• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.213-231
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• 2014

An elastoplastic model for structured clays, which is formulated based on the fact that the difference in mechanical behavior of structured and reconstituted clays is caused by the change of fabric in the post-yield deformation range, is present in this paper. This model is developed from an elastoplastic model for overconsolidated reconstituted clays, by considering that the variation in the yield surface of structured clays is similar to that of overconsolidated reconstituted clays. However, in order to describe the mechanical behavior of structured clays with precision, the model takes the bonding and parabolic strength envelope into consideration. Compared with the Cam-clay model, only two new parameters are required in the model for structured clays, which can be determined from isotropic compression and triaxial shear tests at different confining pressures. The comparison of model predictions and results of drained and undrained triaxial shear tests on four different marine clays shows that the model can capture reasonable well the strength and deformation characteristics of structured clays, including negative and positive dilatancy, strain-hardening and softening during shearing.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.599-610
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• 2021

Conduits are commonly installed below the ground for utility conveyance around the world. Vertical load on a buried conduit is an important parameter that needs to be known to ensure its safe design and installation. Consideration of soil arching in load calculations helps achieve a more realistic and efficient design. In the past, considering the arching effect, the design charts have been presented for use by practicing engineers to calculate the vertical load on the conduit buried below the level ground. There are currently no design charts for calculating the vertical load on the conduit buried under a sloping ground. In this paper, an attempt has been made to present the derivation of a generalized analytical expression considering that the soil mass overlying the conduit has a sloping face and the arching phenomenon takes place. The developed generalized expression has been used to present some design charts considering specific values of slope geometry, soil properties and burial depths. Furthermore, analytical results for specific soil parameters have been compared with the results extracted from a commercial software PLAXIS 2D, for a developed numerical model and an independent study.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.625-633
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• 2023

The volume changes associated with moisture or suction variation in expansive soils are of geotechnical and geoenvironmental design concern. These changes can impact the performance of infrastructure projects and lightweight structures. Assessment of unsaturated function for these materials leads to better interpretation and understanding, as well as providing accurate and economic design. In this study, expansive soils from different regions of Saudi Arabia were studied for their basic properties including gradation, plasticity and shrinkage, swelling, and consolidation characteristics. The unsaturated soil functions of saturated water content, air-entry values, and residual states were determined by conducting the tests for the entire soil water characteristic curves (SWCC) using different techniques. An attempt has been made to provide a prediction model for unsaturated properties based on the basic properties of these soils. Once the profile of SWCC has been predicted the time and cost for many tests can be saved. These predictions can be utilized in practice for the application of unsaturated soil mechanics on geotechnical and geoenvironmental projects.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.195-205
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• 2023

The contact acoustic emission (AE) monitoring system is time-consuming and costly for monitoring concrete structures in large scope, in addition, the great difference in acoustic impedance between air and concrete makes the detection process inconvenient. In this work, we broaden the conventional AE source localization method for concrete to the non-contact (air-coupled) micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) microphones array, which collects the energy-rich leaky Rayleigh waves, instead of the relatively weak P-wave. Finite element method was used for the numerical simulations, it is shown that the propagation velocity of leaky Rayleigh waves traveling along the air-concrete interface agrees with the corresponding theoretical properties of Lamb wave modes in an infinite concrete slab. This structures the basis for implementing a non-contact AE source location approach. Based on the experience gained from numerical studies, experimental studies on the proposed air-coupled AE source location in concrete slabs are carried out. Finally, it is shown that the locating map of AE source can be determined using the proposed system, and the accuracy is sufficient for most field monitoring applications on large plate-like concrete structures, such as tunnel lining and bridge deck.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.126-138
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• 2012

Ultrasonic method is widely used for the evaluation of weathering index and of degree of deterioration because it is easily applicable $in$ $situ$. The basic idea of the method is that the ultrasonic velocity decreases as a rock is being weathered. Thus, the difference of ultrasonic velocities between fresh rock and weathered rock indicates the degree of weathering. In this method, the ultrasonic velocity of fresh rock is assumed to be 5,000 m/s. However, this assumption can cause significant errors in estimating weathering index, especially in case that those rocks of the same type have a wide range of ultrasonic velocities such as in Korea. Therefore, we obtained twenty rock specimens and sixty core samples commonly used for stone cultural heritages in Korea, and measured ultrasonic velocities. From the results, we found that the ultrasonic velocities of the same rock type, granite samples range from 3,118 to 5,380 m/s, and that the estimated weathering index can be highly biased if we use the fixed value of 5,000 m/s. We created a database (DB) by combining the measurement data and reported it. We also measured ultrasonic velocities by direct and indirect methods to quantify the calibration coefficient for each sampling site. We found that the calibration coefficients vary widely from site to site (1.31-1.76). Other factors, such as operator bias and temperature did not show any significant effect on errors in ultrasonic velocity measurements. Lastly, we applied our ultrasonic velocity DB and calibration coefficients to a stone cultural heritage, Bonghwang-ri Buddha statue. Our estimation of the weathering index was 0.3, 0.1 smaller than that by conventional method. The degree of deterioration was also different, "moderately weathered", while conventional method gave "highly weathered". Since other independent studies reported that the degree of deterioration of the Buddha statue was "moderately weathered", our estimation seems to be more accurate. Thus our method can help accurately evaluate the weathering index and the conservation planning for a stone cultural heritage.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.53-65
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• 2007

