• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.99-115
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• 2014

Uncertainties in design variables and design equations have a significant impact on the safety of geotechnical structures like retaining walls and slopes. This paper presents a possible framework for obtaining the partial safety factors based on reliability approach for different random variables affecting the stability of a reinforced concrete cantilever retaining wall and a slope under static loading conditions. Reliability analysis is carried out by Mean First Order Second Moment Method, Point Estimate Method, Monte Carlo Simulation and Response Surface Methodology. A target reliability index ${\beta}$ = 3 is set and partial safety factors for each random variable are calculated based on different coefficient of variations of the random variables. The study shows that although deterministic analysis reveals a safety factor greater than 1.5 which is considered to be safe in conventional approach, reliability analysis indicates quite high failure probability due to variation of soil properties. The results also reveal that a higher factor of safety is required for internal friction angle ${\varphi}$, while almost negligible values of safety factors are required for soil unit weight ${\gamma}$ in case of cantilever retaining wall and soil unit weight ${\gamma}$ and cohesion c in case of slope. Importance of partial safety factors is shown by analyzing two simple geotechnical structures. However, it can be applied for any complex system to achieve economization.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.97-103
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• 2005

It is necessary, in the light of the importance of long-term slope stability problem, to develop a simple method or tool which can figure out the possible failure zone resulted from weathering effect and other factors. The FBG sensor system is used to estimate the correlations between the temperature and the slope in Yunhwajae, and to find a failure zone in slopes effectively. This research is to seek for the correlation between the soil temperature distribution and the strain distribution in a active zone by analyzing the data from the in-situ measurement so that the possible failure zone should be well defined based on the correlation. The zone of high temperature fluctuation can be regarded as one of the possible sliding zone due to the weathering effect while the constant temperature depth of the ground, if exists, would not be relatively affected by the weathering process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.315-321
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• 2001

Since 1984, block-type reinforced earth wall with geogrid reinforcement has been widely used for retaining wall applications till now in Korea. The use of geogrid as a reinforcement in the reinforced earth wall is steadily increased in an amount over 1,500,000㎡ in a year However, still need exists that some problems in design and construction practices should be made to review, Therefore, this paper reviewed reasonable criteria for selection of backfills, design details considering the effect of the upper soil slope on reinforced earth wall, horizontal displacement of facing block during compaction, and the damage of geogrid reinforcements on the edge part of facing block. Finally, alternative methods of measures on those problems are proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2002

This paper presents the results of stability analyses on soil-reinforced segmental retaining walls in a tiered arrangement. Four different walls were examined to investigate the appropriateness of their designs within the context of the current design guidelines based on limit equilibrium. Slope stability analysis against the compound failure mode, which is frequently ignored during design, was also performed based on the method recommended by FHWA design guidelines. The results indicate that the as-built designs of some of the walls examined do not meet the minimum factors of safety for the external and internal stabilities, and for the compound failure mode. The implications of the findings from this study are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.5-15
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• 2014

It is very important to design and construct slopes safely because damage cases are increasing due to slope failure. Recently, Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) based programs are commonly used for slope designs. Though LEM can give factors of safety through simple calculation, it has a disadvantage that the sliding surface should be assumed in advance. On the other hand, the use of Finite Difference Method (FDM) is increasing since the factor of safety can be easily estimated by using shear strength reduction technique. Therefore the purpose of this study is to present a reasonable slope design methodology by comparing the two commonly used analysis approaches; LEM and FDM. To this end, the reinforcement effects of the two methods were compared in terms of the support pattern of soil nailing reinforced in the section where plane failure is anticipated. As a result, the reinforcement effects by nail angle and nail spacing turned out to be equal. Also it was found that the factor of safety increased in LEM, but not changed in FDM when the nail length increased.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.63-68
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• 1993

