• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.4A
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• pp.475-485
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• 2008

This paper intends to enhance the reliability and performance of domestic elastomeric bearings through the proposal of directions for the improvement of their stiffness regard to the Korean industrial standard KS F 4420 relative to the evaluation of design/fabrication/quality. Therefore, comparative analysis of the compressive elastic modulus, stiffness measurement method and performance evaluation method of KS F 4420 with those of Eurocode, Japanese bearing manual, and ISO code was performed, and measurement tests on the compressive stiffness and shear stiffness of common elastomeric bearings produced in Korea were conducted. The experimental results reveal that differences of about 20% and 13% occurred respectively for the compressive stiffness and shear stiffness according to the definition adopted for the stiffness. The measured values for the stiffness of the domestic elastomeric bearings were also verified to exhibit large deviation from the formula proposed by KS F 4420. Elastomeric bearings that does not have appropriate compressive stiffness required at the design can result in uneven deflection at supports of bridges and excessive stress in girders. Accordingly, the establishment of compressive elastic modulus formula and performance evaluation criteria fitted to the domestic circumstances through the execution of performance evaluation of bearings presenting diversified shapes and shape factors appears to be necessary for the domestic bearings to meet the performance required in design.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.4D
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• pp.485-492
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• 2008

This study presents a viscoelastic characterization of flexible pavement subjected to moving loads. A series of field tests have been conducted on three pavement sections (A2, A5, and A8) at the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) test road. The effect of vehicle speed on the responses of each test section was investigated at three speeds: 25 km/hr, 50 km/hr, and 80 km/hr. During the test, both longitudinal and lateral strains were measured at the bottom of asphalt layers and in-situ measurements were compared with the results of finite element (FE) analyses. A commercial FE package, ABAQUS was used to model each test section and a step loading approximation has been adopted to simulate the effect a moving vehicle. For viscoelastic analysis, relaxation moduli of asphalt mixtures were obtained from laboratory test. Field responses reveals the strain anisotropy (i.e., discrepancy between longitudinal and lateral strains) and the amplitude of strain normally decreases as the vehicle speed increases. In most cases, lateral strain was smaller than longitudinal strain, and strain reduction was more significant in lateral direction.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.3C
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• pp.201-207
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• 2006

Soil tests are generally conducted using a membrane to measure a pore water pressure. However, it has also been recognized that the membrane penetrates into the specimen by the change of the confining pressure, and it results in the erroneous measurement in the pore water pressure and the volumetric strain. This study examined the effectiveness of the correction equation of the membrane penetration on the basis of the experimental data acquired during the isotropic unloading and the cyclic shear process using the hollow cylindrical shear test equipment. The results showed that the membrane penetration by the correction equation could be overestimated when the mean effective stress was lower than 20kPa in this study. The limitations originated from the sudden increase near the zero effective stress, and in order to prevent the overestimation in low effective stress condition, the use of the constant a was proposed in this study. Furthermore, the correction equation for the membrane penetration had to be applied carefully when the initial relative density was high and the density changes were occurred by the relocation of the soil particle by the liquefaction.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.4A
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• pp.707-717
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• 2006

As an alternative to conventional prestressed concrete (PSC) girders, various types of PSC girders are either under development or have already been applied in bridge structures. Incrementally prestressed concrete girder is one of these newly developed girders. According to the design concept, these new types of PSC girders have the advantages of requiring less self-weight while having the capability of longer spans. However, the dynamic interaction between bridge superstructures and passing trains is one of the critical issues concerning these railway bridges designed with more flexibility. Therefore, it is very important to evaluate modal parameters of newly designed bridges before doing dynamic analyses. In the present paper, a 25 meters long full scale PSC girder was fabricated as a test specimen and modal testing was carried out to evaluate modal parameters including natural frequencies and modal damping ratios at every prestressing stage. During the modal testing, a digitally controlled vibration exciter as well as an impact hammer is applied, in order to obtain precise frequency response functions and the modal parameters are evaluated varying with construction stages. Prestressed force effects on changes of modal parameters are analyzed at every incremental prestressing stage. With the application of reliable properties from modal experiments, estimation of dynamic performances of PSC girder railway bridges can be obtained from various parametric studies on dynamic behavior under the passage of moving train. Dynamic displacements, impact factor, acceleration of the slab, end rotation of the girder, and other important dynamic performance parameters are checked with various speeds of the train.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.1A
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• pp.9-18
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• 2009

This paper introduces the application of DE (Differential Evolutionary) method for the estimation of tensile force of the externally prestressed tendon. The proposed technique, a SI (System Identification) method using the DE algorithm, can make global solution search possible as opposed to classical gradient-based optimization techniques. The numerical tests show that the proposed technique employing DE algorithm is a useful method which can detect the effective nominal diameters as well as estimate the exact tensile forces of the externally prestressed tendon with an estimation error less than 1% although there is no a priori information about the identification variables. In addition, the validity of the proposed technique is experimentally proved using a scale-down model test considering the serviceability state condition without and with the loss of the prestressed force. The test results prove that the technique is a feasible and effective method that can not only estimate the exact tensile forces and detect the effective nominal diameters but also inspect the damping properties of test model irrespective of the loss of the prestressed force. The 2% error of the estimated effective nominal diameter is due to the difference between the real tendon diameter with a wired section and the FE model diameter with a full-section. Finally, The accuracy and superiority of the proposed technique using the DE algorithm are verified through the comparative study with the existing theories.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.5C
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• pp.209-218
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• 2010

