• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.757-774
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• 2015

Reinforcing soils with the geosynthetics have been shown to be an effective method for improving the uplift capacity of granular soils. The pull-out resistance of the reinforcing elements is one of the most notable factors in increasing the uplift capacity. In this paper, a new reinforcing element including the elements (anchors) attached to the ordinary geogrid for increasing the pull-out resistance of the reinforcement, is used. Thus, the reinforcement consists of the geogrid and anchors with the cylindrical plastic elements attached to it, namely grid-anchors. A three-dimensional numerical study, employing the commercial finite difference software FLAC-3D, was performed to investigate the uplift capacity of the pipelines buried in sand reinforced with this system. The models were used to investigate the effect of the pipe diameter, burial depth, soil density, number of the reinforcement layers, width of the reinforcement layer, and the stiffness of geogrid and anchors on the uplift resistance of the sandy soils. The outcomes reveal that, due to a developed longer failure surface, inclusion of grid-anchor system in a soil deposit outstandingly increases the uplift capacity. Compared to the multilayer reinforcement, the single layer reinforcement was more effective in enhancing the uplift capacity. Moreover, the efficiency of the reinforcement layer inclusion for uplift resistance in loose sand is higher than dense sand. Besides, the efficiency of reinforcement layer inclusion for uplift resistance in lower embedment ratios is higher. In addition, by increasing the pipe diameter, the efficiency of the reinforcement layer inclusion will be lower. Results demonstrate that, for the pipes with an outer diameter of 50 mm, the grid-anchor system of reinforcing can increase the uplift capacity 2.18 times greater than that for an ordinary geogrid and 3.20 times greater than that for non-reinforced sand.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.13-24
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• 2011

In the part of geotechnical engineering, soils are classified as either the coarse grained soil or the fine-grained soil following the fine content($F_c$=50%) according to the granularity, and appropriate design codes are used respectively to represent their mechanical behaviour. However, sand-clay mixtures, which are typically referred to as intermediate soils, cannot be easily categorized as either sand or clay. In this study, several monotonic undrained shear tests were carried out on Silica sand fine mixtures with various proportions, and a wide range of soil structures, ranging from one with sand dominating the soil structure to one with fines controlling the behaviour, were prepared using compaction method or pre-consoldation methods in prescribed energy. The shear strength of mixtures below the threshold fines content is observed that as the fines content increases, maximum deviator stress ratio decrease for dense samples while an increase is noted for loose samples. Then, by using the concept of fines content and granular void ratio, the monotonic shear strength of the mixtures was estimated. It was found that the shear behavior of mixtures is greatly dependent on the skeleton structure of sand particles.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.347-354
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• 2000

The seismic behaviors of a bridge system with several simple spans are examined to see the effects of the longitudinal stiffness degradation due to abutment-soil interaction. The abutment-backfill system is modeled as one degree-of-freedom-system with nonlinear spring and linear damper. various soil-conditions surrounding the abutment such as loose sand, medium dense sand, and dense sand are considered in the bridge seismic analysis. The idealized mechanical model for the whole bridge system is modeled by adopting the multiple-degree-of-freedom system, which can consider components such as pounding phenomena, friction at the movable supports, rotational and translational motions of foundations, and the nonlinear pier motions. The stiffness of the abutment is found to be rapidly reduced at the beginning of the earthquakes, and to be converged to constant values shortly after the displacement approaches to the Predefined critical values. It is observed that the maximum relative distanced an maximum relative displacements are generally Increased as the relative density of a soil decreases As the peak ground acceleration increases, the response ratio of the case considering stiffness degradation to the case considering constant stiffness decreases.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2017

In this study, the impact characteristics of subsea pipelines that were installed in various soil types and burial depths were evaluated by a numerical method. An impact scenario replicated a dropped ship anchor that fell vertically and impacted an installed subsea pipeline. In order to calculate the impact force through terminal velocity, FLUENT, a computational fluid dynamic program and MDM (Moving Deforming Mesh) technique were applied. Next, a dynamic finite element program, ANSYS Explicit Dynamics, was used for impact analysis between the anchor and pipeline (or, subsea if they were buried). Three soil types were considered: loose sand, dense sand and soft clay by applying the Mohr-coulomb model to the seabed. The buried depth was assumed to be 0 m, 1 m and 2 m. In conclusion, a subsea pipeline was the most stable when buried in dense sand at a depth of 2 m to prevent impact damage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.49-59
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• 2010

Earthquake-induced liquefaction on saturated loose sand is well known in the world. Since Saemangeum Dike Project has a plan to be reclaimed with dredged sand on wide river, possibility of liquefaction should be checked. Section Dongjin5 was selected to evaluate possibility of liquefaction. Estimating method follows as 1) determination of PL value with SPT results, passing curve, and soil properties, 2) prediction for maximum earthquake acceleration, 3) calculation for FL value on depth with Korean specification for highway bridges, 4) visualization for possibility of liquefaction on all of project area with GIS 5) comparison with Japanese specification for highway bridges, Youd and Idriss method, and Andrus and Stokoe II method for verification, 6) ascertainment for the potential liquefaction with cyclic triaxial test. 7) establishing for countermeasure if needed. From the results, even though most of area covered with sand, no potential liquefaction exists except some areas. Those need to soil improvement with grout or attaching measurement on substructure.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.653-671
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• 2023

