• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.427-436
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• 2017

Concrete technologists have used ultrasonic pulse velocity test for decades to evaluate the properties of concrete. However, the presented research work focuses on the use of ultrasonic pulse velocity test to study the degradation in steel-concrete bond subjected to increasing loading. A detailed experimental investigation was conducted by testing five identical beam specimens under increasing loading. The loading was increased from zero till failure in equal increments. From the experimentation, it was found that as the reinforced concrete beams were stressed from control unloaded condition till complete failure, the propagating ultrasonic wave velocity reduced. This reduction in wave velocity is attributed to the initiation, development, and propagation of internal cracking in the concrete surrounding the steel reinforcement. Using both direct and semidirect methods of testing, results of reduction in wave velocity with evidence of internal cracking at steel-concrete interface are presented. From the presented results and discussion, it can be concluded that the UPV test method can be successfully employed to identify zones of poor bonding along the length of reinforced concrete beam. The information gathered by such testing can be used by engineers for localizing repairs thereby leading to saving of time, labor and cost of repairs. Furthermore, the implementation strategy along with real-world challenges associated with the application of the proposed technique and area of future development have also been presented.

• International Journal of Ocean System Engineering
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.50-56
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• 2012

This study investigates flow fields and energy dissipation due to regular wave interaction with a perforated vertical breakwater, through velocity data measurement in a two-dimensional wave tank. As the waves propagate through the perforated breakwater, the incoming wave energy is reflected back to the ocean, dissipated due to very turbulent flows near the perforations and inside the chamber, and transmitted through the perforations of the breakwater. This transmitted energy is further reduced due to the presence of the perforated back wall. Hence most of the energy is either reflected or dissipated in the vicinity of the structure, and only a small amount of the incoming wave energy is transmitted through the structure. In this study, particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique was employed to measure two-dimensional instantaneous velocity fields in the vicinity of the structure. Measured velocity data was treated statistically, and used to calculate mean flow fields, turbulence intensity and turbulent kinetic energy. For investigation of the flow pattern, time-averaged mean velocity fields were examined, and discussed using the cross-sections through slot and wall for comparison. Flow fields were obtained and compared for various cases with different regular wave conditions. In addition, turbulent kinetic energy was estimated as an approach to understand energy dissipation near the perforated breakwater. The turbulent kinetic energy was distributed against wave height and wave period to see the dependence on wave conditions.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.250-256
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• 2013

Using shear wave velocity is more reasonable to estimate strength and integrity of rock compared with using compressional wave. It is often ambiguous to pick the dominant frequency caused by torsional wave when evaluating $V_S$ of rock specimen from FFRC method. It is also sometimes ambiguous to pick the first arrival point of S wave compared with P wave in the signals acquired from ultrasonic velocity method. Otherwise, the procedure of evaluating $V_P$ using ultrasonic velocity method and $V_L$ using FFRC method is relatively stable. Through the relationship between elastic modulus, poisson's ratio and $V_S$ can be obtained from $V_P$, $V_L$. Applicability was checked using model specimens having different material property and length and rock specimens sampled in mine area, and usefulness of proposed procedure was verified.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.619-629
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to estimate shear wave velocity of earth dam materials using artificially generated vibration from blasting events and to verify its applicability. In this study, the artificial blasting and vibration monitoring were carried out at the site adjacent to Seongdeok dam, which is the first blasting test for an existing dam in Korea. The vibrations were induced by 4 different types of blasting with various depths of blasting boreholes and explosive charge weights. During the tests, the acceleration time histories were recorded at the bedrock adjacent to the explosion and the crest of the dam. From frequency analyses of acceleration histories measured at the crest, the fundamental frequency of the target dam could be evaluated. Numerical analyses varying shear moduli of earth fill zone were carried out using the acceleration histories measured at the bedrock as input ground motions. From the comparison between the fundamental frequencies calculated by numerical analyses and measured records, the shear wave velocities with depth, which are closely related to shear moduli, could be determined. It is found that the effect of different blasting types on shear wave velocity estimation for the target dam materials is negligible and the shear wave velocity can be consistently evaluated. Furthermore, comparing the shear wave velocity with the previous researchers' empirical relationships, the applicability of suggested method is verified. Therefore, in case that the earthquake record is not available, the shear wave velocity of earth dam materials can be reasonably evaluated if blasting vibration test is allowed at the site adjacent to the dam.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.98-106
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• 2003

