• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.143-153
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• 2018

Soil characteristics along with various container lengths have an important role in the early survival rate and growth of seedlings by influencing the seedling quality. This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of container length and different soil mixtures on the growth of poplar in a greenhouse. Two types of soil, homogeneous vs. heterogeneous, were used along with two container lengths (30 vs. 60 cm). The heterogeneous soil was made by dividing 50% vermiculite from a mixture of 25% vermicompost and 25% nursery soil in volume. For the homogeneous soil, the above three soil types were mixed together. Populus euramericana clone cuttings were planted in late April, and then, the growth height, root collar diameter (RCD) and biomass were measured in August. The height of the poplar was not significantly affected by container length and soil type, but the RCD was significantly affected by soil type. Leaf and root biomass was higher at the long container than at the short container for both soil treatments, but stem biomass was lower at the heterogeneous soil than at the homogeneous soil treatment. Root to shoot biomass ratio was higher at the heterogeneous soil treatment than at the homogeneous soil treatment by 12%. In conclusion, heterogeneous soil along with a long container is suitable to increase the carbon allocation into the root.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.419-429
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• 2020

To investigate the effect of spatial variability on hydraulic properties of unsaturated soils, a numerical model is set up which can simulate seepage process in an unsaturated heterogeneous soil. The unsaturated heterogeneous soil is composed of matrix sand embedded with a small proportion of clay for simulating the heterogeneity. Soil-water characteristic curve and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve of the unsaturated soil are expressed by Van Genuchten model. Hydraulic parameters of the matrix sand are considered as random fields. Different autocorrelation lengths (ACLs) of hydraulic parameter of the matrix sand and different proportions of clay are assumed to investigate the influence of spatial variability on the equivalent hydraulic properties of the heterogeneous soil. Four model sizes are used in the numerical experiments to investigate the influence of scale effects and to determine the sizes of representative volume element (RVE) in the numerical simulations. Through a number of Monte Carlo simulations of unsaturated seepage analysis, the means and the coefficients of variations (COVs) of the equivalent hydraulic parameters of the heterogeneous soil are calculated. Simulations show that the ACL and model size has little influence on the means of the equivalent hydraulic parameters, but they have a large influence on the COVs of the equivalent hydraulic parameters. The size of an RVE is mainly affected by the ACL and the proportion of heterogeneity. The influence of spatial variability on the hydraulic parameters of the heterogeneous unsaturated soil can be used as a guidance for geotechnical reliability analysis and design related to unsaturated soils.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.152-154
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• 2005

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.13-24
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• 2024

The propagation of elastic waves in soil is crucial in geotechnical and seismic engineering. Although soil is often assumed homogeneous, natural geomaterials like soil and rock possess inherent heterogeneity. This study uses FLAC 2D finite difference software to simulate wave propagation under different spatial variability parameters. Random field models and Monte Carlo methods were employed to generate random field data for soil parameters, reflecting the actual variability of soil. The study analyzes the effects of different correlation lengths, variability parameters, and saturation on the propagation characteristics of elastic waves, including wave velocity, amplitude attenuation, and waveform changes. Results show that wave propagation is most sensitive to elastic modulus variability, followed by porosity, while Poisson's ratio has minimal impact. Due to the variability of the elastic modulus, wave propagation time increases with increasing variability coefficient and correlation length. The peak amplitude decreases significantly, and the attenuation mean decreases while the variability of attenuation increases with increasing variability coefficient. Additionally, increasing soil saturation in heterogeneous soils leads to a decrease in wave velocity and an increase in attenuation. These findings contribute to a better understanding of elastic wave propagation in heterogeneous soils and improving design reliability.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.11-24
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• 2003

This paper presents the results of laboratory investigation performed to study the role of different air sparging system parameters on the removal of benzene from saturated soils and groundwater. A series of one-dimensional experiments was conducted with predetermined contaminant concentrations and predetermined injected airflow rates and pressures to investigate the effect of soil type and the use of pulsed air injection on air sparging removal efficiency. On the basis of these studies, two-dimensional air sparging remediation systems were investigated to determine the effect of soil heterogeneity on the removal of benzene from three different homogeneous and heterogeneous soil profiles. This study demonstrated that the grain size of the soils affects the air sparging removal efficiency. Additionally, it was observed that pulsed air injection did not offer any appreciable enhancement to contaminant removal for the coarse sand; however, substantial reduction in system operating time was observed for fine sand. The 2-D experiments showed that air injected in coarse sand profiles traveled in channels within a parabolic zone. In well-graded sand the zone of influence was found to be wider due to high permeability and increased tortuosity of this soil type. The influence zone of heterogeneous soil (well-graded sand between coarse sand) showed the hybrid airflow patterns of the individual soil test. Overall, the mechanism of contaminant removal using air sparging from different soil conditions have been determined and discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.1372-1377
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• 2009

For the remediation of the subsurface contaminated by nonaqueous phase liquids(NAPLs), it is important to characterize the NAPL zone properly. Conventional characterization methods provide data at discrete points. To overcome the weak points of conventional characterization methods, the partitioning tracer method has been developed and studied. The average saturation of NAPL($S_n$), which is the representative and continuous saturation value within contaminated site, can be calculated by comparing the transport of the partitioning tracers to that of the conservative tracer in the partitioning tracer method. In this study, the application of the partitioning tracer method in heterogeneous media was investigated. To represent the heterogeneous condition of subsurface, a two-dimensional soil box was divided into four layers and each layer contained different sized soils. Soils in the soil box were contaminated by the mixture of kerosene and diesel, and partitioning tracer tests were conducted before and after the contamination using methanol as conservative tracer and 4-methyl-2-pentanol, 2-ethyl-1-butanol, and hexanol as partitioning tracers. The response curves of partitioning tracers from contaminated soils were separated and retarded in comparison with those from non-contaminated soils. The contamination of soils by NAPLs, therefore, can be detected by partitioning tracer method considering these retardations of tracers. From our experiment condition, the average saturation of NAPLs calculated by partitioning tracer method using the methanol as conservative tracer and hexanol as partitioning tracer showed the highest accuracy, though all results were underestimated. Further studies, therefore, were needed for improving the accuracy using the partitioning tracer test in heterogeneous media.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.31-45
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• 2019

