• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.577-595
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• 2023

A dynamic triaxial discrete element numerical model of lightweight soil was established using the discrete element method to study the microscopic mechanism of expanded polystyrene (EPS) particles in the soil under cyclic loading. The microscopic parameters of the discrete element model of the lightweight soil were calibrated depending on the dynamic triaxial test hysteresis curves. Based on the calibration results, the effects of the EPS particles volume ratio and amplitude on the contact force, displacement field, and velocity field of the lightweight soil under different accumulated strains were studied. The results showed that the hysteresis curves of lightweight soil exhibit nonlinearity, hysteresis, and strain accumulation. The strain accumulated in remolded soil is mainly tensile strain, and that in lightweight soil is mainly compressive strain. As the volume ratio of EPS particles increased, the contact force first increased and then decreased, and the displacement and velocity of the particles increased accordingly. With an increase in amplitude, the dynamic stress of the particle system increased, and the accumulation rate of the dynamic strain of the samples also increased. At 5% compressive strain, the contact force of the particles changed significantly and the number of particles deflected in the direction of velocity also increased considerably. These results indicated that the cemented structure of the lightweight soil began to fail at a compressive strain of 5%. Thus, a compressive strain of 5% is more reasonable than the dynamic strength failure standard of lightweight soil.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.53-64
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• 2012

In this study, the modified cyclic triaxial tests with Joomunjin standard sand are performed for dynamic deformation characteristics, such as Young's moduli and damping ratio. The cyclic triaxial test is equipped with Local Displacement Transducer (LDT) on the outside of a cell which has a range from $10^{-4}$ to $10^{-1}$ of shear strains, ${\gamma}$ (%), instead of conventional cyclic triaxial test which has linear variable displacement transducer (LVDT) with low precision. With the small strain control, tests were carried out at various loading rates, void ratios, and effective confining pressures. Based on the test results, such as dynamic deformation characteristics, shear modulus, and damping ratio, it is found that the test can measure more range of medium strains (0.02-0.2%) than results obtained from conventional test (resonant column test). For the medium strain range, dynamic deformation characteristics investigated by the cyclic triaxial test are also different from those predicted by nonlinear model in conventional test.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.411-426
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• 2023

Soft clay is widely distributed in the southeast coastal areas of China. Many large underground structures, such as subway stations and underground pipe corridors, are shallow buried in the soft clay foundation, so the dynamic characteristics of the soft clay must be considered to the seismic design of underground structures. In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of saturated soft clay in Shanghai under the bidirectional excitation for earthquake loading are studied by dynamic triaxial tests, comparing the backbone curve and hysteretic curve of the saturated soft clay under different confining pressures with those under different vibration frequencies. Considering the coupling effects of the confining pressure and the vibration frequency, a fitting model of the maximum dynamic shear modulus was proposed by the multiple linear regression method. The M-D model was used to fit the variations of the dynamic shear modulus ratio with the shear strain. Based on the Chen model and the Park model, the effects of the consolidation confining pressure and the vibration frequency on the damping ratio were studied. The results can provide a reference to the earthquake prevention and disaster reduction in soft clay area.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.317-328
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• 2024

Adopting a rational engineering methodology for building structures on sandy-clay soil layers has become increasingly important since it is crucial when structures erected on them often face seismic and cyclic wave loads. Such loads can cause a reduction in the stiffness, strength, and stability of the structure, particularly under un-drained conditions. Hence, this study aims to investigate how the dynamic properties of sand-clay mixtures are affected by loading frequency and clay content. Cyclic triaxial tests were performed on a total of 36 samples, comprising pure sand with a relative density of 60% and sand with varying percentages of clay. The tests were conducted under confining pressures of 50 and 100 kPa, and the samples' dynamic behavior was analyzed at loading frequencies of 0.1, 1, and 4 Hz. The findings indicate that an increase in confining pressure leads to greater inter-particle interaction and a reduced void ratio, which results in an increase in the soil's shear modulus. An increase in the shear strength and confinement of the samples led to a decrease in energy dissipation and damping ratio. Changes in loading frequency showed that as the frequency increased, the damping ratio decreased, and the strength of the samples increased. Increasing the loading frequency not only reflects changes in frequency but also reduces the relative permeability and enhances the resistance of samples. An analysis of the dynamic properties of sand and sand-clay mixtures indicates that the introduction of clay to a sand sample reduces the shear modulus and permeability properties.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.03a
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• pp.541-548
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• 2001

The interest in the dynamic properties of soils has increased strongly because of earthquake, heavy traffic, and foundations undergo high amplitude of vibrations. Most of soils in Korean peninsula are composed of granite soils, especially the decomposed mudstone soils are widely spread in Pohang areas, Kyong-buk province. Therefore, it Is very important to investigate the dynamic properties of these types of soils. The most important soil parameters under dynamic loadings are shear modulus and material dampings. Furthermore, few definitive data exist that can evaluate the behavior of unsaturated decomposed mudstone soils under dynamic loading conditions. The investigations described in this paper is designed to identify the shear modulus and damping ratio due to a surface tension for the unsaturated decomposed mudstone soils ulder low and high strain amplitude, For this purpose, the resonant column test and the cyclic triaxial test were performed. Test results and data have shown that the optimum degree of saturation under low and strain amplitude is 32 ∼ 37% which is higher than that of decomposed granite due to the amount of fine particles as well as the type and proportion of chief rock-forming minerals.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.471-480
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• 2019

