• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.123-136
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• 2002

The infiltration of prolonged rainfall causes shallow slope failures on surficial slopes. Experiments performed on soil-water characteristic curves in weathered soils of three different types(SW, SP, SM) were used to construct a general equation for the soil-water characteristic curve. Based on this, the saturated depth by Green & Ampt model was compared with the results of numerical analyses and the range of application of Green & Ampt model was evaluated. It was found that the saturated depth occurred by infiltration on the surface of slopes has an inf1uence on the surficial stability of slopes md, the stability analysis of unsaturated soils calculated by using the soil-water characteristic curve of weathered soils was found to be a proper analysis for shallow slope failures due to rainfall.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.65-74
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• 2013

The natural disaster occurrences and the loss of lives caused by the steep-slope failures in Korea were investigated in this study. The investigation includes the frequency rate of the steep-slope failures with respect to the characteristics of precipitation, underlying bedrock, and weathered soils. Analysis on the problems in the existing estimation methods of steep-slope failure was also undertaken, and a new model using unsaturated infinite slope stability was developed for the better slope failure estimation. The slope analyses by the newly developed model were performed considering unsaturated infinite slope, the gradient of slope, and hydro/mechanical properties of soils. Steep-slope failure estimation criterion is proposed based on the analysis results. In addition, the precipitation amount corresponding to warning stages against steep-slope failure is provided as an equation of Intensity-Duration criterion.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2021

The influence of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) fitting parameters for an unsaturated natural slope was evaluated through seepage and slope stability analysis as a function of rainfall. Soil samples were collected from the study area in Jirisan National Park and the physical and mechanical characteristics of unsaturated soil layers were measured in laboratory tests. The saturation depth was calculated via seepage analysis by changing fitting parameters α, the parameter related to the Air Entry Value (AEV) and n, the parameter related to the slope of the SWCC in the range of natural conditions. Slope stability analysis using the limit equilibrium method considered the calculated depth of saturation. Results from seepage analysis for various rainfall conditions indicate the saturation depth in the soil layer suddenly increased as the fitting parameter α decreased; the saturation time for the entire soil layer also decreased. Slope stability analysis considering the calculated depth of saturation shows that the slope safety factor rapidly decreased as the fitting parameter α decreased, whereas the variation in slope safety factor was very small when n increased. Hence, fitting parameter α has a large effect on saturation depth during rainfall and therefore on slope stability, whereas slope stability is relatively unaffected by the fitting parameter n.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.41-50
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• 2004

The study of seepage behavior is very important to slope stability of road landfill for heavy rainfall season. This study is done to propose more stable of road landfill based on analysis of seepage behavior and slope stability for some cases of road landfill. The selected sections of collapsed road landfill are most general case of road landfill, a case is landfill on the ground area and another case is on the slope area. The results of this study is summarized as follows. It is founded that the road landfill on the ground area is increased saturation region due to rainfall infiltration, and the seepage behavior of road landfill is solved by theory of unsaturated flow. The road landfill is more unstable due to rainfall infiltration at the slope surface, especially during heavy rainfall. The case of road landfill on the slope area is analyzed in consideration of slope surface infiltration, and it is founded that the slope instability is increased because of rainfall infiltration. The drain layer located on the original ground which made by more permeable materials could be good action of slope stability in the case of road landfill on the slope area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2007.09a
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• pp.502-513
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• 2007

This paper describes the rainfall-induced slope failures caused by infiltration due to prolonged rainfall. The emphasis was on quantifying the effect of fine-grained contents which are influencing on the infiltration rate in the wetting front of initially unsaturated slopes during rainfall. Suction tests by tensiometer were performed for five mixture specimens with varying fine-grained contents and then, numerical analyses for the stability of unsaturated slopes are carried out for different relative densities and mixture portions based on the soil water characteristic curves obtained by GCTS pressure plate. It is shown that the fines are highly influenced on wetting front suction of unsaturated soil slopes. Based on the results, it is found that until 15% fine content is the limit showing different wetting front suction, beyond which the wetting band depth do not affect considerably the stability of unsaturated slopes.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.5-15
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• 2013

