• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.775-799
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• 2012

This work approaches the structural performance of masonry arches that have a small ratio between number of vossoirs and span length. The aim of this research is to compare and validate three different methods of analysis (funicular limit analysis F.L.A., kinematic limit analysis K.L.A. and plane stress Finite Element Analysis F.E.A.) with an experimental campaign. 18 failure tests with arches of different shapes and boundary conditions have been performed. The basic failure mechanism was the formation of enough hinges in the geometry. Nevertheless, in few cases, sliding between vossoirs also played a relevant influence. Moreover, few arches didn't reach the collapse. The FLA and KLA didn't find a solution close to the experimental values for some of the tests. The low number of vossoirs and joints become a drawback for an agreement between kinematic mechanism, equilibrium of forces and geometry constraints. FLA finds a lower bound whereas KLA finds an upper bound of the ultimate load of the arch. FEA is the most reliable and robust method and it can reproduce most of the mechanism and ultimate loads. However, special care is required in the definition of boundary conditions for FEA analysis. Scientific justification of the more suitability of numerical methods in front of classic methods at calculating arches with a few vossoirs is the main original contribution of the paper.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.764-771
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• 2010

The stability analysis method of an unsaturated slope considering the suction stress was performed on the infinite sand slope. During drying and wetting processes, the Soil-Water Characteristics Curve (SWCC) of the sand with the relative density of 75% was measured using the automated SWCC apparatus. Also, the Suction Stress Characteristics Curve (SSCC) was estimated. Based on these results, the stability analysis of an unsaturated infinite slope was carried out considering the slope angle, the weathering zone and the relative change in friction angle as a soil depth. According to the result of slope stability analysis, the safety factors of slope were less than 1 when the slope angles were more than $50^{\circ}$. The safety factors of slope tend to increase with increasing the depth from the ground surface. Especially, the safety factors have a tendency to increase and decrease above near the ground water level due to the suction stress. The maximum safety factor of slope in this analysis was occurred at the Air Entry Value (AEV) of drying process. The influence range of suction stress above the ground water level can be found out and can be defined as the funicular zone which means the metric suction range from the air entry point to the point of residual volumetric water content.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.33-42
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of soil grain size and its distribution on soil-water characteristic. To do this, soil-water characteristic tests were conducted on Saemangeum silt using the axis translation technique. For comparison, the test was also conducted on Jumunjin sand. Using the test results, the soil-water characteristic curves (SWCCs) of Saemangeum silt and Jumunjin sand were predicted by Van Genuchten model. By comparison and analysis between two SWCCs, the silt shows higher values of matric suction, water content, and air entry value than the sand. On the other hand, the sand has higher values of Van Genuchten model parameters of ${\alpha}$, $n$, $m$ than the silt. It indicates that the SWCC is significantly dependent on the structure of soils. In other words, if a soil has relatively high grain size and poor grain size distribution curve, the values of saturated volumetric water content, residual volumetric water content, and air entry value are small, and the variation of volumetric water content is high in accordance with the matric suction variation, and consequently it shows a narrow range of funicular region.