• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.53-64
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• 2005

For geotechnical design in practice, soils are, in general, assumed to behave as a linear elastic or perfect plastic material. More realistic geotechnical design, however, should take into account various factors that affect soil behavior in the field, such as non-linearity of stress-strain response, stress history, and water content. In this study, a series of laboratory tests including triaxial and resonant column tests were peformed with sands of various silt contents, relative densities, stress states, OCR and water contents. This aims at investigating effects of various factors that affect strength and stiffness of sands. From the results in this study, it is found that the effect of OCR is significant for the intermediate stress-strain range from the initial to failure, while it may be ignored for the initial stiffness and peak strength. For the effect of water content, it is observed that the initial elastic modulus decreases with increasing water content at lower confining stress and relative density At higher confining stresses, the effect of water content Is found to become small.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.63-78
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• 1996

Various type of in-situ and laboratary tests were performed in order to evaluate the stiffness of sedimentary soft rock. In triaxial compression tests of sedimentary soft rocks, axial strains from the axial displacement of the loading piston or specimen cap conventionally were considerably larger than those measured. tocally on the lateral surfaces of specimen, due to the bedding errors at the top and bottom ends of a specimen. A local deformation transducer was used to measure axial strains free from the bedding error ranging from 0.001% to about 1%. In ultra-sonic wave tests, the elastic modulus of unconfined spec imens was smaller than that of confined specimens, due probably to microfracks. Young's modulus Ed from ultra-sonic wave tests and those at small local strains from triaxial tests were similar, both of which agreed very well with Young's modulus Er from field shear wave velocities. Young'a modulus from the field behaviour was virtually similar to that obtained by reducing Er based on the strain level-dependency of stiffness evaluated by the triaxial tests.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.53-69
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• 2022

In densely built areas, the development of underground transportation systems often involves twin excavations, which are sometimes unavoidably constructed adjacent to existing piled foundations. Because soil stiffness degrades with induced stress release and shear strain during excavation, it is vital to investigate the piled raft responses to subsequent excavation after the first tunnel in a twin-excavation system. The effects of deep excavations on existing piled foundations have been extensively investigated, but the influence of twin excavations on a piled raft is seldom reported in the literature. In this study, three-dimensional numerical analyses were carried out to investigate the influence of sand density on an existing piled raft (with a working load on top of the raft) due to twin excavations. A wide range of relative density (D_r) from loosest (30%), loose to medium (50% and 70%), and densest (90%) were selected to investigate the effects on settlement and load transfer mechanism of the piled raft during twin excavations. An advanced hypoplastic sand model (which can capture small-strain stiffness and stress-state dependent dilatancy of sand) was adopted. The model parameters are calibrated against centrifuge test results in sand reported in the literature. From the computed results, it is found that twin excavations in loose sand (D_r=30%) caused the most significant settlement. This is because of the higher stiffness of denser sand (D_r=90%) than that of loose sand. In contrast, a much larger tilting (maximum magnitude=0.18%) was computed in dense sand than in loose sand after the completion of the first excavation. As far as the load transfer mechanism along the piles is concerned, an upward load transfer to mobilize shaft resistance is observed in loose sand. On the contrary, a downward load transfer is observed in dense sand.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.305-321
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• 2020

In this paper is presented the solution method for three-dimensional problem of transversely isotropic body's elastoplastic deformation by the finite element method (FEM). The process of problem solution consists of: determining the effective parameters of a transversely isotropic medium; construction of the finite element mesh of the body configuration, including the determination of the local minimum value of the tape width of non-zero coefficients of equation systems by using of front method; constructing of the stiffness matrix coefficients and load vector node components of the equation for an individual finite element's state according to the theory of small elastoplastic deformations for a transversely isotropic medium; the formation of a resolving symmetric-tape system of equations by summing of all state equations coefficients summing of all finite elements; solution of the system of symmetric-tape equations systems by means of the square root method; calculation of the body's elastoplastic stress-strain state by performing the iterative process of the initial stress method. For each problem solution stage, effective computational algorithms have been developed that reduce computational operations number by modifying existing solution methods and taking into account the matrix coefficients structure. As an example it is given, the problem solution of fibrous composite straining in the form of a rectangle with a system of circular holes.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.17-25
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• 2005

The bender element method is an experimental technique to determine very small strain ($<10^{-3}\%$), elastic shear modulus of a soil, $G_{max}$ by measuring the velocity of shear wave propagation through a sample. Bender elements have been applied as versatile transducers to measure small strain modulus of wet or dry soils in various laboratory apparatus. In this paper, bender element (BE), resonant column (RC) and torsional shear (TS) tests were performed on Toyoura sand at various testing conditions using the modified Stokoe type RC/TS testing equipment capable of performing BE test. Based on the results, applicabilities of the testing method using bender element were evaluated by comparing the values of $G_{max}$ obtained from RC/TS and BE testing methods. For more dependable evaluation, the loading frequency of each testing method was considered for the results obtained for samples in saturated condition by adapting Biot's theory.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.63-72
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• 2015

