• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.343-351
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• 2012

This study proposes a modified equation to calculate the factor of safety for an infinite slope considering the saturation depth ratio as a new variable calculated from rainfall infiltration into unsaturated soil. For the proposed equation, this study introduces the concepts of the saturation depth ratio and subsurface flow depth. Analysis of the factor of safety for an infinite slope is conducted by the sequential calculation of the effective upslope contributing area, subsurface flow depth, and the saturation depth ratio based on quasi-dynamic wetness index theory. The calculation process makes it possible to understand changes in the factor of safety and the infiltration behavior of individual rainfall events. This study analyzes stability changes in an infinite slope, considering the saturation depth ratio of soil, based on the proposed equation and the results of soil column tests performed by Park et al. (2011 a). The analysis results show that changes in the factor of safety are dependent on the saturation depth ratio, which reflects the rainfall infiltration into unsaturated weathered gneiss soil. Under continuous rainfall with intensities of 20 and 50 mm/h, the time taken for the factor of safety to decrease to less than 1.3 was 2.86-5.38 hours and 1.34-2.92 hours, respectively; in the case of repeated rainfall events, the time taken was between 3.27 and 5.61 hours. The results demonstrate that it is possible to understand changes in the factor of safety for an infinite slope dependent on the saturation depth ratio.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.133-145
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• 2010

This study analyzed the characteristics of sediment produce by landslide triggered by rainfall. One-dimensional unsaturated groundwater model and infinite slope stability analysis were used to estimate the behavior of soil moisture and slope stability according to rainfall, respectively. Slope stability analysis was performed considering on soil depth and characteristics of trees. As the results considering on recovery of the failed slopes, much amount of sediment was produced in 1963, 1970, and 2002. As the results of verification of simulation results using Landsat 5 TM images, we can find differences of landslide location between the results from model and satellite images. These differences can be caused by uncertainties of the rough parameters in the model. However, in the case that Obong-dam basin was divided into two subbasin, Wangsan-chun and Doma-chun basin, the results of each subbasin show errors around 20%. And only 4% of error occurred in the case of comparing landslide area on the entire Obong-dam basin. These errors seem insignificant considering on the errors which can be caused from the analyses in this study such as estimation of sediment produce, soil cover classification, and estimation of landslide area.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.4 no.1 s.12
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• pp.25-31
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• 2004

Infiltration of rainfall causes railway embankment to be unstable and may result in failure. Basic relationship between the rainfall and stability of railway embankment is defined to analyze the stability of embankment by rainfall. An experimental study for defining of infiltration rate of rainfall into slope is conducted in the lab. The results of Rainfall Infiltration show that rainfall Infiltration is not equal to infiltration as like reservoir because rate of rainfall infiltration is controlled by slope angle. Based on these results, boundary condition of rainfall is altered and various numerical analysis are performed. The variation of shear strength, the degree of saturation and pore-water pressure for railway slope during rainfall can be predicted and the safety factor of railway slope can be expressed as the function of rainfall amount, namely rainfall index. Therefore, it is judged that this rainfall index can be a good tool for the rail-transport operation control.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.5-21
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• 2014

It has been pointed out that the collapses of unsaturated road embankments caused by earthquake are attributed to high water content caused by the seepage of the underground water and/or the rainfall infiltration. Hence, it is important to study influences of water content on the dynamic stability and deformation mode of unsaturated road embankments for development of a proper design scheme including an effective reinforcement to prevent severe damage. This study demonstrates dynamic centrifugal model tests with different water contents to investigate the effect of water content on deformation and failure behaviors of unsaturated road embankments. Based on the measurement of displacement, the pore water pressure and the acceleration during dynamic loading, dynamic behavior of the unsaturated road embankments with about optimum water content and the higher water content than the optimum one have been examined. In addition, an image analysis has revealed the displacement field and the distributions of strains in the road embankment, by which deformation mode of the road embankment with higher water content has been clarified. It has been confirmed that in the case of higher water content the settlement of the crown is large mainly owing to the volume compression underneath the crown, while the small confining pressure at the toe and near the slope surface induces large shear deformation with volume expansion.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.91-100
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• 1988

Assuming that tidal level is constantly changed with an amplitude of 10 meters and a cycle of 12 hours, the slope stability for a typical dyke is analysed. The variation of pore water pressure within the dyke during the tidal change is obtained using a computer program, FLUMP, which is incorporated with saturated-unsaturated and transient flow. The results show that the variation of free water surface and distribution of pore water pressure within the dyke during the tidal fluctuations can be clearly predicted with the computer program. When a tide is lowered to the minimum level, the predicted pressure head is higher than the level of the free water surface in some parts of the dyke; that is, excess pore water pressure is generated in a zone affected by the tidal change. Also an unsaturated zone which shows negative pore water pressure is temporally created when a tide is lowered. The shear strength of the zone can be predicted based on the proposal suggested by Fredlund et al. It is emphasized that the excess pore water pressure generated during tidal fluctuations and strength parameters for the unsaturated zone should be considered in analyzing the slope stability of dykes. When those are considered, the critical slip surface seems to be located below the free water surface obtained when a tide is at the lowest.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.3287-3295
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• 2009

