• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.77-85
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• 2010

The change of water level in reservoirs is an important factor causing failure of bank slopes, i.e. landslide. The water level of Three Gorges reservoir in China fluctuate between 145 m and 175 m, as a matter of flood control. During its normal operational state, the rate of water level fluctuation is supposed to range from 0.67 m/d to 3.0 m/d. Majiagou slope is located on the left bank of Zhaxi River, 2.1 km up from the outlet. Zhaxi River is a tributary of the Yangtze River within the Three Gorges area, of which the water level changes with the reservoir. At the back of Majiagou slope, a 20 m long and 3~10 cm wide fissure developed just after the reservoir water level rose from 95 m to 135 m in 2003. This big fissure was a full suggestion of potential failure of this slope. In this study, unsaturated-saturated seepage analyses were carried out to simulate the change of pore-water pressures in the bank slope subjected to the reservoir water level change. The obtained pore-water pressures were then used to evaluate the change in factor of safety (FS) with reservoir water level. It was found that the phreatic line showed a delayed response with respect to the change of the reservoir water level, because the seepage through soil layer was generally slower than water flows itself. During the rising and drawdown process, the phreatic lines take the shapes of concave and convex, respectively. And the fluctuation of reservoir water level just affected the front part of the bank slope, but had little influence on the back of the slope.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.523-535
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• 2008

A simulated rainfall system was built, and the unsaturated characteristics were examined by execution of simulated rainfall system test and soil water characteristic curve cell test(SWCC Cell Test) under the various rainfall and slope conditions. With the results, the applicability of infiltration behavior under rainfall and soil water characteristic curve models to the unsaturated weathered granite soil was examined. At the results of comparison the volumetric water content and matric suction measured in the wetting process(under rainfall) with those in the drying process(leaving as it was) of the simulated rainfall system, the volumetric water content showed a difference of $2{\sim}5%$ and matric suction of about $3{\sim}10\;kPa$, indicating the occurrence of hysteresis. In addition, the difference was relatively larger in matric suction than in the volumetric water content, and this tells that the hysteresis behavior is larger in matric suction. When the soil water characteristic curve derived from measurements in simulated rainfall system test were compared with those from the soil water characteristic curve cell test, both methods produced soil water characteristic curves close each other in the wetting process and the drying process, but in both, there was a difference between results obtained from in the wetting process and those from in the drying process. Thus, when soil water characteristic curves are rationally applied to the design and stability analysis considering of the properties of unsaturated soil, it is considered desirable to apply the soil water characteristic curve of the wetting process to the wetting process, and that of the drying process to the drying process.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.601-607
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• 2002

Infiltration of rainfall causes railway embankment to be unstable and may result in failure. Basic relationship between the stability of railway embankment and rainfall introducing the partial saturation concept of ground are defined to analyze the stability of embankment by rainfall. A pressure plate test is also peformed to obtain soil-water characteristic curve of unsaturated soils. Based on this curve, the variables in the shear strength function and permeability function are also defined. These functions are used fur the numerical model for evaluation of railway embankments under rainfall. As comparing the model and case studies, the variation of shear strength, the degree of saturation and pore-water pressure for railway embankment during rainfall can be predicted and the safety factor of railway embankment can be expressed as the function of rainfall amount namely rainfall index. Therefore, the research on safety factor on railway embankment considering train speed and rainfall infiltration with the variation of rainfall intensity and rainfall duration was carried out in this paper.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2002.03a
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• pp.773-778
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• 2002

강우시 불포화 자연사면의 파괴메커니즘을 규명하기 위하여 사면내 모관흡수력의 변화를 고려한 안정해석을 수행하였다. 사면에는 강우계, Tensiometer, Pizometer, Water mock, 경사계 등이 설치되었으며 강우시 사면내 부간극수압과 임시지하수위의 거동을 관찰하였다. 실내실험으로부터 불포화 사면의 안정해석을 위하여 입력 값으로 사용되는 불포화투수계수, 불포화강도정수를 시료의 No.200체 통과량과 건조밀도를 기준으로 경험계수를 이용하여 추정 사용하였다. 강우의 침투로 인한 사면내 부간극수압의 분포는 계측값과 수치해석결과가 차이를 보였으며 이는 불포화 흐름시 흙속의 공기의 영향, 강우의 나무와 수풀에 의한 중간차단효과 및 증발의 영향을 해석에 고려하지 못했기 때문으로 사료된다. 사면안정해석결과 강우초기 모관흡수력을 고려하는 경우 약 10%의 안전율의 증가를 나타냈으며, 침투가 진행되면서 그 차이는 좁아져 임시지하수위가 표층까지 도달했을 때 흡수력을 고려하지 않는 해석과 안전율은 일치하였다.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.259-267
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• 2006

