• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제28권6호
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• pp.637-644
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• 2022

Loess soils are unsaturated and widely distributed in the northwest zone in China. Many steep slope of unsaturated are observed are observed to be naturally stable. However, a low factor of safety (FoS) for these slopes would be computed from the slope stability analysis following local code practices. It seems that the analyzed results following the local code practices do not agree with the real condition as observed in the field. It is commonly known that soil suction plays an important role in slope stability due to a higher shear strength of the unsaturated soil as compared with that of the saturated soil. In this paper, it is observed that the computed FoS can also be affected by unsaturated unit weight of the soil. However, the effect of unsaturated unit weight of the soil on the slope stability is commonly ignored in engineering practice. Therefore, both the effects of shear strength and unit weight of the unsaturated soil on the computed FoS of unsaturated soil slope are investigated in this study. It is observed that the unsaturated unit weight of soil on the computed FoS increases with increase in slope angle. It is also observed that the effects of the unsaturated shear strength and unsaturated unit weight on the computed FoS are more significant than the effect of 3D analyses compared to the 2D analyses on the FoS.

• 한국지반공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국지반공학회 2001년도 봄 학술발표회 논문집
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• pp.147-152
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• 2001

This study investigated one-dimensional vertical infiltration to an unsaturated residual soil by numerical solutions, FDM. In order to estimate the parameters needed for numerical analysis, tire soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC) of Shinnae-dong soil, one of the most typical residual soils in Korea, were experimentally obtained. Then, the statistical analysis for obtaining the SWCC was performed. The numerical solution to the linearized governing equation for unsaturated groundwater flow provides the infiltration characteristics for the unsaturated residual soil represented by transient pressure profiles and water contents profiles.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.55-65
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• 2012

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the effect of suction on compressibility and shear behaviour of unsaturated silty soil under various types of loading. A series of laboratory experiments were conducted in a double-walled triaxial cell on samples of a compacted silty soil. In the experiments the soil samples were subjected to isotropic consolidation followed by unloading and subsequent reloading under constant suction and prescribed overconsolidated ratio. The experimental results are presented in the context of an elasto-plastic model for unsaturated soil. The effects of suction on mechanical behaviour of unsaturated silty soil are presented and discussed. It is shown that increasing suction affects the shear behaviour of unsaturated soils, but there is a limit beyond which, further increase in suction will not result in any significant change in the behaviour.

• 한국지반공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국지반공학회 2008년도 춘계 학술발표회 초청강연 및 논문집
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• pp.998-1003
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• 2008

It has been recognized unsaturated soil behaviour playing an important role in geomechanics. Up to now, only a few experimental data are available for the technical difficulties related to both volume changes and suction measurements. In this study, the volume changes of unsaturated compacted silty soil were monitored with proximeter (i.e. non-contactable transducer) during various triaxial compression tests, which gave a realistic estimation in the volume changes of unsaturated soil sample. Various triaxial compression tests for unsaturated soil under different drainage conditions are carried out. The behaviour of the pore pressure, namely, the pore-air pressure and the pore-water pressure, and matric suction during the shearing tests are investigated. The experimental results have revealed that the mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soil can be significantly affected by the matric suction.

• 한국농공학회지
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• 제45권6호
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• pp.153-161
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• 2003

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the soil-water characteristic curves for an unsaturated soil. To this ends, a series of suction measured test was conducted on the selected 4 kinds of soils taken from different sites of Korea, using modified pressure plate apparatus. Form the test results, the water contents, degree of saturation and volumetric water contents were analyzed with the suction. And the soil-water characteristic curves of unsaturated soil were drawn from the test results for various factors. The characteristic curves drawn with water content vs matric suction were classified certainly the difference in wet side but were not classified in dry side. The characteristic curves drawn with degree of saturation vs matric suction for unsaturated soil were shown the opposite inclination as compared with the former curve. But the characteristic curve with volumetric water content vs matric suction was described suitably not only in wet side condition but also in dry side. And it was found that the volumetric water contents of loose soil was high at the initial condition but that of dense soil was high at final condition (dry side).

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.1-11
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• 2022

A semi-analytical solution to responses of overconsolidated (OC) unsaturated soils surrounding an expanding spherical cavity under constant suction condition is presented. To capture the elastoplastic hydro-mechanical property of OC unsaturated soils, the unified hardening (UH) model for OC unsaturated soil is adopted in corporation with a soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) and two suction yield surfaces. Taking the specific volume, radial stress, tangential stress and degree of saturation as the four basic unknowns, the problem investigated is formulated by solving a set of first-order ordinary differential equations with the help of an auxiliary variable and an iterative algorithm. The present solution is validated by comparing with available solution based on the modified Cam Clay (MCC) model. Parametric studies reveal that the hydraulic and mechanical responses of spherical cavity expanding in unsaturated soils are not only coupled, but also affected by suction and overconsolidation ratio (OCR) significantly. More importantly, whether hydraulic yield will occur or not depends only on the initial relationship between suction yield stress and suction. The presented solution can be used for calibration of some insitu tests in OC unsaturated soil.

