• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.6A
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• pp.417-424
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• 2011

This study focused on development of 60 m span PSC girder considering not only structural performance, but also economical efficiency and constructability including from the improvement of cross-section to the tendon profiles in sequence. Bulb-T type cross section was derived from optimization and actual possibilities to design a bridge were assessed through cross section evaluation. Tendons were also arranged efficiently so that the girder could resist the service load effectively. After developed girder was applied to a sample bridge, result of finite element analysis proved all load steps were satisfied with the allowable stress. Furthermore, it seemed that sufficient redundancy will be available to design a bridge safely. Based on these, a full-scale 60 m span girder was fabricated and 4 point bending test was performed. An initial crack occurred over twice of the service load in this experiment, which establishes adequate structural performance. 60 m span Half-Decked PSC girder developed in this study has a lower height for the given span which resulted from cross section improvement and efficient tendon layout. This girder also has not only the structural advantage, but also advantages in economical efficiency and constructability.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.41-70
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• 1999

The benefits of utilizing internal reinforced members, such as soil nails and ground anchors, in maintaining stable excavations and slopes have been known among geotechnical engineers to be very effective. Occasionally, however, both soil nails and ground anchors are simultaneously used in one excavation site. In the present study, a method of limit equilibrium stability analysis of the excavation zone reinforced with the vertically or horizontally mixed nail-anchor system is proposed to evaluate the global safety factor with respect to a sliding failure. The postulated failure wedges are determined based on the results of the $FLAC^{2D}\; 및\; FLAC^{3D}$ program analyses. This study also deals with a determination of the required thickness of the shotcrete facing. An excessive facing thickness may be required due to both the stress concentration and the relative displacement at the interface zone between the soil nailing system and the ground anchor system. A simple finite element method of analysis is presented to estimate the corresponding relative displacement at the interface zone between two different support systems. As an efficient resolution to reduce the facing thickness, the modified bearing plate system is also proposed. Finally with various analysis related to the effects of design parameters, the predicted displacements are compared with the results of the $FLAC^{2D}$ program analyses.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.821-831
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• 2013

As a result of recent research, it is reported that the periodic replacements criterion of rails is able to extend as grinding rail surface and using the continuous welded rail (CWR). In this study, we carried out fatigue tests on existing laid rails. Based on the test results, an S-N curve expressing the remaining life of laid rails at a fracture probability of 50% was obtained using weighted probit analysis suitable for small-sample fatigue data sets. As rails used for testing had different histories in terms of accumulated tonnage, the test data were corrected to average out the accumulated tonnage. We estimated the remaining service lives for laid rails on the urban railway using equations developed in the past to estimate rail base bending stress and that surface irregularities into consideration. Therefore, estimating the remaining service life of laid rails showed that the rail replacement period could be extended over 200 MGT, although it is necessary to remove longitudinal rail surface irregularities at welds by grinding. Also, the fatigue test results under fatigue limit, Haibach's rule appling half slope of S-N curve under the fatigue limit was considered more reasonable than modified Miner's rule for estimating rail fatigue life.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.383-390
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• 2019

A helideck is one of the essential structures in offshore platforms for the transportation of goods and operating personnel between land and offshore sites. As such, it should be carefully designed and installed for the safety of the offshore platform. In this study, a structural design optimization method for a lightweight offshore helideck is developed based on a genetic algorithm and an attainable design set concept. A helideck consists of several types of structural members such as plates, girders, stiffeners, trusses, and support elements, and the dimensions of these members are typically pre-defined by manufacturers. Therefore, design sets are defined by collecting the standard section data for these members from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), and integer section labels are assigned as design variables in the genetic algorithm. The objective is to minimize the total weight of the offshore helideck while satisfying the maximum allowable stress criterion under various loading conditions including self-weight, wind direction, landing position, and landing condition. In addition, the unity check process is also utilized for additional verification of structural safety against buckling failure of the helideck.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.413-422
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• 2018

