In Korea, accidents related to the collapse of deteriorated aging reservoirs occur every year. The grouting method is generally applied to reinforce an aging reservoir. However, when using this method, different reinforcing effects appear depending on the ground conditions. Thus, new construction methods and materials capable of providing consistent reinforcing effects are required. In this study, the direct shear test (DST), model test, and simulation analysis were performed to evaluate the impact of surface stabilizers, generally used to reinforce roads, rivers, and slopes of roads, applied using surface curtain walls on aging reservoirs. The DST results indicate that when the surface stabilizer was mixed with in-situ soil, the increase in cohesion was the highest at a mixing ratio of 9%. No changes in the friction angle were evident; therefore, 9% was determined to be the optimal mixing ratio. In addition, the model test and simulation analysis showed that when 9% of the surface stabilizer was mixed and applied to the aging reservoir, the seepage quantity of water and the saturated area were reduced by approximately 42% and 73%, respectively. Moreover, the comprehensive analysis of results showed that the grouting method could be completely replaced by surface stabilizers applied through surface curtain walls because the technique could secure stability by decreasing the seepage in the aging reservoir.

The response of pile foundations under lateral loads are usually analyzed using beam-on-nonlinear-Winkler-foundation (BNWF) model framework employing various forms of empirically derived p-y curves and p-multipliers. In practice, the p-y curve presented by the American Petroleum Institute (API) is most often utilized for piles in granular soils, although its shortcomings are recognized. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of the BNWF model and to quantify the error in the estimated pile response compared to a rigorous numerical model. BNWF analyses are performed using three sets of p-y curves to evaluate reliability of the procedure. The BNWF model outputs are compared with results of 3D nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis, which are validated via field load test measurements. The BNWF model using API p-y curve produces higher load-displacement curve and peak bending moment compared with the results of the FE model, because empirical p-y curve overestimates the stiffness and underestimates ultimate resistance up to a depth equivalent to four times the pile diameter. The BNWF model overestimates the peak bending moment by approximately 20-30% using both the API and Reese curves. The p-multipliers are revealed to be sensitive on the p-y curve used as input. These results highlight a need to develop updated p-y curves and p-multipliers for improved prediction of the pile response under lateral loading.

The energy transferred on drill rods by dynamic impact mainly determines the penetration depth for in-situ tests. In this study, the dynamic response and transferred energy of drill rods are determined from the frequency of the stress waves. AW-type drill rods of lengths 1 to 3 m are prepared, and strain gauges and an accelerometer are installed at the head and tip of the connected rods. The drill rods are hung on strings, allowing free vibration, and then impacted by a pendulum hammer with fixed potential energy. Increasing the rod length L increases the wave roundtrip time (2L/c, where c is the wave velocity), and hence the transferred energy at the rod head. At the rod tip, the first velocity peak is higher than the first force peak because a large and tensile stress wave is reflected, and the transferred energy converges to zero. The resonant frequency increases with rod length in the waveforms measured by the strain gauges, and fluctuates in the waveforms measured by the accelerometer. In addition, the dynamic response and transferred energy are perturbed when the cutoff frequency is lower than 2 kHz. This study implies that the resonant frequency should be considered for the interpretation of transferred energy on drill rods.

The effect of discrete polypropylene fibre reinforcement on shear strength parameters, tensile properties and isotropic index of stabilized compacted residual subgrade was investigated. Composites of compacted subgrade were developed from polypropylene fibre dosage of 0%, 1%, 2.5% and 4% and 3% cement binder. Saturated compacted soil benefited from incremental fibre dosage, the mobilized friction coefficient increased to a maximum at 2.5% fibre dosage from 0.41 to 0.58 and the contribution due to further increase in fibre dosage was marginal. Binder stabilization increased the degree of isotropy for unreinforced soil at lower fibre dosage of 1% and then decreased with higher fibre dosage. Saturation of 3% binder stabilized soil decreased the soil friction angle and the degree of isotropy for both unstabilized and binder stabilized soil increased with fibre dosage. The maximum tensile stress of 3% binder stabilized fibre reinforced residual soil was 3-fold that of 3% binder stabilized unreinforced soil. The difference in computed and measured maximum tensile and tangential stress decreased with increase in fibre dosage and degree of stabilization and polypropylene fibre reinforced soil met local and international criteria for road construction subgrade.

In this work, the bending and dynamic behaviors of advanced composite plates resting on variable visco-Pasternak foundations are studied using a simple shear deformation integral plate model. The research is carried out with a view to a three-parameter foundation including the influences of the variable Winkler coefficient, the constant Pasternak coefficient and the damping coefficient of the elastic medium. The present theory uses a displacement field with integral terms instead of derivative terms by including also the shear deformation effect without introducing the shear correction factors. The equations of motion for advanced composite plates are obtained using the Hamilton principle. Analytical solutions for the bending and dynamic analysis are deduced for simply supported plates resting on variable visco-Pasternak foundations. Some numerical results are presented to demonstrate the impact of material index, elastic foundation type, and damping coefficient of the foundation, on the bending and dynamic responses of advanced composite plates.

Time and cost of construction are key factors in decision-making during a tunnel project's planning and design phase. Estimations of time and cost of tunnel construction projects are subject to significant uncertainties caused by uncertain geotechnical and geological conditions. The Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) technique for predicting ground condition and construction time and cost of mountain tunnel projects is used in this work. The GPR model is trained with data from past mountain tunnel projects. The model is applied to a case study in which the predicted time and cost of tunnel construction using the GPR model are compared with the actual construction time and cost for model validation and reducing the uncertainty for the future projects. In addition, the results obtained from the GPR have been compared with to other models of artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector regression (SVR) that the GPR model provides more accurate results.

Many geotechnical analyses require the investigation of water flow within partially saturated soil zone to incorporate the effect of climatic conditions. It is widely understood that the hydraulic properties of the partially saturated soil should be included in the transient seepage analyses. However, the characteristics of dual porosity soils with dual-mode water retention curve are normally modelled using single-mode mathematical equation for simplification of the analysis. In reality, the rainwater flow can be affected significantly by the dual-mode hydraulic properties of the soil. This paper presents the variations of safety factor for dual porosity soil slope with dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability. This paper includes the development of the new dual-mode unsaturated permeability to represent the characteristics of soil with the dual-mode water retention curve. The finite element analyses were conducted to examine the role of dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability on the variations of safety factor under rainfall loading. The results indicate that the safety factor variations of dual porosity soil slope modelled using the dual-mode water retention curve and the unsaturated permeability equation are lower than those of dual porosity slope modelled using single-mode water retention curve and unsaturated permeability equations.

The behavior of the soil subgrade is complex and irregular against loads. When modeling, the soil is often replaced by a more straightforward system called a subgrade model. The Winkler method of linear elastic springs is a popular method of soil modeling in which the spring constant shows the modulus of subgrade reaction. In this research, the factors affecting the distribution of the modulus of subgrade reaction of elastoplastic subgrades are examined. For this purpose, critical theories about the modulus of subgrade reaction were examined. A square raft foundation on a sandy soil subgrade with was analyzed at different internal friction angles and Young's modulus values using ABAQUS software. To accurately model the actual soil behavior, the elastic, perfectly plastic constitutive model was applied to investigate a foundation on discrete springs. In order to increase the accuracy of soil modeling, equations have been proposed for the distribution of the subgrade reaction modulus. The constitutive model of the springs is elastic, perfectly plastic. It was observed that the modulus of subgrade reaction under an elastic load decreased when moving from the corner to the center of the foundation. For the ultimate load, the modulus of subgrade reaction increased as it moved from the corner to the center of the foundation.