In this paper, the unsaturated slope stability analysis considering suction stress (Lu and Godt, 2008) was introduced and the results applied for a certain sand slope were analyzed. The unsaturated slope stability analysis considering suction stress can analyze both conditions of steady infiltration and no infiltration, and it can estimate the safety factor of slope as a function of soil depth. Also, the influence of weathering phenomenon at a certain depth from the ground surface can be considered. The stability analysis considering suction stress was applied to the unsaturated infinite slope composed of sand with the relative density of 60%. The suction stress under no infiltration condition was affected by ground water table until a certain influencing depth. However, the suction stress under steady infiltration condition was affected by seepage throughout the soils. Especially, the maximum suction stress was displayed around ground surface. The factor of safety in the infinite slope under no infiltration condition rapidly increased and decreased within the influence zone of ground water table. As a result of slope stability analysis, the factor of safety is less than 1 at the depth of 2.4 m below the ground surface. It means that the probability of slope failure is too high within the range of depths. The factor of safety under steady infiltration condition is greater than that under no infiltration condition due to the change of suction stress induced by seepage. As the steady infiltration rate of precipitation was getting closer to the saturated hydraulic conductivity, the factor of safety decreased. In case of the steady infiltration rate of precipitation with $-1.8{\times}10^{-3}cm/s$, the factor of safety is less than 1 at the depths between 0.2 m and 3 m below the ground surface. It means that the probability of slope failure is too high within the range of depths, and type of slope failure is likely to be shallow landslides.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.5C
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• pp.191-198
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• 2009

It has been reported in Korea that surface slope failures in weathered soil are mainly caused by downward infiltration due to rainfall. These failures are triggered by the deepening of the wetting band in soils accompanied by a decrease in matric suction induced by the water infiltration. So, a need exists that these trends of wetting path in gneiss weathered soils, which is commonly found in Korea, are assessed by phenomenological approach. In this paper, numerical analyses of unsaturated soil slope under rainfall conditions are presented based on the wetting path soil-water characteristic curve in the laboratory. As the field SWCC matches well with the wetting path of the laboratory SWCC from the literatures, it seems reasonable to adopt the laboratory wetting SWCC as an upper boundary condition in the assessment of unsaturated slope instability.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.577-585
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• 2020

Purpose: The presence of the matric suction in unsaturated soil increases the stability of the slope, but the reduction of the matric suction due to precipitation can cause sudden slope failure, resulting in a major disaster. In this paper, engineering characteristics in unsaturated state were analyzed for granite weathering soil, which is the representative mountain soil of Korea. Method: Experiments and analysis were conducted on granulated weathering soil as unsaturated shear strength relationships for moisture characteristic curves, unsaturated injection curves, and matric suction under unsaturated conditions. Result: It was analyzed that a rapid change in the matric suction for volumetric water content occurs compared to the case where the particle size distribution is poor and the particle size distribution is good. A good case for the particle size distribution indicates a relatively small permeability coefficient at the same matric suction capacity compared to a poor case. The greater thematric suction, the greater the shear strength. Conclusion: For Korea's representative soil, granulated weathering soil, the functional characteristic curves, unsaturated permeability coefficients, unsaturated shear strength, etc., which are engineering characteristics in unsaturated state, were tested to secure each correlation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.860-865
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• 2006

In order to predict the stability of slopes, it is important to evaluate shear strength of unsaturated soils. The triaxial tests were performed under $K_0$ conditions for unsaturated soils and the results were compared with those for saturated soils. In unsaturated soils, the secant modul and the shear strengths are larger than those of saturated soils because of matric suctions. However the shear strengths were not affected severely by stress conditions at consolidation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.99-107
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• 2003

Moisture flow and heat flow within pavement systems have been recognized as coupled processes with complex interactions between them. The distribution of moisture and temperature within pavement due to the moisture flow and heat flow varies not only seasonally but also vertically and horizontally. This paper presents an analysis model by the finite element method for the two-dimensional coupled moisture and heat flow in unsaturated soils. To test the model the analysis result by the model is compared with the analysis result by the software, GEO-SLOPE developed by GEO-SLOPE International Ltd. in Alberta, Canada. And a sensitivity analysis using ASTM method is performed to identify how model inputs affect the modeling analysis.