Hydraulic conductivity is the rate of water flux on hydraulic gradient. The van Genuchten Mualem (VGM) model is frequently used for describing unsaturated state of soils, that is composed with the function of soil water potential and soil water content and requests various parameters. This study is to get the value of VGM parameters used Rosetta computer program based on neural network analysis method and to calculate VGM parameters. VGM parameters included Ko(effective saturated hydraulic conductivity), ${\theta}r$(residual soil water content), ${\theta}s$(saturated soil water content), L, n and m. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity at 10 kPa was calculated by using Rosetta program. Unsaturated hydraulic conductivities of 17 soil series at 1, 3, 5, 7 kPa were also obtained by applying saturated hydraulic conductivity by disk tension infiltrometer based on Gardner and Wooding's equation. Water flow at the water potential of 3 kPa was very low except Namgye, Hagog, Baegsan, Sangju, Seogcheon, Yesan soil series. Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity at 1 kPa showed the highest value for Samgag soil series and was in order of Yesan, Hwabong, Hagog and Baegsan soil series. Those of Gacheon, Seocheon and Ugog soil series were very low. When the value by VGM was compared with the value by disc tension infiltrometer, there was a tendency with exponential function to soils without gravel but there was no tendency to soils including gravel. Conclusively, it would be limited that VGM model for unsaturated hydraulic conductivity analysis applies to Korean agricultural land including gravel and having steep slope, shallow soil depth.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.14 no.4 s.41
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• pp.349-360
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• 2004

This study calculated the pore water pressure, the depth of seepage, the constant of the strength in accordance with the slope inclination and the rainfall intensity over the slope built by the weathered granite soil (SP, SM). And, the change of the shear strength in accordance with the rainfall has been compared and analyzed by applying the shear strength formula of the unsaturated soil. As a result, the rainfall intensity is stronger and the slope inclination is gentler the seepage speed in accordance with the rainfall became faster proportionally. As a result of comparing and analyzing both the theoretical value of Lumb and the actual value of the model, it can be said that the actual value is faster. Since SM shows the bigger shear strength than SP, it can also be said that as the granules increase, the coefficient of permeability becomes smaller; and as the seepage rate became smaller, it affects the seepage speed. Likewise, the shear strength within the slope displays the smallest shear strength at the inclination of 1:1.5 the reason of its decrease turned out that it was due to the increase of the pore water pressure.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.555-571
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• 2023

Due to South Korea's concentrated summer rainfall, constituting 70% of the annual total, landslides frequently occur during the rainy season, necessitating accurate prediction methods to mitigate associated damage. In this study, a reduced-scale and full-scale slope was configured using weathered granite soil to find the possibility of establishing measurement management criterias through landslide reproduction. The experiment focused on matric suction, analyzing changes in ground properties and failure patterns caused by rainfall infiltration. Subsequently, an unsaturated infinite slope stability analysis was conducted. By calculating the failure time when the safety factor falls below 1 for each experiment, landslide prediction was demonstrated to be possible, approximately 17 minutes prior for the reduction-scale experiment and 6.5 hours for the full-scale experiment. These findings provide useful data for establishing Korean soil slope measurement management criteria that consider the characteristics of weathered granite soil.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1037-1042
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• 2009

Safety regulation of railway embankment is restricted by safety factor in dry season or rainy season in Korea. Safety factor which is results from the limit equilibrium analysis is varied by various external conditions. And because it has no reflection point, it is very difficult to manage the safety of trains. Safety regulation such like warning sign, reduce speed and train stop is the best choice to reduce the damage of embankments where it is worried about occurrence of disasters. In this study, additional index is proposed to support present safety standards based on unsaturated soil mechanics and reliability analysis. It is velocity of failure probability. It has an apparent reflection point near present safety regulation. It is possible to modify the regulation for safety management and monitoring system of embankments by using this index.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.963-971
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• 2008

Unsaturated soil mechanics has been often used to find out a cause of failure (tensile failure) of retaining walls and hill slopes containing sandy soils. Checking shear strength is a popular method by considering suction stress developed form pore water menisci among the grains and saturated pockets of pore water under negative pressure. Linear Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is generally adopted as a failure criterion. However, depending on relative density, stress history, and the magnitude of stress, the failure behavior of sand may not follow linear M-C frictional behavior. For stress in the large compressive ranges, say from tens to hundreds of kPa, the linear M-C criterion is an adequate representation for the shear strength behavior of sand. However, less than tens of kPa, the M-C criterion often can not be accurately represented. Depending on failure criterion, the uniaxial tensile strength is different over 100% relative error. For sand behavior under small compression regimes, therefore, such as under low or zero gravity, or under undergoing tensile failure in the crest area of hill slopes or behind retaining walls, it is important to consider the non-linear behavior.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.159-169
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• 2004

Surface failures of slopes in weathered soil are caused by infiltration due to prolonged rainfall. These failures are mainly triggered by the deepening of the wetting band accompanied by a decrease in suction induced by the infiltrating water. This paper reports trends of rainfall-induced wetting band depth in two types of weathered soils that are commonly found in Korea. Both theoretical and numerical analyses are presented based on the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) obtained using filter paper as well as tensiometer tests. It is found that the magnitude of wetting front suction plays a key role in the stability of slopes in weathered soils. Theoretical analysis based on modified Green and Ampt model tends to underestimate the wetting band depth for typical Korean weathered soils. It was also deduced that for Korean weathered soils, the factor of safety drops rapidly once the wetting band depth of 1.2 m is reached.