Appropriate representation of hydrologic boundaries in groundwater models is critical to the development of a reliable model. This paper examines how the model predictions are affected by the uncertainty in the conceptualization of the hydrologic boundaries including groundwater divides, streams, and the lower boundaries of the flow system. The problem is analyzed for a study area where a number of field data for model inputs were available. First, a groundwater flow model is constructed and calibrated for the area using the Visual Modflow code. Recharge rate is used for the unknown variable determined through the calibration process. Secondly, a series of sensitivity analyses are conducted to evaluate the effects of model uncertainties embedded in specifying boundary conditions for streams and groundwater divides and specifying lower boundary of the bedrock. Finally, this paper provides some guidelines and discussions on how to deal with such hydrologic boundaries in view of developing a reliable conceptual model for the groundwater flow system of Korea.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.215-232
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• 2020

The study area of Nokjeonri in Yeongwol belongs to the Taebaeksan Mineralized District. Ca and Mg skarn and related ore mineralization are developed in the Pungchon formation along the contact with the Imog granite. Ca skarn hosted in limestone mostly comprises garnet and pyroxene. Mg skarn developed in dolomite includes olivine and serpentine. Magnetite-hematite and pyrrhotite(±scheelite)-pyritegalena-sphalerite were mineralized during early and late stage, respectively. Garnet compositions are dominated by andradite series in proximal area and grossular series in distal area. Pyroxene compositions correspond to diopside series in majority. These compositional changes indicate that the fluids varied from oxidizing condition to reducing condition due to increased reaction with carbonated wall rocks as the fluids moved from the granite to a distal place. Fe₂O₃ and MgO concentrations of magnetite are higher in Mg skarn than those in Ca skarn, while FeO shows opposite trend. The Zn/Fe ratio of sphalerite increases with distance from the Imog granite. The δ³⁴S values of sulfide minerals are similar to those of the Imog granite, indicating magmatic origin in ore sulfur. Mineralization was established in the order of skarn, oxide and sulfide minerals with decreasing temperature and oxygen fugacity and increasing sulfur fugacity.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.171-180
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• 2011

For 21 rock samples consisting of granite, sandstone and the effective thermal conductivity (TC) was measured with the LFA-447 Nanoflash, and mineralogical compositions were also determined from XRD analysis. The structural models were used to examine the effects of quartz content and the size of minerals on TC of rocks. The experimental results showed that TC of rocks was strongly related to quartz content with $R^2$ value of 0.75. Therefore, the proposed regression model can be a useful tool for an approximate estimation of TC only from quartz content. Some samples with similar values of quartz content, however, illustrated great differences in TC, presumably caused by differences in the size of minerals. An analysis from structural models showed that TC of rocks with fine-grained minerals was likely to fall in the region between Series and EMT model, and it moved up to ME and Parallel model as the size of minerals increased. This progressive change of structural models implies that change of TC depending on the size of minerals is possibly related to the scale of experiments; TC was measured from a disk sample with a thickness of 3 mm. Therefore, in case of measurements with a thin sample, TC can be overestimated as compared to the real value in the field scale. The experimental data illustrated that the scale effect was more pronounced for rocks with bigger size of minerals. Thus, it is worthwhile to remember that using a measured TC as a representative value for the real field can be misleading when applied to many geothermal problems.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.629-639
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• 2011

Based on Maxwell-Eucken(ME) model, which is one of structural models, a new model for predicting the effective thermal conductivity of variably saturated porous materials is proposed. The new model is a linear combination of three ME models having matrix, water, and air as a continuous phase. The coefficient of the corresponding linear equation is defined by a parameter referred to as 'the continuity coefficient', which provides a relative degree of continuity of each phase. The continuity coefficient of matrix is assumed to be linearly proportional to porosity. The model can be linear or nonlinear depending on how the continuity coefficients of water and air vary with water saturation. The feasibility of the proposed model was examined by both numerical and experimental results. Both linear and nonlinear models showed a high accuracy of prediction with $R^2$ values of 0.86-0.98 and 0.88-0.99, respectively. The numerical and experimental results also showed that the continuity coefficient of matrix was linearly proportional to porosity. Therefore, the proposed prediction model can be effectively used to estimate effective thermal conductivity of unsaturated porous materials by measuring porosity, water content and mineralogical compositions of matrix.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.147-154
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• 2009

Physical properties of rocks, such as velocity, are strongly dependant on detailed pore structures, and recently, pore micro-structures by X-ray tomography techniques have been used to simulate and understand the physical properties. However, the smoothing effect during the tomographic reconstruction procedure often causes an artifact - overestimating the contact areas between grains. The pore nodes near a grain contact are affected by neighboring grain nodes, and are classified into grain nodes. By this artifact, the pore structure has higher contact areas between grains and thus higher velocity estimation than the true one. To reduce this artifact, we tried two image processing techniques - sharpening filter and neural network classification. Both methods gave noticeable improvement on contact areas between grains visually; however, the estimated velocities showed only incremental improvement. We then tried to change the resolutions of tomogram and quantify its impact on velocity estimation. The estimated velocity from the tomogram with higher spatial resolution was improved significantly, and with around 2 micron spatial resolution, the calculated velocity was very close to the lab measurement. In conclusion, the resolution of pore micro-structure is the most important parameter for accurate estimation of velocity using pore-scale simulation techniques. Also the estimation can be incrementally improved if combined with image processing techniques during the pore-grain classification.