In practice, the interference influence caused by adjacent footings of structures on geo-reinforced loose soil has a considerable impact on their behavior. Thus, the goal of this study is to evaluate the behavior of two strip footings in close proximity on both geocell and geogrid reinforced soil with different reinforcement layers. Geocell was made from geogrid material used to compare the performance of cellular and planar reinforcement on the bearing pressure of twin footings. Extensive experimental tests have been performed to attain the optimum embedment depth and vertical distance between reinforcement layers. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) analysis has been conducted to monitor the deformation, tilting and movement of soil particles beneath and between twin footings. Results of tests and PIV technique were verified using finite element modeling (FEM) and the results of both PIV and FEM were used to utilize failure mechanisms and influenced shear strain around the loading region. The results show that the performance of twin footings on geocell-reinforced sand at allowable and ultimate settlement ranges are almost 4% and 25% greater than the same twin footings on the same geogrid-reinforced sand, respectively. By increasing the distance between twin footings, soil particle displacements become smaller than the settlement of the foundations.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.51-59
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• 2010

This article is a case study for the example of the foundation design, in the project area of the silty sand layer that is spread shallowly with loose status, to make the site for a structure and build it up. The site is located on the dredged and reclaimed land in Gun-San and In-Cheon that is formed the silty sand layer with loose status range around 10 meters underground level, the solid ground for the lower pile is shown around 20 meters underground level. Therefore, this area has to be done by ground improvement when applying for the shallow method of foundation. Dynamic compaction method considering the conditions of the design loads in each zone has to be decided through comparative review on the method of foundations and pilot field test was conducted, and drilling investigation and plate bearing test were achieved as well. The analysis results of the tests prove that stability against bearing capacity was acquired by ground improvement effect.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.505-520
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• 2022

In recent years, geotextile-encased gravel columns (usually called stone columns) have become a popular method to increasing soil shear strength, decreasing the settlement, acceleration of the rate of consolidation, reducing the liquefaction potential and increasing the bearing capacity of foundations. The behavior of improved loose base-soil with gravel columns under shear loading and the shear stress-horizontal displacement curves got from large scale direct shear test are of great importance in understanding the performance of this method. In the present study, by performing 36 large-scale direct shear tests on sandy base-soil with different fine-content of zero to 30% in both not improved and improved with gravel columns, the effect of the presence of gravel columns in the loose soils were investigated. The results were used to predict the shear stress-horizontal displacement curve of these samples using support vector machines (SVM). Variables such as the non-plastic fine content of base-soil (FC), the area replacement ratio of the gravel column (Arr), the geotextile encasement and the normal stress on the sample were effective factors in the shear stress-horizontal displacement curve of the samples. The training and testing data of the model showed higher power of SVM compared to multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network in predicting shear stress-horizontal displacement curve. After ensuring the accuracy of the model evaluation, by introducing different samples to the model, the effect of different variables on the maximum shear stress of the samples was investigated. The results showed that by adding a gravel column and increasing the Arr, the friction angle (ϕ) and cohesion (c) of the samples increase. This increase is less in base-soil with more FC, and in a proportion of the same Arr, with increasing FC, internal friction angle and cohesion decreases.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.289-301
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• 2023

Developing a competent soil-bridge interaction model for the seismic analysis of piled foundation bridges is of utmost importance for investigating the seismic response and assessing fragility of these lifeline structures. To this end, ground motion histories are deemed necessary at various depths along the piles supporting the bridge. This may be effectively accomplished through time history analysis of a free-field standalone soil column extending from bedrock level to ground surface subjected to an input bedrock motion at its base. A one-dimensional site/ground response analysis (vide one-directional shear wave propagation through the soil column) is hence conducted in the present research accounting for the nonlinear hysteretic behavior of the soil stratum encompassing the bridge piled foundation. Two homogeneous soil profiles atop of bedrock have been considered for comparison purposes, namely, loose and dense sand. Analysis of the standalone soil column has been performed under a set of ten selected actual bedrock ground motions adopting a nonlinear time domain approach in an incremental dynamic analysis framework. Amplified retrieved PGA and maximum soil shear strains have been generally observed at various depths of the soil column when moving away from bedrock towards ground surface especially at large hazards associated with high (input) PGA values assigned at bedrock. This has been accompanied, however, by some attenuation of the amplified PGA values at shallower depths and at ground surface especially for the loose sand soil and particularly for cases with higher seismic hazards associated with large scaling factors of bedrock records.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.27-38
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• 2009

In this study, a series of 1 g shaking table model pile tests were carried out in saturated dense and loose sand to evaluate dynamic p-y curves for various conditions of flexural stiffness of a pile shaft, acceleration frequency and acceleration amplitude for input loads. Dynamic p-y backbone curve which can be applied to pseudo static analysis for saturated dense sand was proposed as a hyperbolic function by connecting the peak points of the experimental p-y curves, which corresponded to maximum soil resistances. In order to represent the backbone curve numerically, empirical equations were developed for the initial stiffness ($k_{ini}$) and the ultimate capacity ($p_u$) of soils as a function of a friction angle and a confining stress. The applicability of a p-y backbone curve was evaluated based on the centrifuge test results of other researchers cited in literature, and this suggested backbone curve was also compared with the currently available p-y curves. And also, the scaling factor ($S_F$) to account for the degradation of soil resistance according to the excess pore pressure was developed from the results of saturated loose sand.