Soybean transgenic plants with ectopically expressed AtABF3 were produced by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and investigated the effects of AtABF3 expression on drought and salt tolerance. Stable Agrobacterium-mediated soybean transformation was carried based on the half-seed method (Paz et al. 2006). The integration of the transgene was confirmed from the genomic DNA of transformed soybean plants using PCR and the copy number of transgene was determined by Southern blotting using leaf samples from $T_2$ seedlings. In addition to genomic integration, the expression of the transgenes was analyzed by RT-PCR and most of the transgenic lines expressed the transgenes introduced. The chosen two transgenic lines (line #2 and #9) for further experiment showed the substantial drought stress tolerance by surviving even at the end of the 20-day of drought treatment. And the positive relationship between the levels of AtABF3 gene expression and drought-tolerance was confirmed by qRT-PCR and drought tolerance test. The stronger drought tolerance of transgenic lines seemed to be resulted from physiological changes. Transgenic lines #2 and #9 showed ion leakage at a significantly lower level (P < 0.01) than ${\underline{n}}on-{\underline{t}}ransgenic$ (NT) control. In addition, the chlorophyll contents of the leaves of transgenic lines were significantly higher (P < 0.01). The results indicated that their enhanced drought tolerance was due to the prevention of cell membrane damage and maintenance of chlorophyll content. Water loss by transpiration also slowly proceeded in transgenic plants. In microscopic observation, higher stomata closure was confirmed in transgenic lines. Especially, line #9 had 56% of completely closed stomata whereas only 16% were completely open. In subsequent salt tolerance test, the apparently enhanced salt tolerance of transgenic lines was measured in ion leakage rate and chlorophyll contents. Finally, the agronomic characteristics of ectopically expressed AtABF3 transgenic plants ($T_2$) compared to NT plants under regular watering (every 4 days) or low rate of watering condition (every 10 days) was investigated. When watered regularly, the plant height of drought-tolerant line (#9) was shorter than NT plants. However, under the drought condition, total seed weight of line #9 was significantly higher than in NT plants (P < 0.01). Moreover, the pods of NT plants showed severe withering, and most of the pods failed to set normal seeds. All the evidences in the study clearly suggested that overexpression of the AtABF3 gene conferred drought and salt tolerance in major crop soybean, especially under the growth condition of low watering.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.37-42
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• 2002

Artificial neural networks are efficient computing techniques that are widely used to solve complex problems in many fields. In this paper a liquefaction potential was estimated by using a back propagation neural network model applicated to cyclic triaxial test data, soil parameters and site investigation data. Training and testing of the network were based on a database of 43 cyclic triaxial test data from 00 sites. The neural networks are trained by modifying the weights of the neurons in response to the errors between the actual output values and the target output value. Training was done iteratively until the average sum squared errors over all the training patterns were minimized. This generally occurred after about 15,000 cycles of training. The accuracy from 72% to 98% was shown for the model equipped with two hidden layers and ten input variables. Important effective input variables have been identified as the NOC,$D_10$ and (N$_1$)$_60$. The study showed that the neural network model predicted a CSR(Cyclic shear stress Ratio) of silty-sand reasonably well. Analyzed results indicate that the neural-network model is more reliable than simplified method using N value of SPT.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.122-130
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• 2016

The past few decades of industrialization enabled human-centered stream developments, which in turn resulted in constructing straight or covered streams, which are used only for sewage disposal purpose. However, these types of streams have become the cause of flood damages such as localized heavy rain. In response, various construction methods have been implemented to prevent stream and embankment damages. However, regulations regarding these measures only lay out minimum standards such as the height of slopes and the minimum angle of inclination. Moreover, examination of tractive force, the most crucial factor in preventing flood damage, is nonexistent. Therefore, this study evaluates various tractive forces by implementing a porous concrete tetrapod at a full scale artificial stream for experiment, controlling the rate of inflow, and measuring the velocity and depth of the stream under different experiment conditions. The test results of the compressive strength, and porosity and density of rock of the porous concrete tetrapod was between 16.6 and 23.2 MPa, and the actual measurement of air void was 10.1%, thus satisfying domestic standard. The result of tractive force experiment showed a limiting tractive force of $47.202N/m^2$, not satisfying the tractive force scope of $67N/m^2$ the stream design working expertise proposes. However, there was neither damage nor loss of blocks and hardpan. Based on previous researches, it can be expected that there will be resistance against a stronger tractive force. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct another experiment on practical limiting tractive force by adjusting some experimental conditions.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.109-135
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• 2020

