• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2004

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. Also presented are the results of instrumentation on a full-scale field trial wall constructed as part of this study. The implications of the findings from this study are discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.319-328
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• 1998

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.626-632
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• 2002

Geogrid is widely used as the reinforcement materials in railway earth structures in order to achieve efficient land utilization as well as securing safety in railway service lines in other countries. In this study, the real scale test was carried out to investigate the application of geogrid reinforced soil segmental retaining walls(SRWs) in railway. For this goal, the vibration transfer characteristics of reinforced soil segmental retaining walls was evaluated. The resonant frequencies of SRWs, vertical ground vibration in backfill and vertical/horizontal vibration at segmental units were acquired. This experimental data and analysis result can contribute to understand the vibration response behavior of SRWs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1-11
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• 2001

This Paper presents the result of a parametric study on the behavior of stiffened grid reinforced segmental wall resting on non-yielding foundation. The parametric study was conducted using the nonlinear finite element analysis. In the finite element analysis, the step by step construction of the wall such as backfill, block reinforcement, block/backfill and soil/reinforcement interfaces were carefully modeled. The mechanical behavior of stiffened grid reinforced segmental walls was then investigated based on the result of analysis with emphasis on the effect of reinforcement stiffness on the behavior of the wall. The results of analysis indicate that the horizontal wall displacement decrease; with increasing the reinforcement stiffness at a decreasing rate, and that the horizontal stress at the back of the reinforced soil block does not much vary with the reinforcement stiffness. It is also revealed that the calculated maximum vertical stress at the base of the reinforced soil block agrees well with that based on the Meyerhof distribution and that the reinforcement and the connection force are considerably smaller than what might be expected based on the current design assumptions. The implications of the findings from this study to current design approaches were discussed in detail.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2000.03b
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• pp.379-386
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• 2000

This paper presents the results of finite element analysis on the seismic response of a soil-reinforced segmental retaining wall subjected to a prescribed earthquake record. The results of finite element analysis indicate that the maximum wall displacement occurs at the top, exhibiting a cantilever type of wall movement. Also revealed is that the increase in reinforcement force is more pronounced in the upper part of the reinforced zone, resulting in a more or less uniform distribution. None of the design guidelines appears to be able to correctly predict the dynamic force increase when compared with the results of finite element analysis. The calculation model adopted by the NCMA guideline, however, appears to compare better with the results of finite element analysis as well as field survey than the FHWA guideline. Based on the findings from this study, a number of implications to the current design methods are discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.101-108
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• 2000

This paper presents the results of finite element analysis on the seismic response of a soil-reinforced segmental retaining wall subjected to a prescribed earthquake record. The results of finite element analysis indicate that the maximum wall displacement occurs at the top, exhibiting a cantilever type of wall movement. Also revealed is that the increase in reinforcement force is more pronounced in the upper part of the reinforced zone, resulting in a more or less uniform distribution. None of the design guidelines appears to be able to correctly predict the dynamic force increase when compared with the results of finite element analysis. The results demonstrated that there exist critical stiffness and length of reinforcement beyond which further increase would not contribute to additional reinforcing effect. Based on the findings from this study, a number of implications to the current design methods are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.47-56
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• 2005

Recently, geosynthetic reinforced earth walls are gradually replacing conventional concrete retaining walls for reasons of economy, expediency of construction, and aesthetics. A number of reinforced soil walls having more than 10m heights have been constructed to make more effective development in the country. However, mistakes in design and construction of reinforced earth walls have resulted in many troubles such as failure of reinforced earth walls, horizontal deformationor breakdown of facings, and so forth during or after construction. In this paper, a case study on global sliding failure of a geogrid-reinforced tiered wall is carried out to investigate the causes of the failure and suggest the proper countermeasures. From the subsurface investigation and field instrumentation, It is found that the cause of the global sliding failure was occurred by decreasing of bearing capacity of foundation ground induced by infiltration of rainwater.

• 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.

• 기술발표회
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• s.2006
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• pp.156-161
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• 2006

Recently, construction of soil-reinforced segmental retaining walls which used geosynthetics are being increased day by day due to its construction efficiency, economic efficiency, and its aesthetic view. The conventional reinforced earth retaining wall has the connector system to fix the reinforcement and block However, this system may cause the crack of block and the rupture of reinforcement due to the stress concentration near the face of reinforced earth retaining wall In this study, the new connector system, which is able to allow the settlement of reinforcement, was applied to analyze the effect of connector system of reinforced earth retaining wall The connection strength tests and centrifugal tests for both the conventional reinforced earth retaining wall and the settlement reinforced earth retaining wall were performed to compare the results

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.23-32
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• 2008

This paper presents the global stability of geosynthetic reinforced segmental retaining walls in tiered configuration. Four design cases of walls with different geometries and offset distances were analyzed based on the FHWA and NCMA design guidelines and the discrepancies between the different guidelines were identified. A series of global slope stability analyses were conducted using the limit-equilibrium analysis and the continuum mechanics based shear strength reduction method with the aim of identifying failure patterns and the associated factors of safety. The results indicated among other things that the FHWA design approach yields conservative results both in the external and internal stability calculations, i.e., lower factors of safety, than the NCMA design approach. It was also found that required reinforcement lengths are usually governed by the global slope stability requirement rather than the external stability calculations. Also shown is that the required reinforcement lengths for the upper tiers are much longer than those based on the current design guidelines.