• Proceedings of the KAIS Fall Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.39-41
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• 2004

The engineering properties of the geomaterial, an essential material in construction engineering, are significantly influenced by consolidation mode, which is called inherent anisotropy. Speically cohesive soils feature the anisotropy mainly due to their flate-like minerals and chemical interactions. In this research, an experimental study was conducted for the investigation of the anisoropy. Three isotropic and four anisotropic consolidated-undrained triaxial compression tests were performed for the cohesive specimens with various stress ratios of consolidation. The effects of the consolidation mode for cohesive soils were presented and investigated in stress-strain behavior, pore water pressure, and undrained shear strength of the test results.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.277-288
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• 2019

The formulation of self-compacting concretes (SCC) and the study of their properties at the laboratory level were currently well mastered. The aim of this work is to characterize SCC under hot climatic conditions and their effects on the properties of fresh and hardened SCC. Particularly, the effect of the initial wet curing time on the mechanical behavior such as the compressive strength and the durability of the SCCs (acid and sulfate attack) as well as the microstructure of SCCs mixtures. In this study, we used two types of cement, Portland cement and slag cement, three water/binder (W/B) ratio (0.32, 0.38 and 0.44) and five curing modes. The obtained results shows that the compressive strength is strongly influenced by the curing methods, 7-days of curing in the water and then followed by a maturing in a hot climate was the optimal duration for the development of a better compressive strength, regardless of the type of binder and the W/B ratio.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.461-467
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• 2021

Polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) from bottle waste and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) from barrels and tanks waste are widely available and need to be recycled. Recycling them in concrete and mortar is an alternative solution for their disposal. In this study various quantities of sand (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) were substituted by powder from LLDPE waste. In addition, PET waste fibers (corrugated, straight) were added to the mortar with different percentages (0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%) of cement mass. This paper evaluate the mechanical and physical properties of the composites in fresh (workability, air content and density) and hardened state (compressive and flexural strength, water absorption and total shrinkage). From the experimental results, it can be concluded that the strengthening in tensile of the mortar with plastic waste corrugated fibers is improved. Other important results are that the water absorption and the density rate are less than that of the ordinary mortar.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.67-80
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• 2023

Due to the nature of the conjunctive Cone Penetration Test(CPT), which does not verify the actual sample directly, geotechnical engineers commonly classify the underground geomaterials using CPT results with the classification diagrams proposed by various researchers. However, such classification diagrams may fail to reflect local geotechnical characteristics, potentially resulting in misclassification that does not align with the actual stratification in regions with strong local features. To address this, this paper presents an objective method for more accurate local CPT soil classification criteria, which utilizes C4.5 decision tree models trained with the CPT results from the clay-dominant southern coast of Korea and the sand-dominant region in South Carolina, USA. The results and analyses demonstrate that the C4.5 algorithm, in conjunction with oversampling, outlier removal, and pruning methods, can enhance and optimize the decision tree-based CPT soil classification model.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.527-538
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• 2022

In this paper the free vibration frequencies of tri-directional functionally graded materials imperfect plate is investigated for Several plate geometries with two types of porosity (even and uneven) and different type of material configuration. The effect of several parameters such as power law index and boundary conditions have been investigated. For this purpose, an efficient computational method is developed and written under Matlab environment, based on a three-dimensional modeling and the isogeometric method is used for the discretization of the structure based on NURBS (Nonuniform rational B-spline) basis functions. The results obtained by the present method are validated by the comparison with the results given by several authors in the literature.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.6C
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• pp.295-304
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• 2012

In this study, a resonant column testing system which is the largest in Korea has been developed to evaluate the dynamic deformation characteristics of coarse granular geomaterials, and the performance and the applicability of the testing system have been verified. The system has been developed as a typical Stokoe type device whose boundary conditions are fixed bottom and free top with additional mass, and can adopt a large specimen with 200 mm in diameter and 400 mm in height. The driving and measurement instruments are configured as high performance and precision systems, hence the automated testing system is appropriate to drive enough stress and to measure the behavior precisely for the test in practical manner. The dynamic response of the mechanical components and the applicability of the system have been evaluated using metal specimens as well as polyurethane specimens, and its precision was verified by comparing its results with those from other equipment and/or methods. To confirm the applicability of the large system for coarse geomaterials, the resonant column test results from both large and normal scale apparatus for the same material were compared and it was found that the result can be partially affected by scale. Finally, the dynamic deformation characteristics of coarse geomaterial which is used for construction of large dam was evaluated using the large system and its practicality could be confirmed.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.165-175
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• 2009