Globally, the deepening depth in the underground is a situation of the high interest for a purpose of the development of various facilities. The development of deep underground space should be based on the structural stability of rocks. Spalling is known to have an impact on the structural stability degradation in deep underground space. As an attempt to predict spalling, many researchers have proposed predicted conditions in accordance with stress states which occur around the tunnel, rock conditions, and types of rock. In addition, the analysis on spalling method has been verified by using computer modeling such as FLAC, EXAMINE, Insight 2D, UDEC and FRACOD, along with in-situ measurement results. In Canada URL (Underground Research Tunnel), CWFS model (Cohesion Weakening Frictional Strengthening) was used to precisely predict for the state of spalling, comparing spalling modeling. CWFS model has been identified as a reliable method for predicting such phenomena. This study aims to analyze several cases of spalling, and then make a comparison between the conditions for spalling occurrence and the predicted results of model CWFS. With this, it investigates the applicability of prediction of spalling, targeting pillar under deep depth condition.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.199-210
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• 2011

The cables in cable-stayed bridges are under high stress and are very sensitive to vibration due to their small section areas compared with other members. Therefore, it is reasonable to evaluate the cable impact factor by taking into account the dynamic effect due to moving-vehicle motion. In this study, the cable impact factors were evaluated via moving-vehicle-load analysis, considering the design parameters, i.e., vehicle weight, cable model, road surface roughness, vehicle speed, longitudinal distance between vehicles. For this purpose, two steel composite cable-stayed bridges with 230- and 540-m main spans were selected. The results of the analysis were then compared with those of the influence line method that is currently being used in design practice. The road surface roughness was randomly generated based on ISO 8608, and the convergence of impact factors according to the number of generated road surfaces was evaluated to improve the reliability of the results. A9-d.o.f. tractor-trailer vehicle was used, and the vehicle motion was derived from Lagrange's equation. 3D finite element models for the selected cable-stayed bridges were constructed with truss elements having equivalent moduli for the cables, and with beam elements for the girders and the pylons. The direct integration method was used for the analysis of the bridge-vehicle interaction, and the analysis was conducted iteratively until the displacement error rate of the bridge was within the specified tolerance. It was acknowledged that the influence line method, which cannot consider the dynamic effect due to moving-vehicle motion, could underestimate the impact factors of the end-cables at the side spans, unlike moving-vehicle-load analysis.

• Asian Spine Journal
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1060-1068
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• 2018

Study Design: Retrospective study. Purpose: Lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration is an important cause of low back pain. Overview of Literature: Spinal fusion is often reported to have a good course for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). However, many studies have reported that adjacent segment degeneration is accelerated after lumbar spinal fusion. Radiography is a simple method used to evaluate the orientation of the vertebral column. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the method most often used to specifically evaluate intervertebral disc degeneration. The Pfirrmann classification is a well-known method used to evaluate degenerative lumbar disease. After spinal fusion, an increase in stress, excess mobility, increased intra-disc pressure, and posterior displacement of the axis of motion have been observed in the adjacent segments. Methods: we retrospectively secured and analyzed the data of 15 patients (four boys and 11 girls) with AIS who underwent a spinal fusion surgery. We studied the full-length view of the spine (anterior-posterior and lateral) from the X-ray and MRI obtained from all patients before surgery. Postoperatively, another full-length spine X-ray and lumbosacral MRI were obtained from all participants. Then, pelvic tilt, sacral slope, curve correction, and fused and free segments before and after surgery were calculated based on X-ray studies. MRI images were used to estimate the degree to which intervertebral discs were degenerated using Pfirrmann grading system. Pfirrmann grade before and after surgery were compared with Wilcoxon signed rank test. While analyzing the contribution of potential risk factors for the post-spinal fusion Pfirrmann grade of disc degeneration, we used generalized linear models with robust standard error estimates to account for intraclass correlation that may have been present between discs of the same patient. Results: The mean age of the participant was 14 years, and the mean curvature before and after surgery were 67.8 and 23.8, respectively (p<0.05). During the median follow-up of 5 years, the mean degree of the disc degeneration significantly increased in all patients after surgery (p<0.05) with a Pfirrmann grade of 1 and 2.8 in the L2-L3 before and after surgery, respectively. The corresponding figures at L3-L4, L4-L5, and L5-S1 levels were 1.28 and 2.43, 1.07 and 2.35, and 1 and 2.33, respectively. The lower was the number of free discs below the fusion level, the higher was the Pfirrmann grade of degeneration (p<0.001). Conversely, the higher was the number of the discs fused together, the higher was the Pfirrmann grade. Conclusions: we observed that the disc degeneration aggravated after spinal fusion for scoliosis. While the degree of degeneration as measured by Pfirrmann grade was directly correlated by the number of fused segments, it was negatively correlated with the number of discs that remained free below the lowermost level of the fusion.