• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.33-40
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• 2023

The lateral load which is applied to the pile foundation supporting the superstructure during an earthquake is divided into the inertia force of the upper structure and the kinematic force of the ground. The inertia force and the kinematic force could cause failure to the pile foundation through different complex mechanisms. So it is necessary to predict and evaluate interaction of the ground-pile-structure properly for the seismic design of the foundation. The interaction is affected by the lateral behavior of the structure, the length of the pile, the boundary conditions of the head, and the relative density of the ground. Confining pressure and ground stiffness change accordingly when the relative density changes, and it results that the coefficient of subgrade reaction varies depending on each system. Horizontal bearing behavior and capacity of the pile foundation vary depending on lateral load condition and relative density of the sandy soil. Therefore, the 1g shaking table tests were conducted to confirm the effect of the relative density of the dried sandy soil to dynamic behavior of the group pile supporting the superstructure. The result shows that, as the relative density increases, maximum acceleration of the superstructure and the pile cap increases and decreases respectively, and the slope of the p-y curve of the pile decreases.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.307-319
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• 2023

Ground fissures have a huge effect on the integrity of surface structures. In high-intensity ground fissure regions, however, land resource would be wasted and city building and economic development would be limited if the area avoiding principle was used. In view of this challenge, to reveal the seismic response and seismic failure characteristics of ground fissure sites, a shaking table test on model soil based on a 1:15 scale experiment was carried out. In the test, the spatial distribution characteristics of acceleration response and Arias intensity were obtained for a site exposed to earthquakes with different characteristics. Furthermore, the failure characteristics and damage evolution of the model soil were analyzed. The test results indicated that, with the increase in the earthquake acceleration magnitude, the crack width of the ground fissure enlarged from 0 to 5 mm. The soil of the hanging wall was characterized by earlier cracking and a higher abundance of secondary fissures at 45°. Under strong earthquakes, the model soil, especially the soil near the ground fissure, was severely damaged and exhibited reduced stiffness. As a result, its natural frequency also decreased from 11.41 Hz to 8.05 Hz, whereas the damping ratio increased from 4.8% to 9.1%. Due to the existence of ground fissure, the acceleration was amplified to nearly 0.476 m/s², as high as 2.38 times of the input acceleration magnitude. The maximum of acceleration and Arias intensity appeared at the fissure zone, which decreased from the main fissure toward both sides, showing hanging wall effects. The seismic intensity, duration and frequency spectrum all had certain effects on the seismic response of the ground fissure site, but their influence degrees were different. The seismic response of the site induced by the seismic wave that had richer low-frequency components and longer duration was larger. The discrepancies of seismic response between the hanging wall and the footwall declined obviously when the magnitude of the earthquake acceleration increased. The research results will be propitious to enhancing the utilizing ratio of the limited landing resource, alleviation of property damages and casualties, and provide a good engineering application foreground.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.27-41
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• 2023

Submerged floating tunnels must be connected to the ground to connect continents. The displacement imbalance at the shore connection between the underground bored tunnel and submerged floating tunnel can cause stress concentration, accompanying a fracture at the shore connection. The elastic joint has been proposed as a method to relive the stress concentration, however, the effect of the elastic joints on the dynamic behavior should be evaluated. In this study, the submerged floating tunnel and shore connection under dynamic load conditions were simulated through numerical analysis using a numerical model verified through a small-scaled physical model test. The resonant frequency was considered as a dynamic behavioral characteristic of the tunnel under the impact load, and it was confirmed that the stiffness of the elastic joint and the resonant frequency exhibit a power function relationship. When the shore connection is designed with a soft joint, the resonant frequency of the tunnel is reduced, which not only increases the risk of resonance in the marine environment where a dynamic load of low frequency is applied, but also greatly increases the maximum velocity of tunnel when resonance occurs.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.53-66
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• 2023