Soil nailing is a method of reinforcing natural deposits of soil with passive inclusions, called nails, of steel or other materials. Its purpose is mainly to increase the tensile and shear strength of the soil mass. This method has been widely used during the last two decades to stabilize steep slopes in several countries (France, Germany, USA, Japan, etc.). The design methods that have been mostly used are Davis method, German method, and French method which are based on limit equilibrium approaches, and Juran method which utilizes the kinematical limit equilibrium design concept. This paper is focussed on the evaluation of the available design methods(especially, the France, Davis and German design methods) through comparison with each different assumption for the failure surface, the concept of failure mechanism and the definition of safety factor. The parametric study to identify the effects of design parameters on the overall factor of safety has also been conducted. By considering the results along with the associated assumptions which have been postulated in the several methods, the applicability of the method for a given soil and nail conditions has been evaluated.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.2 s.48
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• pp.189-199
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• 2006

This paper presents a field study of the stability of slope collapsed during road construction and proposes a reasonable countermeasure if the current slope is unstable. As a result of slope investigation, it was found that the slope includes five tension cracks and the sliding surface is started from the tension crack and propagated the surface soil layer through weathered rock layer. The slope stability analyses are conducted in case of dry and rainfall seasons. The results indicate that the slope is unstable status. A reinforcement method of slope failure should be selected according to the scale of failure. That is, the scale of slope failure, which is classified small, middle and large size determines the reinforcement method of slope. Since the slope interested in this study is large size failure slope, the reinforcement method to control slope failure is selected stabilizing piles, and seed spray and drainage of surface waterare also selected to remain the factor of safety. The SLOPILE (Ver. 3.0) program is applied in order to do stability analysis of slope reinforced by piles. As the result of analysis, the slope reinforced by a row of piles shows the stable state. It is clearly confirmed that the stabilizing of piles can improve the stability of slope.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.35-48
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• 1996

Reinforced soil structures may experience large local movements between soil and reinforcement. The failure modes of a reinforced structure depend on several factors which are governed by deformation and slipping of the reinforcement. In some cases, pulling out of the reinforcement may occur instead of rupturing, The growing use of geosynthetic liner system for storage of solid and liquid wastes has led to a number of slope instability problems where the synthetic liner may undergo a large amount of stretching and slipping as a result of the loading. The conventional finite element model for the soil-reinforcement interface uses a zero thickness joint element with normal and shear stiffnesses and can only accommodate a small amount of deformation. When a large slippage occurs, the model provides an i ncorrect mechanism for deformation. This paper presents a new interface finite element model which is able to simulate a large amount of slippage between soil and reinforcement. The formulation of the model is presented and the capability of the model is demonstrated using illustrative examples.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.5-16
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• 2017

Soil nailing is the most general method to reinforce the slope by taking pullout and shear resistance force of the nail for stabilizing the slope. Domestic soil nailing design method considers only pullout resistance and does not consider the shear resistance sufficiently. In case of nail, the effect of tensile stress is dominant, but it is desirable to design by considering shear stress as well as tensile stress in case of slope where circle failures occur. Recently, studies on the shear resistance effect of nails have been carried out in the geotechnical field. However, many researches on the shear reinforcement effect of soil nailing have not been conducted until now. Most of the studies are about increasing pullout resistance by improving material, shape and construction method of nail. Therefore, it is necessary to the study on shear resistance of soil nailing and development of new methods to increase the shear force. In this study, large shear test and limit equilibrium analysis have been performed for a new soil nailing method to increase the shear resistance by forming protrusions through pressurized grouting after installing a packer on the outside of deformed bar. The study results showed that shear resistance of protrusion type soil nailing increased compared to soil nailing and it is more effective when applied to the ground with large strength parameters.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.109-114
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• 2013

This paper describes the global stability of the reinforced earth wall, which was collapsed by heavy rainfall. The seepage analysis was conducted to confirm the change effect of groundwater level on slope with reinforced earth wall. The seepage analysis result confirmed that the change of groundwater level is greatly influenced by rainfall. According to the change of groundwater level, the global stability analysis with reinforced earth wall was conducted based on the results of seepage analysis. The safety factor of the slope was 0.476 when the wall is collapsed firstly. The collapse cause analyzed that soil strength was weaken because the ground was saturated by continuous rainfall. Therefore, the global stability, which is considered heavy rainfall, should be conducted at design and construction of reinforced earth wall.