• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.447-463
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• 2021

Caisson-type structures are widely used as quay walls in coastal areas. In Korea, for a long time, many caisson-type quay walls have been constructed with a low front water depth. These facilities can no longer meet the requirements of current development. This study developed a new technology for deepening existing caisson-type quay walls using grouting and rubble mound excavation to economically reuse them. With this technology, quay walls could be renovated by injecting grout into the rubble mound beneath the front toe of the caisson to secure its structure. Subsequently, a portion of the rubble mound was excavated to increase the front water depth. This paper reports the results of an investigation of the seismic behavior of a renovated quay wall in comparison to that of an existing quay wall using centrifuge tests and numerical simulations. Two centrifuge model tests at a scale of 1/120 were conducted on the quay walls before and after renovation. During the experiments, the displacements, accelerations, and earth pressures were measured under five consecutive earthquake input motions with increasing magnitudes. In addition, systematic numerical analyses of the centrifuge model tests were also conducted with the PLAXIS 2D finite element (FE) program using a nonlinear elastoplastic constitutive model. The displacements of the caisson, response accelerations, deformed shape of the quay wall, and earth pressures were investigated in detail based on a comparison of the numerical and experimental results. The results demonstrated that the motion of the caisson changed after renovation, and its displacement decreased significantly. The comparison between the FE models and centrifuge test results showed good agreement. This indicated that renovation was technically feasible, and it could be considered to study further by testbed before applying in practice.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.635-648
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• 2020

Performance improvement of helical piles in static load tests using hexagon joints that do not require welding or bolting was investigated. Two sites were selected for pile field tests to evaluate their bearing capacity. Static and pull-out load tests were undertaken to assess the method for estimating bearing capacity. The field tests indicated that the bearing capacity of the gravity grout pile was ≥600 kN in the static load test, consistent with the AC 358 Code. The non-grout pile had a bearing capacity of ≤600 kN, suggesting that gravity grouting is required. Field pile load-test results were used to establish the bearing capacity equation, based on a small number of helical pile.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.13-17
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• 2024

The general soil nailing method, which is currently used domestically and internationally to stabilize the slopes of sandy slopes, is to form a kind of gravity-type retaining wall by drilling the ground and grouting it with a single steel bar. This method can reduce construction costs, ease of construction, relative strength and displacement, and is highly efficient. The difference between grouting and rebar adhesion to the yield pullout force and the difference between the amount of deformation in relation to the same pullout resistance was analyzed through field tests to identify engineering excellence, and in terms of construction cost, the reduction effect was evaluated by analyzing the difference in the number of drillings and the impact on the overall construction cost, such as material cost, when the same strength constant is applied to the ground with the same resistance.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.169-177
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• 2017

Recently, as the size of transportation vessels has increased, there is a growing need for securing the front-water depths of existing port facilities. The method of deepening front-water depth is securing the depth of the port facility, and it is reinforced by grouting after excavating the rubble-mound to the required depth. The purpose of this study is to investigate the reinforcing performance and filling performance of thixotropic grout as a grouting material for reinforcing rubble-mound. Compressive strength tests were carried out for two types of thixotropic grout, and 5 specimens with a diameter of 400 mm and a height of 530 mm were manufactured and evaluated for filling performance. The required strength of reinforced rubble-mound required to ensure the safety of the structure is 6 MPa. All the thixotropic grouts used in this study were found to satisfy the required strength over 9 MPa at 7 days of age. As a result of visual observation of filling state of the filling performance test specimens, it was confirmed that the thixotropic grout was well filled up to the desired fillet height.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.383-392
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• 2007

Karstic features and mining-related cavities not only lead to severe restrictions in land utilizations, but also constitute serious concern about geohazard and groundwater contamination. A microgravity survey was applied for detecting, mapping and monitoring karstic cavities in the test site at Muan prepared by KIGAM. The gravity data were collected using an AutoGrav CG-3 gravimeter at about 800 stations by 5 m interval along paddy paths. The density distribution beneath the profiles was drawn by two dimensional inversion based on the minimum support stabilizing functional, which generated better focused images of density discontinuities. We also imaged three dimensional density distribution by growing body inversion with solution from Euler deconvolution as a priori information. The density image showed that the cavities were dissolved, enlarged and connected into a cavity network system, which was supported by drill hole logs. A time-lapse microgravity was executed on the road in the test site for monitoring the change of the subsurface density distribution before and after grouting. The data were adjusted for reducing the effects due to the different condition of each survey, and inverted to density distributions. They show the change of density structure during the lapsed time, which implies the effects of grouting. This case history at the Muan test site showed that the microgravity with accuracy and precision of ${\mu}Gal$ is an effective and practical tool for detecting, mapping and monitoring the subsurface cavities.