• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.45 no.6
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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).

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.213-220
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• 2010

This study presents a numerical simulation model of vertical ground heat exchangers, considering unsaturated hydro static ground conditions induced by the ground water table fluctuation. Heat transfer in ground and grout is modeled by a 3-D FEM transient conductive heat transfer model, where heat transfer between circulating fluid and heat exchanging pipe is treated as 1-D quasi steady state forced convective elements. To take into account the unsaturated ground condition, soil thermal conductivity and heat capacity which are dependent on the matric suction are applied to ground elements. Parametric studies considering various ground water table conditions are conducted to investigate the influence of unsaturated hydro static ground condition on the mean heat exchange rate of ground heat exchanger. Simulation results considering water table fluctuation show 60~100% of mean heat exchange rate for a saturated soil condition and 125~208% of that for a dry soil condition. Thus consideration of unsaturated soil condition is substantially recommended for more accurate design and performance evaluation for ground heat exchangers.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.27-33
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• 2011

Infiltration plays an important role in the urban water cycle. Infiltration has a potential to contribute to groundwater recharge in addition to runoff reduction. However, infiltration in urban areas has been considered only as a means of runoff reduction. Conventional design methods for infiltration facilities assume soils to be fully-saturated for the sake of simplicity. The amount of groundwater recharge can not be estimated properly with this scheme. Hence, the characteristics of the unsaturated soil condition need to be considered. The finite element model using SEEP/W to estimate infiltration under the unsaturated condition is presented. Infiltration tests for Joomonjin sand are performed and the infiltration behavior of Joomoonjin sand under the unsaturated condition is measured experimentally to verify the validity of the finite element model. The results from comparing infiltrated volume between the saturated and the unsaturated conditions under the same soil and rainfall conditions show that the infiltrated volume in the unsaturated condition is two times bigger than that in the saturated condition.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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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.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.5-11
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• 2015

Slope stability is affected by duration of precipitation, probable rainfall intensity, unsaturated soil property, and soil strength. The recent analyses of slope stability tend to include unsaturated analysis based on infiltration properties of soil, while researches of unsaturated soil slope tend to include the analysis of deformation and stress distribution of soil over time. However, infiltration property of unsaturated soil slope depends not only on intensity or duration of precipitation, but also on relief and surface condition, which is not considered in status quo. This research uses hydrologic model parameters of soil in order to consider effects of inclination on filtration, and carries out analysis of unsaturated soil slope to confirm the effects according to slope inclination and surface condition. In conclusion, using slope stability analysis, the need to consider infiltration rate according to inclination and surface condition was confirmed even under the same precipitation conditions.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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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.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.283-294
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• 2021

This paper presents a rigorous solution for spherical cavity expansion in unsaturated soils under constant suction condition. The hydraulic behavior that describes the saturation-suction relationship is modeled by a void ratio-dependent soil-water characteristic curve, which allows the hydraulic behavior to fully couple with the mechanical behavior that is described by an extended critical state soil model for unsaturated soil through the specific volume. Considering the boundary condition and introducing an auxiliary coordinate, the problem is formulated to a system of first-order differential equations with three principal stress components and suction as basic unknowns, which is solved as an initial value problem. Parameter analyses are conducted to investigate the effects of suction and the overconsolidation ratio on the overall expansion responses, including the pressure-expansion response, the distribution of the stress components around the cavity, and the stress path of the soil during cavity expansion. The results reveal that the expansion pressures and the distribution of the stress components in unsaturated soils are generally higher than those in saturated soils due to the existence of suction.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.599-606
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• 2010

It has been reported that many slope failures in unsaturated soils are mainly caused by downward infiltration due to rainfall. The rainfall characteristics could be an important factor, and more predictable slope failures can be achieved by considering more reasonable rainfall conditions. So, a need exists that these trends of infiltration in weathered soils, which is commonly found in Korea, are assessed by considering rainfall conditions based on phenomenological approach. In this paper, numerical analyses of unsaturated soil slope under rainfall conditions are presented based on the soil-water characteristic curve in the laboratory and huff method. Then the performance of unsaturated weathered soil slopes was evaluated under various conditions after applying the effect of overburden pressure on SWCCs and fines contents. The results demonstrated that the rainfall conditions using Huff method can be very effective and the proper application on analysis is very important to enhance the prediction on unsaturated slope stability.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.71-78
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• 2010

The stability analysis of unsaturated infinite slope under rainfall-induced infiltration condition was performed using the generalized effective stress that unifies both saturated and unsaturated condition recently proposed by Lu and Likos(2004, 2006). The Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) of the sand with the relative density of 75% was first measured for both drying and wetting processes. The Hydraulic Conductivity Function (HCF) and Suction Stress Characteristic Curve (SSCC) were subsequently estimated. Also, under the rainfall-induced infiltration condition transient seepage analysis of unsaturated infinite slope was performed using the finite element program, SEEP/W. Based on these results, the stability of unsaturated infinite slope under rainfall-induced infiltration condition was examined considering the suction stress. According to the results, the negative pore water pressure and water content within the soil changed with time due to the infiltration. Also, the variation of those caused the variation of suction stress and then the factor of safety of slope changed consequently during the rainfall period.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.129-132
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• 2000

In this research, we proposed the immobilization zone where the organic contaminant would be fixed, so that ground water could be prevented from the organic contaminants. The surfactant was adsorbed on the soil particles and the organic contaminants were partitioned into the hydrophobic tails of the surfactant in the immobilization zone. Surfactants with different molecular structures-SDDBS (sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid), MADS (monoalkylated disulfonated diphenyl oxide), DADS (dialkylated disulfonated diphenyl oxide) - were used in this study. Up to the present, the research on the immolization simulated the saturated condition. But many site contaminated with organic contaminants and the zones where immobilization would be applied are unsaturated. In this research, in order to investigate the behaviors of surfactants and organic contaminants in unsaturated condition, the unsaturated columns were experimented, and their results were compared with the saturated case.