• 한국지반공학회논문집
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• 제26권10호
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• pp.49-60
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• 2010

지반의 투수특성은 다양한 지반구조물의 설계 및 해석에서 중요한 지반물성이다. 특히 불포화 상태에서 모관흡수력의 영향을 받으며 모판흡수력 증가에 따라 감소하는 경향은 함수특성 변화와 유사하다. 불포화 투수계수는 실내실험을 통해 직접적으로 구하거나 함수특성곡선으로부터 유추된 이론식을 통해 간접적으로 얻을 수 있다. 본 논문에서는 국내 7개 지역에 대한 시료를 대상으로 함수특성실험과 본 연구에서 개발한 불포화 투수실험 장비를 이용하여 불포화 투수실험을 실시하였다. 지반의 함수상태를 나타내는 함수특성곡선이 불포화 투수계수와 밀접한 관련이 있으므로 함수특성곡선으로부터 불포화 투수곡선을 유추하는 여러 모텔 결과와 실험결과를 비교하였다. 그러나 기존의 추정방법은 국내지반의 투수특성을 잘 표현하지 못하고 있다. 따라서 국내 풍화토의 불포화 투수곡선을 정확히 유추하기 위하여 보정계수를 적용하여 FXK-M 투수모델을 제시하였고 보정계수를 함수특성곡선의 공기함입치로부터 산정할 수 있는 수식을 제안하였다.

• 한국지반공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국지반공학회 2008년도 춘계 학술발표회 초청강연 및 논문집
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• pp.111-118
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• 2008

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the overburden effect on soil-water characteristic curve and unsaturated permeability of unsaturated weathered soils. For this, unsaturated suction and permeability tests under various overburden stress were conducted respectively. Then, the coefficient of unsaturated permeability and moisture capacity of weathered soils were estimated and compared. All these results are presented in the paper.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.247-258
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• 2020

The shear strength of unsaturated soils, a research hotspot in geotechnical engineering, has great guiding significance for geotechnical engineering design. Although kinds of calculation models for the shear strength of unsaturated soil have been put forward by predecessors, there is still need for new models to extensively consider the nonlinear variation of shear strength, particularly for the nonlinear effect of the net normal stress on the shear strength of unsaturated soil. Here, the shear strength of unsaturated soils is explored to study the nonlinear effects of net normal stress with the introduction of a general nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) strength criterion, and the relationship between the matric suction (or suction stress) and degree of saturation (DOS) constructed by the soil-water characteristics curve (SWCC) of van Genuchten is also applied for unsaturated soil. Then, two calculation models (i.e., an envelope shell model and an effective stress model) are established for the shear strength of unsaturated soils under the nonlinear strength theory. In these two models, the curve of the shear strength of unsaturated soils versus the net normal stress exhibits a tendency to gently. Moreover, the proposed formulas have flexibility and convenience with five parameters (for the effective stress model) or six parameters (for the envelope shell model), which are from the M-C strength parameters of the saturated soil and fitting parameters of SWCC of van Genuchten. Thereafter, by comparison with the classical theory of the shear strength of unsaturated soils from some actual cases, the rationality and accuracy of the present models were verified.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.179-191
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• 2019

Based on the effective stress principle, a new formula for shear strength of unsaturated soil is derived under the general nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) strength criterion to improve the classical strength criterion of unsaturated soil. Meanwhile, the simple irrigation model under steady seepage is adopted to obtain the distribution of the matrix suction or the degree of saturation (DOS) above the groundwater table in the slope. Then, combined with the improved strength criterion of unsaturated soil and the simple irrigation model under steady seepage, the limit equilibrium (LE) solutions for the unsaturated slope stability are established according to the global LE conditions of the entire sliding body with assumption of the stresses on the slip surface. Compared to the classical strength criterion of unsaturated soil, not only the cohesion soil but also the internal friction angle is affected by the matric suction or the DOS in the improved strength criterion. Moreover, the internal friction angle related to the matric suction has the nonlinear characteristics, particularly for a small of the matric suction. Thereafter, the feasibility of the present method is verified by comparison and analysis on some slope examples. Furthermore, stability charts are also drawn to quickly analyze the unsaturated slope stability.