In this study, the results of the elasto-plastic beam analysis, finite element analysis and optimization design of the steel pipe sheet pile applied as an earth retaining wall under the deep excavation were presented. Through this study, it was found that the high-strength and sea resistant steel pipe has high allowable stress, excellent structural properties, favorable corrosion, and high utilization as an earth retaining wall, and the C-Y type joint has significantly improved the tensile strength and stiffness compared to the traditional P-P type. In addition, it was investigated that even if the leak or defect of the wall occurs during construction, it has the advantage of being able to be repaired reliably through welding and overlapping. In the case of steel pipe wall, they were evaluated as the best in views of the deep excavation due to the large allowable bending stress and deformation flexibility for the same horizontal displacement than CIP or slurry wall. Elasto-plastic and finite element analysis were conducted in consideration of ground excavation under large-scale earth pressure (uneven pressure), and the results were compared with each other. Quantitative maximum value were found to be similar between the two methods for each item, such as excavation behavior, wall displacement, or member force, and both analysis method were found to be applicable in design for steel pipe sheet pile wall. Finally, it was found that economical design was possible when determining the thinnest filling method with concrete rather than the thickest hollow shape in the same diameter, and the depth (the embedded length through normality evaluation) without rapidly change in displacement and member force.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.125-135
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• 2008

Rigid-soft particle mixtures, which consist of sand and rubber, are investigated for the understanding of the stress-deformation and elastic moduli. Specimens are prepared with various size ratio sr between sand and rubber particles, and different volumetric sand fraction sf. Small strain shear waves are measured under $K_o$-loading condition incorporated with the stress-deformation test by using oedometer cell with bender elements. The stress-deformation and small strain shear wave characteristics of rigid-soft particle mixtures show the transition from a rigid particle behavior regime to a soft particle behavior regime under fixed size ratio. A sudden rise of $\Lambda$ factor and the maximum value of the $\zeta$ exponent in $G_{max}=\;{\Lambda}({\sigma}'_{o}/kPa)^{\zeta}$ are observed at $sf\;{\approx}\;0.4{\sim}0.6$ regardless of the size ratio sf. Transition mixture shows high sensitivity to confining stress. The volume fraction for the minimum porosity may depend on the applied stress level in the rigid-soft particle mixtures because the soft rubber particles easily distort under load. In this experimental study, the size ratio and volumetric sand fraction are the important factors which determine the behavior of rigid and soft particle mixtures.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.47-60
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• 2007

Conventional active surface wave measurements performed using a transient or continuous source are often limited in the maximum depth of penetration due to the difficulty of generating low-frequency energy with reasonably portable sources. This limitation may inhibit accurate seismic site response calculations because of the inability to define deeper subsurface structure. By measuring surface wave generated by passive sources including microtremors and cultural noise, it is possible to overcome this problem and develop soil stiffness profiles to much larger depth. Reliability of dispersion estimates from the passive surface wave measurements is critical to present reliable shear wave velocity profiles and can be improved by the measurements and analyses of passive surface waves based on correct understanding of systematic errors included in passive dispersion data. In this study, the systematic errors caused by poor wavenumber resolution and energy leakage into sidelobes in passive tests are mainly explored. Recommendations for reliable passive surface wave measurements and dispersion estimates are presented and illustrated at a site in San Jose, California, U.S.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.33-41
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• 2023

The application of seismic separation joints that can improve the deformation capacity of piping is an effective way to improve seismic performance. Seismic separation joints capable of axial expansion and bending deformation are installed where deformation is expected and used for the purpose of safely protecting the piping. Bellows are flexible and have low stiffness, so they can be used as seismic separation joints because they have excellent ability to respond to relatively large deformation. In this study, the seismic performance and limit state for bending deformation of 2-ply and 3-ply bellows specimens were evaluated. Seismic performance was evaluated by applying an increasing cyclic load to consider low-cycle fatigue due to seismic load. In order to confirm the margin for the limit state of the evaluated seismic performance, an experiment was conducted in which a cyclic loading of constant amplitude was applied. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the bellows specimen was made of stainless steel and had a high elongation, so that the 2-ply bellows specimen had the limit performance of resisting within 3 cycles even at the maximum forced displacement of the 3-ply bellows specimen.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.2A
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• pp.301-310
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• 2006

