• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2007.09a
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• pp.514-527
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• 2007

Earth reinforcement techniques are used worldwide and offer proven solutions to a wide range of geotechnical engineering problems. Here in this paper, recent developments of three major reinforced soil retaining wall methods in Japan were introduced in order to show how the current situation of this technique in Japan is. And the statistical data for the volume of the use was also shown, such as the total volume of the use, the scales of the structures, layout of the earth reinforcement, fill materials, and foundation conditions. Some of the case histories were also introduced with photographs and figures. And then, as one of recent research activity by the author, the study on the application of X-ray CT for the problem of earth reinforcement method combined with other method such as piling and soil improvement was introduced. In this study, a series of model test for several reinforced ground with geogrids was conducted using a newly developed test apparatus. Then, the behavior in the soil box was scanned after settlement using X-ray CT scanner. Based on these test results, the reinforcing effect by the geogrids and the soil arching effect over the pile heads was discussed precisely and those are done in 3-D with nondestructive condition. Finally, the effectiveness of the use of X-ray CT scanner in geotechnical engineering was promised.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.33-45
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• 2014

Use of geotextile as reinforcement material to improve the weak soil is a popular method these days. Tensile strength of geotextile and the soil-geotextile interaction are the major factors which influence the improvement of the soil. Change in fine content within the sand can change the interface behavior between soil and geotextile. In the present paper, the bearing capacity of unreinforced and geotextile-reinforced sand with different percentages of fines has been studied. A series of model tests have been carried out and the load settlement curves are obtained. The ultimate load carrying capacity of unreinforced and reinforced sand with different percentages of fines is compared. The interface behavior of sand and geotextile with various percentages of fines is also studied. It is observed that sand having around 5% of fine is suitable or permissible for bearing capacity improvement due to the application of geosynthetic reinforcement. The effectiveness of the reinforcement in load carrying capacity improvement decreases due to the addition of excessive amount of fines.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.195-211
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• 2014

Stone columns (or granular column) have been used to increase the load carrying capacity and accelerating consolidation of soft soil. Recently, the geosynthetic reinforced stone column technique has been developed to improve the load carrying capacity of the stone column. In addition, reinforcement prevents the lateral squeezing of stone in to surrounding soft soil, helps in easy formation of stone column, preserve frictional properties of aggregate and drainage function of the stone column. This paper investigates the improvement of load carrying capacity of isolated ordinary and geotextile reinforced sand column through field load tests. Tests were performed with different reinforcement stiffness, diameter of sand column and reinforcement length. The results of field load test indicated an improved load carrying capacity of geotextile reinforced sand column over ordinary sand column. The increase in load carrying capacity depends upon the sand column diameter, stiffness of reinforcement and reinforcement length. Also, the partial reinforcement length about two to four time's sand column diameter from the top of the column was found to significant effect on the performance of sand column.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.5-14
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• 1991

This paper reports the application study of the ground reinforcement under a buried conduit subjected to differential settlement via a finite element modeling. The soil-reinforcement inter- action helps to minimize the differential settlement between the adjoining conduit segments. Three different field conditions have been considered. The settlement pattern and deformation slope have been evaluated for each boundary condition. The analysis results are compared for both non-reinforced and reinforced case to measure the effectiveness of the soil reinforcement for restraining deformation of the conduit.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.129-135
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• 1991

This paper reports the application study of the ground reinforcement under a buried pipeline subjected to differential settlement via a finite element modeling. The soil-reinforcement interaction helps to minimize the differential settlement between the adjoining pipe segments. The settlement pattern and deformation slope of a pipeline have been evaluated for a boundary condition at the joint between a rigid structure and a pipeline. The analysis results are compared for both non-reinforced and reinforced cases to numerically evaluate the stress transfer mechanism and the effectiveness of the soil reinforcement for restraining the settlement of the pipeline.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.21-36
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• 1996

