• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.51-61
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• 2000

This paper reviews fundamentals of a pseudo-static seismic design/analysis method for soil-reinforced segmental retaining walls. A comparative study on NCMA and FHWA seismic design guidelines, which are one of the most well known design guidelines for mechanically stabilized earth walls, was also performed. The results demonstrate that there exist significant discrepancies in the results of external stability analysis despite the same calculation model used in the two guidelines, due primarily to different seismic coefficient selection criteria. It is also demonstrated that the internal stability calculation model for NCMA guideline tends to yield larger seismic reinforcement force in the shallower reinforcement layers, resulting in an increased number of reinforcement layers at the top of reinforced wall and increased reinforcement lengths to ensure adequate anchorage capacity. The internal stability calculation model adopted by FHWA guideline, however, leads to redistribution of dynamic force to the lower reinforcement layers and thus results n an opposite trend of NCMA guideline. Findings from this study clearly demonstrate a need for more in-depth studies to develop a generally acceptable design/analysis method.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.39-45
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• 2006

A field instrumentation for a recycled waste concrete geobag wall was performed to investigate the performance of the geobag wall, and uniaxial compression tests for a recycled waste concrete geobag were executed in laboratory. The strength of a recycled waste concrete geobag, the lateral earth pressure of a geobag wall, the horizontal deflection of a geobag wall, and the deformation of a backfill in geobag wall are mainly evaluated in this study. Based on the results of analysis on the measurements, it was found that the geobag wall displacement was within the recommendation for mechanically stabilized earth walls. It was also found that the use of a recycled waste concrete in geobag wall provides economical benefit, construction easiness, and good performance.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.29-38
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• 2005

It is essential to take consideration of long-term deformation characteristics of mechanically stabilized earth wall user sustained and repeated loads for design and construction, especially for use as part of permanent structures. This paper presents the long-term performance of a full-scale geogrid reinforced segmental retaining wall results based on the measured strains in geogrids for three years. The results indicate that the reinforcement tensile strains tend to continuously increase after wall completion with the increase being more pronounced in the reinforcement layers in the lower tier. It can be concluded that the long-term deformation should be taken in account for walls constructed as part of permanent structures for which wall deformation should be controlled.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.27-35
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• 2012

Facings of mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls have function to fix the reinforcement and prevent backfill loss, but the walls are lack of structural rigidity capable of resisting applied loads. The reinforced subgrade with rigid wall was developed to have the structural functions under train loading. Though it has lots of advantages such as small deformation after construction, its negative side effects of economics and difficult construction were mainly mentioned and not practically used. To apply it for railroad subgrade, this study focus on the construction cost down and the enhancement of constructability without functional loss. To do so, the behaviors of reinforced subgrade with rigid wall were evaluated with the change of the vertical spacing and length of reinforcement. Small scale model tests (1/10 scale) and 3 m full scale tests were performed to evaluate deformation characteristics of reinforced subgrade under simulated train loading. Even though it uses short reinforcement, it showed small horizontal displacement of wall and plastic settlement of subgrade. Also, it was verified that not only 30 cm but also 40 cm of vertical spacing of reinforcement had good performance in serviceability aspects.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2018

Characteristics of interface friction between cohesionless soils and geotechnical structure surfaces play an important role in the analysis of earth load and resistance on the structure. In general, geotechnical structures are mainly composed of either steel or concrete, and their surface roughnesses with respect to soil particle sizes influence the interface characteristics between soils and the structures. Accurate assessment of the interface friction characteristics between soils and structures is important to ensure the safety of geotechnical structures, such as mechanically stabilized earth walls reinforced with inextensible reinforcements, piles embedded into soils, retaining wall backfilled with soils. In this study, based on the database of high quality interface friction tests between frictional soils and solid surfaces from literature, equation representing peak interface friction angle is proposed. The influential factors of the peak interface friction angle are relative roughness between soil and solid surface, relative density of frictional soil, and residual (constant volume) interface friction angle. Futhermore, for the developed equation of the interface friction angle, its uncertainty was assessed statistically based on Goodness-of-fit test results.