The effects of petrographic characteristics on engineering properties of conglomerates from Famenin region, northeast of Hamadan province

To understand the relationship between engineering characteristics and petrological features, eight samples of the Qom Formation conglomerates from Famenin region in North-east of Hamedan of province were collected. Samples were examined in the laboratory for determining the uniaxial compressive strength, point load strength index, modulus of elasticity, porosity, dry and saturation density. For determining the petrological features, textural and mineralogical parameters, thin sections of samples were studied. In this study, based on the results of statistical analysis, predictive relationships were developed to estimate physical and mechanical properties using petrological features. This study showed that the effects of texture properties on the engineering properties is more important than mineralogical composition. It also became clear that the packing proximity, packing density, grain shape, mean grain size, percentages of cement and matrix are textural features that have a significant impact on the physical and mechanical properties of studied conglomerates. In the present study, multiple linear regression (MLR) was used in four different steps including different combinations of petrological features as input variables for each engineering characteristic. Finally, the best relationships were developed to predict the engineering properties of Conglomerates.