Predicting the Grouting Ability of Sandy Soils by Artificial Neural Networks Based On Experimental Tests

Abstract

In this paper, the grouting ability of sandy soils is investigated by artificial neural networks based on the results of chemical grout injection tests. In order to evaluate the soil grouting potential, experimental samples were prepared and then injected. The sand samples with three different particle sizes (medium, fine, and silty) and three relative densities (%30, %50, and %90) were injected with the sodium silicate grout with three different concentrations (water to sodium silicate ratio of 0.33, 1, and 2). A multi-layer Perceptron type of the artificial neural network was trained and tested using the results of 138 experimental tests. The multi-layer Perceptron included one input layer, two hidden layers and one output layer. The input parameters consisted of initial relative densities of grouted samples, the average size of particles (D50), the ratio of the grout water to sodium silicate and the grout pressure. The output parameter was the grout injection radius. The results of the experimental tests showed that the radius of grout injection is a complicated function of the mentioned parameters. In addition, the results of the trained artificial neural network showed to be reasonably consistent with the experimental results.