• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.121-130
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• 2024

Many foundation projects are built on red-bed soft rocks, and the damage evolution of this kind of rocks affects the safety of these projects. At present, there is insufficient research on the damage evolution of red-bed soft rocks, especially the progressive process from mesoscopic texture change to macroscopic elastoplastic deformation. Therefore, based on the dual-porosity characteristics of pores and fissures in soft rock, we adopted a cellular automata model to simulate the propagation of these voids in soft rocks under an external load. Further, we established a macro-mesoscopic damage model of red-bed soft rocks, and its reliability was verified by tests. The results indicate that the relationship between the number and voids size conformed to a quartic polynomial, whereas the relationship between the damage variable and damage porosity conformed to a logistic curve. The damage porosity was affected by dual-porosity parameters such as the fractal dimension of pores and fissures. We verified the reliability of the model by comparing the test results with an established damage model. Our research results described the progressive process from mesoscopic texture change to macroscopic elastoplastic deformation and provided a theoretical basis for the damage evolution of these rocks.

• Journal of Communications and Networks
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.371-383
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• 2008

Application of network coding in wireless two-way relay channels (TWRC) has received much attention recently because its ability to improve throughput significantly. In traditional designs, network coding operates at upper layers above (including) the link layer and it requires the input packets to be correctly decoded. However, this requirement may limit the performance and application of network coding due to the unavoidable fading and noise in wireless networks. In this paper, we propose a new wireless network coding scheme for TWRC, which is referred to as soft network coding (SoftNC), where the relay nodes applies symbol-by-symbol soft decisions on the received signals from the two end nodes to come up with the network coded information to be forwarded. We do not assume further channel coding on top of SoftNC at the relay node (channel coding is assumed at the end nodes). According to measures of the soft information adopted, two kinds of SoftNC are proposed: amplify-and-forward SoftNC (AF-SoftNC) and soft-bit-forward SoftNC (SBF-SoftNC). We analyze the both the ergodic capacity and the outage capacity of the two SoftNC schemes. Specifically, analytical form approximations of the ergodic capacity and the outage capacity of the two schemes are given and validated. Numerical simulation shows that our SoftNC schemes can outperform the traditional network coding based two-way relay protocol, where channel decoding and re-encoding are used at the relay node. Notable is the fact that performance improvement is achieved using only simple symbol-level operations at the relay node.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.303-316
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• 2023

With the development and utilization of urban underground space, the artificial ground freezing technology has been widely used in the construction of underground engineering in soft soil areas. The mechanical properties of soft clay changed greatly after freezing and thawing, which affected the seismic performance of underground structures. In this paper, a series of triaxial tests were carried out to study the dynamic response of the freezing-thawing clay under the seismic load considering different dynamic stress amplitudes and different confining pressures. The reduction factor of dynamic shear stress was determined to correct the amplitude of the seismic load. The deformation development mode, the stress-strain relationship and the energy dissipation behavior of the soft clay under the seismic load were analyzed. An empirical model for predicting accumulative plastic strain was proposed and validated considering the loading times, the confining pressures and the dynamic stress amplitudes. The relevant research results can provide a theoretical reference to the seismic design of underground structures in soft clay areas.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.441-454
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• 2020

The tunnel collapse, large deformation of surrounding rock, water and mud inrush are the major geological disasters in soft rock tunnel construction. Among them, tunnel collapse has the most serious impact on tunnel construction. Current research backed theories have certain limitations in identifying the collapse risk of soft rock tunnels. Examining the Zhengwan high-speed railway tunnel, eight soft rock tunnel collapse influencing factors were selected, and the combination of indicator weights based on the analytic hierarchy process and entropy weighting methods was obtained. The results show that the groundwater condition and the integrity of the rock mass are the main influencing factors leading to a soft rock tunnel collapse. A comprehensive fuzzy evaluation model for the collapse risk of soft rock tunnels is being proposed, and the real-time collapse risk assessment of the Zhengwan tunnel is being carried out. The results obtained via the fuzzy evaluation model agree well with the actual situation. A tunnel section evaluated to have an extremely high collapse risk and experienced a local collapse during excavation, verifying the feasibility of the collapse risk evaluation model. The collapse risk evaluation model proposed in this paper has been demonstrated to be a promising and innovative method for the evaluation of the collapse risk of soft rock tunnels, leading to safer construction.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.583-596
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• 2023

The interlayers, either softer or stiffer than the surrounding layers, are usually overlooked during field investigation due to the small thickness. They may be neglected through the analysis process for simplicity. However, they may significantly affect the dynamic behavior of the soil-foundation system. In this study, a series of 3D finite-element Direct-solution steady-state harmonic analyses were carried out using ABAQUS/CAE software to investigate the impacts of interlayers on the dynamic response of a cast in place pile group subjected to horizontal harmonic load. The experimental data of a 3×2 pile group testing was used to verify the numerical modeling. The effects of thickness, depth, and shear modulus of the interlayers on the dynamic response of the pile group are investigated. The simulations were conducted on both stiff and soft soils. It was found that the soft interlayers affect the frequency-amplitude curve of the system only in frequencies higher than 70% of the resonant frequency of the base soil. While, the effect of stiff interlayer in soft base soil started at frequency of 35% of the resonant frequency of the base soil. Also, it was observed that a shallow stiff interlayer increased the resonant amplitude by 11%, while a deep one only increased the resonant frequency by 7%. Moreover, a shallow soft interlayer increased the resonant frequency by 20% in soft base soils, whereas, it had an effect as low as 6% on resonant amplitude. Also, the results showed that deep soft interlayers increased the resonant amplitude by 17 to 20% in both soft and stiff base soils due to a reduction in lateral support of the piles. In the cases of deep thick, soft interlayers, the resonant frequency reduced significantly, i.e., 16 to 20%. It was found that the stiff interlayers were most effective on the amplitude and frequency of the pile group.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.264-271
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• 2005