The stress transfer mechanism between soil and grid reinforcements involves two basic mechanism : frictional soil resistance and passive soil resistance. However the mechanism of the passive soil resistance is very complex to understand. To study the failure mechanism of ribbed reinforcement, the direct shear tests which are dominated by passive soil resistance are analyzed by using the finite element method. The finite element method is used to examine the effects of ribs on this passive soil resistance development and the met hanism of failure. The calculated behavior of the ribbed reinforcement is compared with the measured behavi or. Comparisons between the measured and the simulated strain pat terns, failure modes and load displacement relationship are presented. The behavior of the ribbed reinforcements in a cohesive soil is predicted on the basis of a good agreement between the measured and the Predicted behavior of the Ottawa sand.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.73-83
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• 2010

A technology using continuous fiber soil reinforcement system for the creation of ecological restoration in a damaged area has been developed and introduced. The continuous fiber soil reinforcement system (Geofiber system) is an environmentally friendly slope protection technique that continuous fiber soil reinforced layers are constructed with green plantation on cut slope. The characteristics of this system in terms of the strength and hydraulic performance, and the vegetation were investigated in this study. The main objectives of this comparative study was to quantify the potential contribution of geofiber system for the revegetation on the cut slope in a damaged area. A Geofiber system was constructed to reinforce the lower layer of slopes and revegetation methods including wood chips were carried out on the upper layer by machineries. The results of monitoring during 3 years on cut slopes were as follows : 1) All the quadrat existed in the proper range for vegetation. 2) Species richness was 4.4 (site-1) and 18.5 (site-2) respectively. 3) The averaged coverage rates of quadrats was 90%. It is remarkable that the continuous fiber soil reinforcement system would be capable of applying to a damaged area and also would serve maintaining a healthier environment for floras. However, it behooves to continue monitoring on succession of vegetation for ecological restoration.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.41-54
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• 2011

Tree roots can enhance soil shear strength and slope stability. However, there has been a limited study about root reinforcement of major tree species in Korea because of some experimental difficulties. Thus, this study was conducted to analyze the performance of Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) and Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) which are two common plantation species in Korea. Profile wall method was used to measure the spatial distribution of root system and its diameter within 15 soil walls of Japanese larch stand and 13 soil walls of Korean pine stand in Taehwa University Forest, Seoul National University, Korea. Root tensile properties of each species were assessed in the laboratory, and root reinforcements were estimated by Wu model. The study observed that the number and cross-sectional area (CSA) of root in both species could tend to decrease with soil depth. Especially, CSA were well-fitted to exponential functions of soil depth. Mean root area ratios (RAR) were 0.03% and 0.10% for Japanese larch and Korean pine, respectively. Estimated root reinforcement from Wu model were, on the average, 4.04 kPa for Japanese larch and 12.26 kPa for Korean pine. Overall, it was concluded that root reinforcement increased the factor of safety (Fs) of slope for small-scale landslide as the result of two-dimensional (2-D) infinite slope stability analysis considering vegetation effects.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.107-116
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• 2005

Generally, when the stability of the geosynthetic reinforced soil slopes is analyzed, the required tensile forces of each reinforcement layers are calculated from total reinforcement forces which are necessary to retain the equilibrium state of slip mass in which the slip surfaces are assumed to be a linear or bilinear. It is assumed that the reinforcement forces are increased or constant with depth. However, according to the instrumented field data and laboratory model test results, the maximum tensile strain of reinforcement in a reinforced soil slope is developed in a certain elevation, not a bottom of the slope. In the concept of reinforced soil, postulated failure surfaces are the traces of the position in which the reinforcement tensile forces are maximum in the layer, and the reinforcement tensile forces are related to the stress state on the postulated failure surface. Therefore, in this study, based on the distribution of normal stress on the slip surface, a new method for the evaluation of required tensile forces is suggested and a number of the instrumented field data are analyzed by newly suggested method. As a result, it is shown that the newly suggested method produces relatively accurate reinforcement tension forces.