The constructions of engineering structures such as airports, highways and railway on clayey soils may create many problems. The economic losses and damages caused by these soils have led researchers to do many studies using different chemical additives for the stabilization of them. Lime is a popular additive used to stabilize the clayey soils. When the base course is stabilized by mixing with an additive, inevitable delays may occur during compaction due to reasons like insufficient workers, breakdown of compaction equipment, etc. The main purpose of this study is to research the effect of compaction delay time (7 days) on the strength, compaction, and dynamic properties of a clay soil stabilized with lime content of 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15% by dry weight of soil. Compaction characteristics of these mixes were determined immediately after mixing, and after 7 days from the end of mixing process. Within this context, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) under the various curing periods (uncured, 7 and 28 days) and dynamic triaxial tests were performed on the compacted specimens. The results of UCS and dynamic triaxial tests showed that delayed compaction on the strength of the lime-stabilized clay soil were significantly effective. Especially with the lime content of 9%, the increase in the shear modulus (G) and UCS of 28 days curing were more prominent after 7 days mellowing period. Because of the complex forms of hysteresis loops caused by the lime additive, the damping ratio (D) values differed from the trends presented in the literature and showed a scattered relationship.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.87-97
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• 2022

The excessive settlement and deformation of disintegrated carbonaceous mudstone (DCM) embankments under dynamic loading have long been problems for engineers and technicians. In this work, the characteristics and mechanism of the plastic deformation of DCM under different degrees of compaction, water contents and confining pressures were studied by static triaxial, dynamic triaxial and scanning electron microscopy testing. The research results show that the axial stress increases with increasing confining pressure and degree of compaction and decreases with increasing water content when DCM failure. The axial strain at failure of the DCM decreases with increasing confining pressure and degree of compaction and increases with increasing water content. Under cyclic dynamic stress, the change in the axial stress level of the DCM can be divided into four stages: the stable stage, transition stage, safety reserve stage and unstable stage, respectively. The effects of compaction, water content and confining pressure on the critical axial stress level which means shakedown of the DCM are similar. However, an increase in confining pressure reduces the effects of compaction and water content on the critical axial stress level. The main deformation of DCM is fatigue cracking. Based on the allowable critical axial stress, a method for embankment deformation control was proposed. This method can determine the degree of compaction and fill range of the embankment fill material according to the equilibrium moisture content of the DCM embankment.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.59-70
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• 1998

Samples of silty sands and hydraulic fill ground were investigated by dynamic triaxial teats in order to evaluate the liquefaction strengths. In the tests, (1) undisturbed and disturbed samples were prepared, (2) dynamic shear strengths were measured under isotropic and anisotropic condition, and (3) the test results were compared with the other results which were tested by domestic and foreign researchers. The liquefaction shear strengths under ismtropic test condition were presented in terms of the relative densities. The amount of silt under 30o hardly influenced on the liquefaction strength. In the test results of anisotropically consolidated samples the liquefaction strength was dependent on the magnitude of the effective consolidation ratio. These teat results show that the liquefaction strength of the silty sand in Korea went coast exists within the boundary of the values suggested by Seed and Peacock(1971).

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.5-17
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• 2010

Coarse granular material is used as important fill material in most of large embankments such as railway, road, dam and so on. Therefore, the accurate design parameters of the coarse granular material are necessarily required in design and construction. The behavior of the coarse granular material was not well understood because of the lack of large testing equipment capable of coarse granular material. A large triaxial testing system was developed in this research, capable of large specimens of 500 mm, 300 mm and 150 mm in diameter. In the new large triaxial testing system, the load cell is installed inside the triaxial cell and axial displacement is measured locally on a specimen in order to improve control and measurement in small strain level. Urethane specimens of 300 mm and 50 mm in diameter were prepared. The large triaxial tests were performed on the 300 mm diameter urethane specimens while RC/TS and impact echo tests on the 50 mm diameter urethane specimens to verify this testing system. In this verification test results, we could ascertain the reasonable test results of the KRRI large triaxial testing system.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.63-71
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• 2006

In the present study, the dynamic deformation characteristics of clay, including the effect of loading rate in large strain ranges, were examined by performing undrained cyclic triaxial test. The test results showed that the loading rate to failure decreased with increasing loading amplitude and decreasing loading frequency. While the stress-strain relationships was not affected by loading frequency, excess pore pressure was affected significantly with the change in loading frequency. The change for 0.1 Hz was larger for than that of 0.01 Hz, resulting in inclined effective stress paths. Furthermore, the lower the frequency was, the higher the excess pore pressure was in the first loading.