This present study implemented a rainfall simulation system, and performed simulation and numerical analysis according to rainfall and slope conditions using a model slope built with weathered granite soil. Extensive analysis were conducted on the characteristics of changes in volumetric water content and pore water pressure measured in the simulation, and compared them with the results of numerical analysis. It took longer for the volumetric water content to reach the limit when rainfall intensity was high and the slope was steep and shorter when rainfall intensity was low and the slope was gentle. When rainfall intensity was low and the duration of rainfall was short, negative pore water pressure was higher and the time for restoration was shorter. On the contrary, when rainfall intensity was high and the duration of rainfall was long, it took a longer time to restore negative pore water pressure. In the results of rainfall simulation and numerical analysis, the distribution of volumetric water content and pore water pressure was similar between the two. However, the volumetric water content was different by up to 5%, and pore water pressure by up to 3kPa.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.15-23
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• 2023

In this study, the infiltration behavior of slopes composed of mixed soils with clay contents of 0%, 5%, and 10% in weathered Gneiss soil, which is a representative weathered soil in Korea, was investigated, and the stability of unsaturated slopes due to rainfall infiltration was examined. For this, in this study, the soil water characteristic curve was obtained through the water retention test, and the strength constant was obtained through the triaxial compression test. Based on the obtained results, the influence of clay content and antecedent rainfall effect (i.e., initial suction) on the formation of saturated zone (i.e., wetting band) and slope stability due to rainfall infiltration was examined through infiltration and stability analyses. As a result, it was found that the hig her the initial suction, the slower the formation of the saturated zone on the slope. In addition, it was found that as the clay content increases, the shear strength of the ground increases and the resistance to rainfall infiltration increases, and eventually the slope stability is greatly improved.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.663-668
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• 2005

The present study proposed to examine the appropriateness of the ground water level condition that had a significant effect on the stability of the slopes and, for this purpose, analyzed the rise of ground water level during the rainy season by applying the average daily rainfall of Seoul for the last 30 years. The result showed that the rise of ground water level was 6.0$\sim$41.0% of the slope height, which suggests that the currently applied condition of ground water level is somewhat overestimated. In addition, the result of interpreting the stability of slopes during the rainy season, slopes were unstable in all conditions when the ground water level was at the ground surface and base failure occurred. This suggests the importance of ground water level condition in stability analysis.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.145-155
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• 2012

The matric suction and volumetric water content of Jumunin standard sand with a relative density of 60% were measured using an Automated Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) apparatus during both drying and wetting processes. The test time for the drying process was longer than that for the wetting process, because the flow of water is likely to be protected by air trapped in voids within the soils during the drying process. Based on the matric suction and volumetric water content, the SWCC was estimated using the model proposed by van Genuchten (1980). For the drying process, the unsaturated fitting parameters ${\alpha}$, n, and m were 0.399, 8.586, and 0.884, respectively; for the wetting process, the values were 0.548, 5.625, and 8.220, respectively. The hysteresis phenomenon occurred in the SWCCs, which means the SWCC of the drying process is not matched with the SWCC of the wetting process. Using these unsaturated parameters, we estimated the Suction Stress Characteristic Curve (SSCC), based on the relationship between suction stress and the effective degree of saturation. The suction stress showed a rapid decrease when the matric suction exceeds the Air Entry Value (AEV). Therefore, the effective stress of unsaturated soils is different from that of saturated soils when the matric suction exceeds the AEV. The suction stress of the drying process exceeds that of the wetting process for a given effective degree of saturation. The hysteresis phenomenon was also recognized in SSCCs. The hysteresis phenomenon of SSCCs arises from that of SWCCs, which is induced by the ink bottle effect and the contact angle effect. In the case of a sandy slope, the suction stress is positive and acts to enhance the slope stability as the water infiltrates the ground, but is negative when the suction stress exceeds the AEV. The results obtained for the wetting process should be applied in analyses of slope stability, because the process of water infiltration into ground is similar to the wetting process.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.15 no.4 s.42
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• pp.487-494
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• 2005

In order to estimated a reason of soil slope failure new measurement technology is demanded to measure a variation of volumetric water content which is a key physical parameter for understanding the slope failure in the field. In this study a laboratory soil tank test were conducted to use RDB and ADR measurement probes for measuring the variation of volumetric water content. These experiments were compared with two physical parameters as volumetric water content and pressure water head which are estimated to the compacted weathered granite soil under the artificial rainfall, 7.5mm/hour, in the whole of two stages. From the results the variation of volumetric water content and pressure water head is represented to nearly similar travel time.