This paper describes the correlation and relationship between elastic moduli measured by three stiffness measurement methods with different mechanical characteristics to evaluate the compaction characteristics of subgrade soils. The Soil Stiffness Gauge (SSG) with very small strain (${\approx}0.001%$) ranges, static Plate Loading Test (PLT) with mid-level strain (${\approx}0.01{\sim}0.1%$) ranges, and Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) using penetration resistance were implemented to measure the elastic modulus. To use the elastic modulus measured by different measurement methods with a wide range of strain in practice, it is required to identify the correlation and relationship of measured values in advance. The comparison results of the measured elastic moduli ($E_{SSG}$, $E_{PLT}$, $E_{DCP}$) using the three measurement methods for domestic and overseas subgrade soils under various conditions indicate that the evaluated elastic modulus relies on the types of soils and the level of stress condition. The correlation analysis of the measured elastic moduli except the data of cement treated soils indicates that the static elastic modulus ($E_{PLT}$) is evaluated as about 60 to 80% of the dynamic elastic modulus ($E_{SSG}$). Unusual soils such as cement treated soils are required to be corrected by the stress correction during the correlation analysis with typical soils, because these types of soils are sensitive to the stress condition when measuring the static elastic modulus ($E_{PLT}$) of soils. In addition, when considering the use of DCP data for the evaluation of the elastic modulus ($E_{DCP}$), the measured data of the elastic modulus less than 200 MPa show more reliable correlation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.103-111
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• 2008

Soils naturally contain grains of different minerals which may be dissolved under chemical or physical processes. The dissolution leads changes in microstructure of particulate media, such as an increase in local void or permeability, which affects the strength and deformation of soils. This study focuses on the small strain stiffness characteristics of vanishing mixtures, which consist of sand and salt particles at different volume fractions. Experiments are carried out in a conventional oedometer cell (Ko-loading) integrated with bender elements for the measurement of shear waves. Dissolutions of particles are implemented by saturating the mixtures at various confining stresses. Axial deformation and shear waves are recorded after each loading stage and during dissolution process. Experimental results show that after dissolution, the vertical strain and the void ratio increase, while the shear wave velocity and small strain shear modulus decrease. The decrease of the velocity results from the void ratio increase and particle contact decrease. The process monitoring during dissolution of the particles shows that the vertical strain dramatically increases at the beginning of the saturation process and converges after vanishing process finishes, and that the shear wave velocity decreases at the beginning and increases due to the particle reorientation. Specimens prepared by sand and salt particles are proved to be able to provide a valuable insight in macro structural behaviors of the vanishings mixtures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.361-384
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• 2011

Earlier studies on hollow-circular rubber bearings, all of which are conducted for steel-reinforced bearings, indicate that the hole presence not only decreases the compression modulus of the bearing but also increases the maximum shear strain developing in the bearing due to compression, both of which are basic design parameters also for fiber-reinforced rubber bearings. This paper presents analytical solutions to the compression problem of hollow-circular fiber-reinforced rubber bearings. The problem is handled using the most-recent formulation of the "pressure method". The analytical solutions are, then, used to investigate the effects of reinforcement flexibility and hole presence on bearing's compression modulus and maximum shear strain in the bearing in view of four key parameters: (i) reinforcement extensibility, (ii) hole size, (iii) bearing's shape factor and (iv) rubber compressibility. It is shown that the compression stiffness of a hollow-circular fiber-reinforced bearing may decrease considerably as reinforcement flexibility and/or hole size increases particularly if the shape factor of the bearing is high and rubber compressibility is not negligible. Numerical studies also show that the existence of even a very small hole can increase the maximum shear strain in the bearing significantly, which has to be considered in the design of such annular bearings.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.85-94
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• 2011

Mixtures of sand and rubber particles ($D_{sand}/D_{rubber}=1$) are investigated to explore their characteristics under different stain level. Mixtures are prepared with different volumetric sand fractions ($sf=V_{sand}/V_{total}$). Experimental data are gathered from a resonant column, an instrumented oedometer, and a direct shear tests. Results show that sand and rubber differently control the behavior of the whole mixture with strain level. Non-linear degradation of small strain stiffness is observed for the mixtures with $sf{\geq}0.4$, while the mixtures with low sand fraction ($sf{\leq}0.2$) show significantly high elastic threshold strain. Vertical stress-deformation increases dramatically when the rubber particle works as a member of force chain. The strength of the mixtures increases as the content of rubber particle decreases, and contractive behavior is observed in the mixtures with $sf{\leq}0.8$. Rubber particle plays different roles with strain level in the mixture: it increases a coordination number and controls a plasticity of the mixture in small strain; it prevents a buckling of force chain in intermediate strain; it leads a contractive behavior in large strain.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.2-25
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• 2021

This study evaluated gender preferences regarding the mechanical properties of polymers that are typically used as cooperative robot skin. Gender-based preferences of workers aged 20~30 and polydimethylsiloxane were examined according to the body parts which is most frequently in contact with the robot during operation. The factors influencing preference, i.e., stiffness and stickiness, as measured by strain rate and contact angle, respectively, were analyzed to compare gender-based differences. Female preferred stiffer materials with small strain rates while male preferred softer materials with large strain rates. As a result of evaluating mechanical properties of the materials to relate to gender-based preference, we found that female tended to prefer Dragon-skin with the lowest stickiness, and a low strain rate, during compressive creep tests. In contrast, male tended to prefer Ecoflex with high strain rate regardless of stickiness. Therefore, these results provide basis for material selection when considering cooperative robot skin.