• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.25-32
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• 2020

The underground utilities installed under the ground is an important civil engineering structure, such as water supply and sewerage pipes, underground power lines, various communication lines, and city gas pipes. Such underground utilities can be exposed to risk due to external factors such as concentrated rainfall and vehicle load, and it is important to select and construct an appropriate backfill material. Currently, a method mainly used is to fill the soil around the underground utilities and compact it. But it is difficult to compact the lower part of the buried pipe and the compaction efficiency decreases, reducing the stability of the underground utilities and causing various damages. In addition, there are disadvantages such as a decrease in ground strength due to disturbance of the ground, a complicated construction process, and construction costs increase because the construction period becomes longer, and civil complaints due to traffic restrictions. One way to solve this problem is to use a liquid filler. The liquid filler has advantages such as self-leveling ability, self-compaction, fluidity, artificial strength control, and low strength that can be re-excavated for maintenance. In this study, uniaxial compression strength test and fluidity test were performed to characterize the mixed soil using marine clay, stabilizer, and in-situ soil as backfill material. A freezing-thawing test was performed to understand the strength characteristics of the liquid filler by freezing, and in order to examine the effect of the filling materials on the corrosion of the underground pipe, an electrical resistivity test and a pH test were performed.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.111-122
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• 2014

For accurate laboratory evaluations of soil deposits, it is essential that the samples are undisturbed. An artificial ground-freezing system is the one of the most effective methods for obtaining undisturbed samples from sand deposits. The objective of this study is to estimate the shear strengths and the characteristics of elastic waves of frozen-thawed and unfrozen specimens through the undrained triaxial compression test. For the experiments, Jumunjin standard sands are used to prepare frozen and unfrozen specimens with similar relative densities (60% and 80%). The water pluviation method is used to simulate the fully saturated condition under the groundwater table. When thawing the frozen specimens, the temperature is measured every minute. After the specimens are completely thawed, undrained triaxial compression tests are conducted using the same procedures as for the unfrozen specimens. During the triaxial tests (saturation, consolidation, and shear phase), compressional and shear waves are measured. The results show that the freeze-thaw process has minor effects on the peak deviatoric stress and shear strength values, and that the process does not affect the internal friction angle. The compressional wave velocity increases with increasing B-value to 1800 m/s in the saturation phase, but tends to remain constant in the process of consolidation and shearing. The shear wave velocity decreases with increasing B-value in the process of saturation, but changes velocity in accordance with the change in effective stress in the processes of consolidation and shearing. The compressional wave velocity has similar values regardless of the freeze-thaw process, but values of shear wave velocity are slighly lower in frozen-thawed specimens than in unfrozen specimens. This study is a preliminary experiment for estimating the shear strength and characteristics of elastic wave velocity in undisturbed frozen specimens that have been obtained using the artificial ground-freezing method.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.65-74
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• 2003

Most of land reclamation projects are being implemented along the south and west coastal lines of the Korean Peninsula. The earth structures and in-ground LNG tank, and buildings can be constructed using artificial freezing method on the reclaimed land to control the uplift pressure caused by capillary forces. In this study, upon freezing a saturated soil in a closed-system from the top, a considerable frost heaving pressure was developed. Decomposed granite soils, silty soil, and sandy soil were used in the laboratory freeze test which is sometimes subjected to thermal gradients under closed-systems. A major concern has been the ability to predict the frost heaving pressure over the results of relatively short-term laboratory tests. The frost heaving pressure arising within the soil samples and the temperature of the samples inside were monitored with time elapse. The degree of saturation versus heaving pressure curve is presented for each soil sample and the maximum pressure is closely related to this curve. TDR apparatus was used to measure the volumetric water content by the measurement of unfrozen water contents of frozen soils. Unfrozen water increased in soils containing a high percentage of fine-grained particles. In fine-grained soils with strong attractive farces between soil grains and water molecules, additional water is attracted into the pores leading to further volume changes and ice segregation.