With the current move towards adopting mechanistic-empirical concepts in the design of pavement structures, state-of-the-art mechanistic analysis methodologies are needed to determine accurate pavement responses, such as stress, strain, and deformation. Previous laboratory studies of pavement foundation geomaterials, i.e., unbound granular materials used in base/subbase layers and fine-grained soils of a prepared subgrade, have shown that the resilient responses followed by nonlinear, stress-dependent behavior under repeated wheel loading. This nonlinear behavior is commonly characterized by stress-dependent resilient modulus material models that need to be incorporated into finite element (FE) based mechanistic pavement analysis methods to predict more realistically predict pavement responses for a mechanistic pavement analysis. Developed user material subroutine using aforementioned resilient model with nonlinear solution technique and convergence scheme with proven performance were successfully employed in general-purpose FE program, ABAQUS. This numerical analysis was investigated in predicted critical responses and domain selection with specific mesh generation was implemented to evaluate better prediction of pavement responses. Results obtained from both axisymmetric and three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear FE analyses were compared and remarkable findings were described for nonlinear FE analysis. The UMAT subroutine performance was also validated with the instrumented full scale pavement test section study results from the Federal Aviation Administration's National Airport Pavement Test Facility (FAA's NAPTF).

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.785-801
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• 2017

Biopolymer treatment of geomaterials to develop sustainable geotechnical systems is an important step towards the reduction of global warming. The cutting edge technology of biopolymer treatment is not only environment friendly but also has widespread application. This paper presents the strength and slake durability characteristics of biopolymer-treated sand sampled from Al-Sharqia Desert in Oman. The specimens were prepared by mixing sand at various proportions by weight of xanthan gum biopolymer. To make a comparison with conventional methods of ground improvement, cement treated sand specimens were also prepared. To demonstrate the effects of wetting and drying, standard slake durability tests were also conducted on the specimens. According to the results of strength tests, xanthan gum treatment increased the unconfined strength of sand, similar to the strengthening effect of mixing cement in sand. The slake durability test results indicated that the resistance of biopolymer-treated sand to disintegration upon interaction with water is stronger than that of cement treated sand. The percentage of xanthan gum to treat sand is proposed as 2-3% for optimal performance in terms of strength and durability. SEM analysis of biopolymer-treated sand specimens also confirms that the sand particles are linked through the biopolymer, which has increased shear resistance and durability. Results of this study imply xanthan gum biopolymer treatment as an eco-friendly technique to improve the mechanical properties of desert sand. However, the strengthening effect due to the biopolymer treatment of sand can be weakened upon interaction with water.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.21-32
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• 1997

In this paper, an enhanced finite element model based on homogenisation technique is proposed to capture the localized failure mode of the intact rock masses. For this, bifurcation analysis at the element level is performed and, once the bifurcation is detected, equivalent material properties of the shear band and neighbouring intact rock are used to trace the post -peak behaviour of the material. It is demonstrated that mesh sensitivity of the strain softening model is overcome and progressive failure mode of rock specimen can be simulated relaistically. Furthermore, the numerical results show that the crack propagation and final failure mode can be captured with relatively coarse meshes and compares well with the experimental data available.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.23-51
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• 2013

An analytical algorithm for the estimation of the resistance forces exerted on the dipper of a cable shovel and the specific energy consumed in the cutting-loading process is presented. Forces due to payload and to cutting of geomaterials under given initial conditions, cutting trajectory of the bucket, bucket's design, and geomaterial properties are analytically computed. The excavation process has been modeled by means of a kinematical shovel model, as well as of dynamic payload and cutting resistance models. For the calculation of the cutting forces, a logsandwich passive failure mechanism of the geomaterial is considered, as has been found by considering that a slip surface propagates like a mixed mode crack. Subsequently, the Upper-Bound theorem of Limit Analysis Theory is applied for the approximate calculation of the maximum reacting forces exerted on the dipper of the cable shovel. This algorithm has been implemented into an Excel$^{TM}$ spreadsheet to facilitate user-friendly, "transparent" calculations and built-in data analysis techniques. Its use is demonstrated with a realistic application of a medium-sized shovel. It was found, among others, that the specific energy of cutting exhibits a size effect, such that it decreases as the (-1)-power of the cutting depth for the considered example application.