topographic effect and could indicate clearly the boundary of a weathered granite layer. The study has also dealt with application of a 3D EI survey. The full-scale field test at site with a concrete pile was performed. The result indicated that highly resistive anomalies can be related to the location of the pile and can use to confirm the presence of underground pile. Then a 3D EI survey was employed in the real conditions at Thammakaya temple where piles were installed for an ongoing construction project to localize the underground pile. A design chart was developed for pile detection according to which the ratio of depth to the top of pile to pile diameter (D/~) is less than 1.2. A major part of this study is performance of a time-dependent EI monitoring to detect the change in resistivity caused by the decrease of water content due to ground improvement process at the New Bangkok International Airport (NBIA). The effects of inversion parameters, such as the damping factor and flatness ratio have been studied in order to evaluate the optimal parameters to process the field data. Result of forward modeling revealed that an appropriate choice of inversion parameters was important, and that required to adjusted for overcome the effect of high resistivity due to surcharge material. According to the findings in the field condition, the values of resistivity can be associated with water content decrease and undrained shear strength increase due to the process of ground improvement. It's expected that the results of this study could successfully provide a good introduction of EI technique that can be well used in various applications in geotechnical engineering, especially in Thailand.
Year2003
Corresponding Series Added EntryAsian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. GE-03-03
TypeThesis
SchoolSchool of Engineering and Technology (SET)
DepartmentOther Field of Studies (No Department)
Academic Program/FoSGeotechnical Engineering (GE)
Chairperson(s)Pham Huy Giao;
Examination Committee(s)Noppadol Phien-Wej; Park, Kyung-Ho; Borne, Frederic ;
Scholarship Donor(s)Royal Thai Government;
DegreeThesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2004


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