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CRFP) materials are well suited to the rehabilitation of civil engineering structures due to their corrosion resistance, high strength to weight ratio and high stiffness to weight ratio. Their application in the field of the rehabilitation of concrete structures is increased due to the vast number of bridges and buildings in need of strengthening. However, RC members, strengthened with externally bonded CFRP plates, happened to collapse before reaching the expected design failure load. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the new strengthening method to overcome the problems of previous bonded strengthening method. This problems can be solved by prestressing the CFRP plate before bonding to the concrete. In this study, a total of 21 specimens of 3.3 m length were tested by the four point bending method after strengthening them with externally bonded CFRP plates. The CFRP plates were bonded without prestress and with various prestress levels ranging from 0.4% to 0.8% of CFRP plate strain. All specimen with end anchorage failed by a plate fracture regardless of the prestress levels while the specimen without end anchorage failed by the separation of the plate from the beam due to premature debonding. The cracking loads was proportionally related to the prestress levels, but the maximum loads of specimens strengthened with prestressed CFRP plates were insignificantly affected by the prestress levels.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.373-384
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• 2022

To improve the seismic performance of suspended ceiling structures, various vibration-damping devices have been developed. However, the devices made of metals have a limit in that they cause large deformation and seriously damages the exterior of the suspended ceiling structure from the wall. As a results, their strengthening effect of the suspended ceiling structure was minimal. Thus, this study employed a spring and vibration-proof rubber effectively controlled vibrations without increasing horizontal seismic loads on the ceiling to enhance the seismic resistance of suspended ceiling structures. The objective of the study is to examine the dynamic properties of a seismic damping-isolation unit (SDI) with various details developed. The developed SDI was composed of a spring, embossed rubbers, and prestressed bolts, which were the main factors enhancing the damping effect. The shaking table tests were performed on eight SDI specimens produced with the number of layers of embossed rubber (n_s), presence or absence of a spring, prestressed force magnitude introduced in bolts (f_ps), and mass weight (W_m) as the main parameters. To identify the enhancement effect of the SDI, the dynamic properties of the control specimen with a conventional hanger bolt were compared to those of the SDI specimens. The SDI specimens were effective in reducing the maximum acceleration (A_{c max}), acceleration amplification factor (α_p), relative displacement (δ_R), and increasing the damping ratio (ξ) when compared to the control specimen. The A_{c max}, α_p, and δ_R of the SDI specimens with two rubbers, spring, and f_ps of 0.1f_by, where f_by is the yielding strength of the screw bolt were 57.8%, 58.0%, and 61.9% lower than those of the conventional hanger bolt specimens, respectively, resulting in the highest ξ (=0.127). In addition, the α_p of the SDI specimens was 50.8% lower than those specified in ASCE 7 and FEMA 356. Consequently, to accurately estimate the α_p of the SDI specimens, a simple model was proposed based on the functions of f_ps, stiffness constant of the spring (K), W_m, and n_s.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2024

Seismic safety of expansion joints for piping systems has been underscored by water pipe ruptures and leaks resulting from the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes. Metal bellows in piping systems are applied to prevent damage from earthquakes and road subsidence in soft ground. Designed with a series of corrugated segments called convolutions, metal bellows exhibit flexibility to accommodate displacements. Several studies have examined variations in convolution shapes and layers based on the intended performance to be evaluated. Nonetheless, the research on the seismic performance of complex bellows having multiple corrugation heights is limited. In this study, monotonic loading tests, cyclic loading tests, and fatigue tests were conducted to evaluate the shear performance in seismic conditions, of metal bellows with variable convolution heights. Single- and triple-layer bellows were considered for the experimentation. The results reveal that triple-layer bellows exhibit larger maximum deformation and fatigue life than single-layer bellows. However, the high stiffness of triple-layer bellows in resisting internal pressure poses certain disadvantages. The convolutions are less flexible at lower displacements and experience leakage at a rate related to the variable height of the convolutions in certain conditions. At lower deformation rates, the fatigue life is rated higher as the number of layers increase. It converges to a similar fatigue life at higher deformation rates.