Nondestructive test (NDT) provides much information on concrete without damage of structural functions. Of NDT methods, elastic wave propagation methods, such as ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) method and impact-echo (IE) method, have been successfully used to estimate the strength, elastic modulus, and Poisson's ratio of concrete as well as to detect the internal microstructural change and defects. In this study, the concretes with water-binder ratio ranging from 0.27 to 0.50 and fly ash content of 20% were made and then their longitudinal wave velocities were measured by UPV and IE method, respectively. Test results showed that the UPV is greater than the longitudinal wave velocity measured by the If method, i.e., rod-wave velocity obtained from the same concrete cylinder. It was found that the difference between the two types of velocities decreased with increasing the ages of concrete and strength level. Moreover, for the empirical formula, the dynamic Poisson's ratio, static and dynamic moduli of elasticity, and velocity-strength relationship were determined. It was observed that the Poisson's ratio and the modulus of elasticity determined by the dynamic method are greater than those determined by the static test. Consequently, for the more accurate estimation of concrete properties using the elastic wave velocities, the characteristics of these velocities should be understood.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.257-270
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• 2002

The Impact-Echo(IE) method has been used to evaluate the integrity of concrete structures. In this method, the P-wave velocity of concrete is a crucial parameter in determining the thickness of concrete lining, the location of cracks or other defects. In many field applications of the IE method, the P-wave velocity is obtained by testing the core or the portion of a structure where the exact thickness is known. Occasionally, however, the core can not be obtained in specific structures and the P-wave velocity determined from core testing may not be a representative value of the structure. This study introduces an IE-SASW method that may determine the P-wave velocity on a surface of each testing area using the Spectral Analysis of Surface Wave (SASW) method. Results obtained from numerical studies are presented in this paper (Part I), and results obtained from experimental studies are presented in the companion paper (Part II). In this paper, numerical analyses using ABAQUS were carried out to investigate the effectiveness and the limitations of the IE-SASW method.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.503-510
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• 2013

Shear wave velocity is widely used as an parameter for investigating subsurface characteristics and for obtaining the design parameters based on theoretical equations. This study seeks to estimate the coefficient of shear wave velocity in Busan clay via laboratory tests. Eight specimens were extracted at depths of 10, 12, 15, 20, 22, 25, 30, and 31 m. The specimens were subjected to the consolidation test to determine the relationship between effective stress and shear wave velocity. The relationship shows a non-linear trend and is similar to the results of a previous study. The coefficient shows constant coverage and a relationship between ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ is suggested. The results demonstrate that this coefficient could be used as a reference value to determine engineering parameters based on the shear wave velocity.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.539-547
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• 2006

The activity of the seismic wave propagation around the cavity is investigated for the exact inversion of the crosshole tomography data, in order to understand the possibility of the existence inside the underground cavity. It is found that the adequate frequency range for the tunnel investigation is about 2 kHz to 5 kHz, and the grid space should be set up to 1/10 of the wavelength. The propagation of the seismic wave near the cavity may go through or detour the cavity according to the seismic velocity inside the cavity. The detouring wave propagates with the seismic velocity of mother rock in spite of the velocity of inside of the cavity. The smaller the velocity difference is between the mother rock and cavity, the more frequent penetration of the seismic wave through the cavity appears.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.9 no.7
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• pp.53-60
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to make case studies on estimation of shear wave velocity in core zone of some rockfill dams by MASW (Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Waves) and to compare the results of case studies with those of the empirical method. Furthermore, the purpose is to recommend the range of shear wave velocity in core zone by MASW and to supply the preliminary data for estimation of shear wave velocity in core zone which is needed for dynamic analysis. From the results of case studies and the comparison between the results of case studies and those of empirical equation, it was found that the shear wave velocities obtained by MASW were smaller than those by the empirical recommendation (Sawada & Takahashi) in the depth of more than 10 m. Also, it is recommended that using the lower bound of empirical formulation by Sawada and Takahashi be available and resonable in case that MASW is not available due to the field condition and the investigation is preliminary.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.161-174
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• 2008

To investigate the characteristics of the shear wave velocity of cohesive soils and residual soils in Korea, Standard Penetration Test (SPT), Suspension PS Logging tests (SPS) and other soil tests were performed to analyze the shear wave velocity at each layer For these purposes, 2 study sites are selected: one is cohesive soils and the other is residual soils. As a results, new empirical formulas are proposed from the relationship between strength of the ground (N value) and shear wave velocity from the test data at each layer. In the case of cohesive soils, the proposed relationships are nearly similar to empirical formulas, however, in the case of residual soils there was a little difference between the empirical formulas and measured velocities in this study. Case examples for shear wave velocites are presented with depth, N-values and compared with Ohta et al. (1978) empirical formula.