In this study the spatial variability of soils is substantiated physically and numerically by using random field theory. Heterogeneous samples are fabricated by combining nine homogeneous soil clusters that are assumed to be elements of an adopted random field. Homogeneous soils are prepared by mixing different percentages of kaolin and bentonite at water contents equivalent to their respective liquid limits. Comprehensive characteristic laboratory tests were carried out before embarking on direct shear experiments to deduce the basic correlations and properties of nine homogeneous soil clusters that serve to reconstitute the heterogeneous samples. The tests consist of Atterberg limits, and Oedometric and unconfined compression tests. The undrained shear strength of nine soil clusters were measured by the unconfined compression test data, and then correlations were made between the water content and the strength and stiffness of soil samples with different consistency limits. The direct shear strength of heterogeneous samples of different stochastic properties was then evaluated by physical and numerical modelling using FISH code programming in finite difference software of $FLAC^{3D}$. The results of the experimental and stochastic numerical analyses were then compared. The deviation of numerical simulations from direct shear load-displacement profiles taken from different sources were discussed, potential sources of error was introduced and elaborated. This study was primarily to explain the mathematical and physical procedures of sample preparation in stochastic soil mechanics. It can be extended to different problems and applications in geotechnical engineering discipline to take in to account the variability of strength and deformation parameters.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.1-9
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• 2011

A bibliographical review of Gy sampling theory for particulate materials was conducted to provide readers with useful means to reduce errors in soil contamination investigation. According to the Gy theory, the errors caused by the heterogeneous nature of soil include; the fundamental error (FE) caused by physical and chemical constitutional heterogeneity, the grouping and segregation error (GE) aroused from gravitational force, long-range heterogeneous fluctuation error ($CE_2$), the periodic heterogeneity fluctuation error ($CE_3$), and the materialization error (ME) generated during physical process of sample treatment. However, the accurate estimation of $CE_2$ and $CE_3$ cannot be estimated easily and only increasing sampling locations can reduce the magnitude of the errors. In addition, incremental sampling is the only method to reduce GE while grab sampling should be avoided as it introduces uncertainty and errors to the sampling process. Correct preparation and operation of sampling tools are important factors in reducing the incremental delimitation error (DE) and extraction error (EE) which are resulted from physical processes in the sampling. Therefore, Gy sampling theory can be used efficiently in planning a strategy for soil investigations of non-volatile and non-reactive samples.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 1998

The environmental problem of the rural area has been accelerated in soil as well as water. Soil contamination is usually caused by improper operation of landfills, abandoned mine fields, accidental spills, and illegal dumpings. Once soil contamination is initiated, pollutants migrate and may cause groundwater contamination which takes much effort for remediation. Early detection, therefore, is important to prevent further contamination. Electrical resistivity method was used to detect soil contamination, but it was not effective to the heterogeneous condition. Static cone penetrometer test (CPT) has been used widely to investigate geotechnical properties of the underground. In this study, electrical resistivity method and CPT are combined to improve the applicability of it. The pilot test was performed to examine the variation of electrical resistivity with different soil minerals and pore fluid characteristics. Soil samples used were poorly graded sand, silty sandy soil, and weathered granite soil. For all the cases, electrical resistivity decreased with increasing of moisture content. Soil mineral also affected the electrical resistivity significantly. Above all, leachate addition in the pore fluid was very sensitive and caused decreasing of electrical resistivity markedly. It implies that electrical resistivity method can be applied to investigate pollutant plume effectively. This is specially sure when the sensors contact the contaminated soils directly. The CPT method involves cone penetration to the ground, therefore, underground contamination around the cone could be investigated effectively even for heterogeneous condition as it penetrates if electrical resistivity sensors are attached on the cone.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.63-70
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• 2018

In this study, a simple probabilistic approach using equivalent coefficient of consolidation ($c_e$) was proposed to consider the spatial variability of coefficient of vertical consolidation ($c_v$), and the effect of the probability distribution of coefficient of consolidation on degree of consolidation in heterogeneous soil was investigated. The statistical characteristics of consolidation coefficient were estimated from 1,226 field data, and four probability distributions (Normal, Log-normal, Gamma, and Weibull) were applied to consider the effect of probability distribution. The random fields of coefficient of consolidation were generated based on Karhunen-Loeve expansion. Then, the equivalent coefficient of consolidation was calculated from the random field and used as the input value of consolidation analysis. As a result, the probabilistic analysis can be performed effectively by separating random field and numerical analysis, and probabilistic analysis was performed using a Latin hypercube Monte Carlo simulation. The results showed that the statistical properties of $c_e$ were changed by the probability distribution and spatial variability of $c_v$, and the probability distribution of $c_v$ has considerable effects on the probabilistic results. There was a large difference of failure probability depend on the probability distribution when the autocorrelation distance was small (i.e., highly heterogeneous soil). Therefore, the selection of a suitable probability distribution of $c_v$ is very important for reliable probabilistic analysis of consolidation.