• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.55-66
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• 2011

This paper presents the results of an investigation on the failure mechanism of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls in back-to-back configuration using 1-g reduced-scale model tests as well as discrete element method-based numerical investigation. In the 1-g reduced scale model tests, 1/10 scale back-to-back walls were constructed so that the wall can be brought to failure by its own weight and the effect of reinforcement length on the failure mechanism was investigated. In addition, a validated discrete element method-based numerical model was used to further investigate the failure mechanism of back-to-back walls with different boundary conditions. The results were then compared with the failure mechanisms defined in the FHWA design guideline.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.65-82
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• 2008

The wooden pagoda sites which have been confirmed in Baekjae's former territory so far have flattened surface of the earth or foundation pert made by digging up the earth. In particular, the latter is found more often in the pagoda sites of Baekjae, which is essential and absolutely necessary because of the characteristics of pagoda structure. The wooden pagoda sites with foundation part made by digging up the earth under the stylobate are found at Yongjeongli ruined temple site of Woongjin area, and at Neung-sa temple site, Wangheung-sa temple site, Geumgang-sa temple site, and Mireuk-sa temple site of Sabi period. They are also observed at Hwanglyong-sa nine-storied wooden pagoda of Shilla and at Biin five-storied stone pagoda of early Goryeo. They are important data improving that the construction technologies of Baekjae continued to be applied to build stone or wooden pagodas, transcending time and space. Recently, the site assumed as a wood pagoda site of Hanseong area was examined in Gyeongdang sect ion of Pungnap mud fortification. If this is proved to be a real wooden pagoda site, this digging-up construction technology of foundation part ann be concluded to be a traditional engineering technology of Baekjae which was frequently used from Hanseong period to Sabi period. On the other hand, this digging-up construction technology of foundation part has been found only at pagoda sites and main building sites of temple ruins, and it helps examine their symbolism.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2001

A number of tangible cultural properties have been left to suffering damage without any scientific conservation or maintenance. We conducted nondestructive geophysical explorations around the Western pagoda of the Iksan Mireuksa Temple for the purpose of preparing the counterplan of its conservation and maintenance and of utilizing the geophysical information for the design of repair. Geophysical image of the shallow subsurface around the construct resulting from electric resistivity, seismic refraction, and GPR methods carried out along 6 lines in the site was used to investigate the relationship between the foundation characteristics and the structural safety. Tilting of the pagoda southwest towards seems to result from the low resistivity zones found in the southwestern part. The GPR and seismic surveys revealed a boundary at depth of 3.3～3.5m dividing into two layers, compacted overlaid soil and the original ground. The boundary appears to dip southwest. The artificial layer as a foundation does not covers as much as the bottom area of the pagoda. This top soil dipping southwest seems to result in tilting of foundation southwestward towards. Our geophysical result suggests ground reinforcement in the western part of the survey area for the conservation of the construct.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.81-95
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• 2019

Due to the importance of soil reinforcement using geotextiles in geotechnical engineering, study and investigation into long-term performance, design life and survivability of geotextiles, especially due to installation damage are necessary and will affect their economy. During installation, spreading and compaction of backfill materials, geotextiles may encounter severe stresses which can be higher than they will experience in-service. This paper aims to investigate the installation damage of geotextiles, in order to obtain a good approach to the estimation of the material's strength reduction factor. A series of full-scale tests were conducted to simulate the installation process. The study includes four deliberately poorly-graded backfill materials, two kinds of subgrades with different CBR values, three nonwoven needle-punched geotextiles of classes 1, 2 and 3 (according to AASHTO M288-08) and two different relative densities for the backfill materials. Also, to determine how well or how poorly the geotextiles tolerated the imposed construction stresses, grab tensile tests and visual inspections were carried out on geotextile specimens (before and after installation). Visual inspections of the geotextiles revealed sedimentation of fine-grained particles in all specimens and local stretching of geotextiles by larger soil particles which exerted some damage. A regression model is proposed to reliably predict the installation damage reduction factor. The results, obtained by grab tensile tests and via the proposed models, indicated that the strength reduction factor due to installation damage was reduced as the median grain size and relative density of the backfill decreases, stress transferred to the geotextiles' level decreases and as the as-received grab tensile strength of geotextile and the subgrades' CBR value increase.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.14-27
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• 2020

The drought has occurred from the past, and has caused a lot of damage. It is important to analyze the past droughts and predict them in the future. In this study, the temperature and precipitation of the past and the future from climate change RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios were analyzed for Seosan and Boryeong in the western region of Chungnam Province, which is considered as a drought-prone area on the Korean Peninsula. Comparing Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Effective Drought Index (EDI) based on the past droughts, EDI was verified to be more suitable for the drought assessment. According to RCP 4.5, the frequency and intensity of droughts in the early future (2021~2060) were expected to increase and to be stronger. Particularly, severe droughts were predicted for a long time from 2022 to 2026, and from 2032 to 2039. Droughts were expected to decrease in the late future (2061~2100). From RCP 8.5, drought occurrences were predicted to increase, but the intensity of the droughts were expected to decrease in the future. As a result of evaluation of the frequencies of droughts by seasons, the region would be most affected by fall drought in the early future and by spring drought in the late future according to RCP 4.5. In the case of RCP 8.5, the seasonal effects were not clearly distinguished. These results suggest that droughts in the future do not have any tendency, but continue to occurr as in the past. Therefore, the measures and efforts to secure water resources and reinforcement of water supply facilities should be prepared to cope with droughts.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.293-306
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• 2023