In residual soils, large particles such as rock fragments or gravel are surrounded by sand or clay. The strength of such granular mixtures can be controlled by the concentration of fine or coarse grains. The percentage by weight, size or shape of gravel in the mixture that can control the strength of the mixture has not been clearly determined for various granular mixtures. In this study, the effect of dispersed gravels on the shear characteristics of sand was evaluated. Large and small gravels were inserted in the middle of each layer with moist Nakdong River sand and compacted into a cylindrical sample with five equal layers. Embedded gravel ratios by weight were 0, 3, 9, and 14%. After consolidation, a series of undrained triaxial compression tests was performed on Nakdong River sand with dispersed gravels. Maximum deviator stresses of the Nakdong River sand with large gravels decrease up to 38% as a percentage of embedded gravels increases. Such strength degradation decreases as a confining pressure increases. The maximum deviator stress increases as the percentage by weight of small gravel increases; at 3 or 9% of gravel weight it slightly increases but at 14% of gravel weight it increases up to 34%.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.5C
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• pp.207-215
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• 2009

Cemented soils or concrete are usually cured under moisture conditions and their strength increases with curing time. An insufficient supply of water to cemented soils can contribute to hydration process during curing, which results in the variation of bonding strength of cemented soils. In this study, by the consideration of in situ water supply conditions, cemented sand with cement ratio less than 20% is prepared by air dry, wrapped, moisture, and underwater conditions. A series of unconfined compression tests are carried out to evaluate the effect of curing conditions on the strength of cemented soils. The strength of air dry curing specimen is higher than those of moisture and wrapped cured specimens when cement ratio is less than 10%, whereas it is lower when cement ratio is greater than 10%. Regardless of cement ratio, air dry cured specimens are stronger than underwater cured specimens. A strength increase ratio with cement ratio is calculated based on the strength of 4% cemented specimen. The strength increase ratio of air dry cured specimen is lowest and that of wrapped, moisture, and underwater cured ones increased by square. Strength of air dry cured specimen drops to maximum 30% after wetting when cement ratio is low. However, regardless of cement ratio, strength of moisture and wrapped specimens drops to an average 10% after wetting. The results of this study can predict the strength variation of cemented sand depending on water supply conditions and wetting in the field, which can guarantee the safety of geotechnical structures such as dam.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.2C
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• pp.85-93
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• 2010

The shear stiffness has become an important design parameter to understand the soil behavior. In particular, the elastic moduli and void ratio has been considered as important parameters for the design of the geotechnical structures. The objective of this paper is the development of the penetration type Field Velocity and Resistivity Probe (FVRP) which is able to assess the elastic moduli and void ratio based on the elastic wave velocities and electrical resistivity. The elastic waves including the compressional and shear wave are measured by piezo disk elements and bender elements. And the electrical resistivity is measured by the resistivity probe, which is manufactured and installed at the tip of the FVRP. The penetration tests are carried out in calibration chamber and field. In the laboratory calibration chamber test, after the sand-clay slurry mixtures are prepared and consolidated. The FVRP is progressively penetrated and the data are measured at each 1 cm. The field experiment is also carried out in the southern part of Korea Peninsular. Data gathering is performed in the depth of 6~20 m at each 10 cm. The elastic moduli and void ratio are estimated based on the analytical and empirical solutions by using the elastic wave velocities and electrical resistivity measured in the chamber and field. The void ratios based on the elastic wave velocities and the electrical resistivity are similar to the volume based void ratio. This study suggests that the FVRP, which evaluates the elastic wave velocities and the electrical resistivity, may be a useful instrument for assessing the elastic moduli and void ratio in soft soils.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.6A
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• pp.625-639
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• 2009

Experimental and analytical studies are performed on the mechanical behavior of concrete-filled tubular(CFT) truss girders for different f/L ratios. Bending tests are conducted on two CFT truss girder specimens to determine fundamental structural characteristics such as the strength and deformation properties. Nonlinear material models for CFT members subjected to an axial compressive force are compared in this paper by using the nonlinear finite element program, ABAQUS. Previous researchers have proposed several nonlinear stress-strain models of confined concrete. In this study, the nonlinear analyses are performed applying several stress-strain models for confined concrete proposed by Mander, Sakino, Han, Susantha and Ellobody, and the results are compared with the experimental results in terms of load-deflection and load-strain relationships. Based on the comparisons of the load-deflection relationships, the models proposed by Mander and Susantha provide a maximum load about 12.0~13.8% higher and that by Sakino gives a maximum load about 7.6% higher than the experimental results. The models proposed by Han and Ellobody give a maximum load only about 0.2~1.2% higher than the test results, showing the best agreement among the proposed stress-strain models. However, the load-strain relations predicted by the existing models generally provide conservative results exhibiting larger strains than the experimental data.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.1A
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• pp.71-80
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• 2010

Bridge deck is directly influenced by environment and vehicle load, it is easily damaged so that it requires an appropriate repair and retrofit. Therefore, developing a bridge deck with high durability is necessary in order to minimize the maintenance of bridge deck and use it to its design life. In this study, static test was carried out to evaluate a fatigue capacity of steel-concrete composite deck, which was newly developed by supplementing problems of existing reinforced concrete deck. Based on results from the static test, fatigue load was decided, and fatigue test was conducted under the constant amplitude repeated load. From the fatigue tests, the S-N curve regarding principle structural details of composite deck was made, and characteristics of fatigue behavior was estimated by comparing and evaluating it with fatigue design criteria. In addition, fatigue design guideline was presented. As a result, it is found that each structural details of composite deck proposed by this study, such as upper flange of corrugated steel plate and middle section of it, shear connector and lower flange of corrugated steel plate, is satisfying the fatigue strength.