Sand pile method, such as sand drain method and sand compaction pile method, has been popularly used as an improvement method for soft clay grounds. The effect of accelerating consolidation of soft clay grounds has been evaluated with Barron's solution. By the way, the consolidation behavior of soft clay ground with sand piles strongly depends on both the nonlinear mechanical interaction between sand piles and surrounding clays and the degradation permeability of clays. In this paper, the method for determining consolidation parameters of soft clay ground with sand drains by using Barron's solution was proposed, through a series of numerical simulations. Through the method, the change in both volume compressibility and permeability during consolidation was reasonably evaluated.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.744-749
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• 2007

Kinematic and kinetic analysis has been performed for Soft Golf swings utilizing realistic three dimensional computer simulations based on three dimensional motion tracking data. Soft Golf is a newly developed recreational sport in South Korea aimed to become a safe and easy-to-learn sport for all ages. The advantage of Soft Golf stems from lighter weight of the club and much larger area of the sweet spot. This paper tries to look into kinematic and kinetic aspects of soft golf swings compared to regular golf swing and find the advantages of lighter Soft Golf clubs. For this purpose, swing motions of older aged participants were captured and kinematic analysis was performed for various kinematic parameters such as club head velocity, joint angular velocity, and joint range of motions as a pilot study. Kinetic analysis was performed by applying kinematic data to computer simulation models constructed from anthropometric database and the measurements from the participants. The simulations were solved using multi-body dynamics solver. Firstly, the kinematic parameters such as joint angles were obtained by solving inverse dynamics problem based on motion tracking data. Secondly, the kinetic parameters such as joint torques were obtained by solving control dynamics problem of making joint torque to follow pre-defined joint angle data. The results showed that mechanical loadings to major joints were reduced with lighter Soft Golf club.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.72-81
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• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to accomplish the stable humanoid robot walking on the soft terrains. The goal of the humanoid robot development is to make the robotic system perform some tasks in human living environment. However, human dwelling environments are very different from those of laboratories, where varied experiments are performed by the robot. In many cases, the ground is soft or elastic unlike the floor of a laboratory. When a robot walks on the soft ground, the sole of robot contacts the uneven ground. This results in unstable walking or walking may be impossible according to the degree of softness. Therefore, the algorithm that facilitates stable walking on the soft ground surface is required. In this paper, we suggest an algorithm that controls the ankle to help the robot walk stably on the soft ground using the humanoid robot (ISHURO-II) as a real model. A humanoid robot walking on the soft ground was simulated to verify that the proposed algorithm results in stable walking.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.793-806
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• 2016

The pozzolanic characteristics of a sludge incinerated into ash were determined in this study. Lime is commonly used as a stabilizer for the treatment of soils, whereas sewage sludge ash (SSA) is often applied with lime to improve soft subgrade soil. In this study, a cohesive soil categorized as A-4 (low-plasticity clay) by AASHTO classifications was mixed with SSA/lime with a 3:1 ratio. Nano-$SiO_2$ was also added to the soil. To identify changes in the workability, strength, permeability, and shear strength of the soft subgrade soil, basic soil tests were conducted, and the microstructure of the treated soil was analyzed. The results indicate that SSA/lime mixtures improve the properties of soft subgrade soil and transform the soil from "poor subgrade soil" to "good to excellent subgrade soil" with a CBR > 8. Additionally, the addition of 2% nano-$SiO_2$ increases the unconfined compressive strength of soft subgrade soil treated with SSA/lime mixture by approximately 17 kPa. However, the swelling of the treated soil increased by approximately 0.1% after the addition of nano-$SiO_2$ and lime. Thus, soil swelling should be considered before lime and nano-$SiO_2$ are applied to soft subgrade soil.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.355-372
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• 2017

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the performance and usability of ten-finger text entry on Tablet PCs. Background: Generally a soft keyboard is used on Tablet PCs. However, the soft keyboard's performance is usually worse than physical keyboard's performance. In this study, we proposed a modified keyboard for tablet PCs to improve the performance of ten-finger text entry and evaluated the performance and subjective ratings of the keyboard. Method: The modified soft keyboard that is suggested in this study was compared with current Google and Samsung soft keyboards on Tablet PCs. Results: The three keyboards were not significantly different in terms of typing speed, error rate, and mental workload and showed bad performance. Also, the subjective ratings were not shown positively. Conclusion: Based on our results, ten-finger text entry using soft keyboards on Tablet PCs seems to be very difficult. However, we need to research the possibility continuously since ten-finger text entry can improve typing speed. Application: Our study can be a starting point of research that explores ten-finger text entry on Tablet PCs. The new soft keyboard design can be one of the soft keyboard alternatives. However, the key factors to improve the performance and usability of the soft keyboard will not be 'key size' or 'convenience to typing special characters or numbers', but other factors (e.g., 'tactile feedback').