This study proposes and demonstrates a smart monitoring system that uses transmission lines embedded in a reinforced concrete structure to detect the presence of defects through changes in the electromagnetic waves generated and measured by a time-domain reflectometer. Laboratory experiments were first conducted to identify the presence of voids in steel-concrete composite columns. The results indicated that voids in the concrete caused a positive signal reflection, and the amplitude of this signal decreased as the water content of the soil in the void increased. Multiple voids resulted in a decrease in the amplitude of the signal reflected at each void, effectively identifying their presence despite amplitude reduction. Furthermore, the electromagnetic wave velocity increased when voids were present, decreased as the water content of the soil in the voids increased, and increased with the water-cement ratio and curing time. Field experiments were then conducted using bored piles with on-center (sound) and off-center (defective) steel-reinforcement cage alignments. The results indicated that the signal amplitude in the defective pile section, where the off-center cage was poorly covered with concrete, was greater than that in the pile sections where the cage was completely covered with concrete. The crosshole sonic logging results for the same defective bored pile failed to identify an off-center cage alignment defect. Therefore, this study demonstrates that electromagnetic waves can be a useful tool for monitoring the health and integrity of reinforced concrete structures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.69-84
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• 2023

This paper proposes a novel frame element on Winkler-Pasternak foundation for analysis of a non-ductile reinforced concrete (RC) member resting on foundation. These structural members represent flexural-shear critical members, which are commonly found in existing buildings designed and constructed with the old seismic design standards (inadequately detailed transverse reinforcement). As a result, these structures always experience shear failure or flexure-shear failure under seismic loading. To predict the characteristics of these non-ductile structures, efficient numerical models are required. Therefore, the novel frame element on Winkler-Pasternak foundation with inclusion of the shear-flexure interaction effect is developed in this study. The proposed model is derived within the framework of a displacement-based formulation and fiber section model under Timoshenko beam theory. Uniaxial nonlinear material constitutive models are employed to represent the characteristics of non-ductile RC frame and the underlying foundation. The shear-flexure interaction effect is expressed within the shear constitutive model based on the UCSD shear-strength model as demonstrated in this paper. From several features of the presented model, the proposed model is simple but able to capture several salient characteristics of the non-ductile RC frame resting on foundation, such as failure behavior, soil-structure interaction, and shear-flexure interaction. This confirms through two numerical simulations.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.347-359
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• 2023

With the development of infrastructure, there is a critical shortage of filling materials all over the word. However, a large amount of silt accumulated in the lower reaches of the Yellow River is treated as waste every year, which will cause environmental pollution and waste of resources. Microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technology, with the advantage of efficient, economical and environmentally friendly protection, is selected to solidify the abandoned Yellow River silt with poor mechanical properties into high-quality filling material in this paper. Based on unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test, determination of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) content and scanning electron microscope (SEM) test, the effects of cementation solution concentration, treatment times and relative density on the solidification effect were studied. The results show that the loose silt particles can be effectively solidified together into filling material with excellent mechanical properties through MICP technology. The concentration of cementation solution have a significant impact on the solidification effect, and the reasonable concentration of cementation solution is 1.5 mol/L. With the increase of treatment times, the pores in the soil are filled with CaCO₃, and the UCS of the specimens after 10 times of treatment can reach 2.5 MPa with a relatively high CaCO₃ content of 26%. With the improvement of treatment degree, the influence of relative density on the UCS increases gradually. Microscopic analysis revealed that after MICP reinforcement, CaCO₃ adhered to the surface of soil particles and cemented with each other to form a dense structure.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.79-89
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• 2024

Excessive inflow of groundwater during tunnel excavation not only affects the stability and constructability of the tunnel, but is also one of the main causes of ground settlement due to groundwater level drawdown. The most commonly applied measure against excessive groundwater inflow during tunnel excavation in soil or fractured zone is to reduce the ground permeability coefficient by injecting grout material. Generally, the grouting area is assumed to be same as the plastic zone that occurs during tunnel excavation, but injecting grout material in the area of plastic zone is appropriate only for reinforcement grouting. In order to determine the thickness of cutoff grouting, the amount of reduction in the water permeability coefficient due to the application of cutoff grouting must be considered. In this study, a method for estimating the range of cutoff grouting considering the reduction in permeability coefficient was mathematically derived and evaluated through computer numerical analysis.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.405-422
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• 2016

The paper deals with the results of the laboratory cyclic plate load tests performed on the reinforced soft clay beds. The performances of the clay bed reinforced with geocells and geocells with additional basal geogrid cases are compared with the performance of the unreinforced clay beds. From the cyclic plate load test results, the coefficient of elastic uniform compression ($C_u$) was calculated for the different cases. The $C_u$ value was found to increase in the presence of geocell reinforcement. The maximum increase in the $C_u$ value was observed in the case of the clay bed reinforced with the combination of geocell and geogrid. In addition, 3 times increase in the strain modulus, 10 times increase in the bearing capacity, 8 times increase in the stiffness and 90% reduction in the settlement was observed in the presence of the geocell and geogrid. Based on the laboratory test results, a hypothetical case of a prototype foundation subjected to cyclic load was analyzed. The results revealed that the natural frequency of the foundation-soil system increases by 4 times and the amplitude of the vibration reduces by 92% in the presence of the geocells and the geogrids.