• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.35 no.7
• /
• pp.5-14
• /
• 2019

In this study, a prototype abutment was constructed to establish a safety assessment technique of pier and a series of non-destructive tests using impact load. The surcharge load was loaded from 0 tonf to 2.5 tonf on the prototype abutment, and maximum surcharge load was up to 25 tonf. To analyze the behavior of the piers according to the direction of impact, a total of three types of analysis were performed: the direction of the pier, the direction perpendicular to the pier, and the outer direction of the pier. The height of the impact was also tested at each top and bottom. The measuring instrument used an accelerometer to measure the acceleration response when impacted. Based on the series of experimental results, specific values were calculated according to the direction of an impact and the surcharge load using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). In addition, the phase difference was used to analyze the pier from the primary 1st mode to the 4th mode.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.27-38
• /
• 2019

Bearing capacity of a pile in homogeneous soil is the sum of end bearing and skin resistance, and the skin resistance is more prominent in sandy soil. Bearing capacity of a pile in pile groups especially in sandy ground should be designed under the consideration of the influence by the adjacent piles. In this study, the end bearing capacity of a pile in pile groups was experimentally investigated. For this purpose, piles were installed in sandy ground in a circular test box, and end bearing - settlement behavior of the pile was measured while the pile was loaded. As the results, end bearing - settlement relation curves of the piles showed a distinct limit value. Limit value of the end bearing was little affected by skin friction and pile diameter, and it became a constant value as pile penetrates deeper. End bearing was not affected by the adjacent piles in a group of piles, when their clearance was larger than the pile diameter.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.34 no.11
• /
• pp.107-119
• /
• 2018

PHC piles, extension-plate attached PHC piles, and steel pipe attached PHC piles were installed in field test site. Axial compressive static load tests including load distribution test and Pile Driving Analyzer (after driving) were done on the tip-transformed PHC piles and the grouted tip-transformed PHC piles. Load-displacement curves of three different type of PHC piles, which are PHC pile (TP-1), extension plate attached PHC pile (TP-2) and steel pipe attached PHC pile (TP-3), showed almost the same behavior. Thus bearing capacity increase effect of the tip-transformed PHC piles was negligible. Share ratio of side resistance and end bearing resistance for PHC pile, extension plate attached PHC pile, and steel pipe attached PHC pile were 95.8% vs. 4.2%, 95.6% vs. 4.4%, and 97.8% vs. 2.2% respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.43-53
• /
• 2019

This paper described a result of finite element analysis considering sewerage damage scale and soil depth, in order to analyze quantitatively for cavity and relaxation zone of underground due to sewerage damage. The mechanical model, which was verified by previous studies, was applied to the finite element analysis. In addition, the mechanical behavior of the soil around the sewerage damage due to the soil loss was simulated by using the forced displacement. Based on finite element analysis results, characteristics of the void ratio distribution, ground subsidence, and shear stress distribution according to sewerage damage scale and soil depth were analyzed. And then, The boundaries of the underground cavity and relaxation zone were determined by using the shear stress reduction characteristics of the ground. Also, an occurrence scope of the cavity and relaxation zone was quantitatively evaluated by the change of sewerage damage scale and soil depth.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.453-464
• /
• 2019

Soft marine soil has high fine-grained soil content and in-situ water content. Thus, it has low shear strength and bearing capacity and is susceptible to a large settlement, which leads to difficulties with coastal infrastructure construction. Therefore, strength improvement and settlement control are essential considerations for construction on soft marine soil deposits. Biopolymers show their potential for improving soil stability, which can reduce the environmental drawbacks of conventional soil treatment. This study used two biopolymers, an anionic xanthan gum biopolymer and a cationic ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$ biopolymer, as representatives to enhance the geotechnical engineering properties of soft marine soil. Effects of the biopolymers on marine soil were analyzed through a series of experiments considering the Atterberg limits, shear strength at a constant water content, compressive strength in a dry condition, laboratory consolidation, and sedimentation. Xanthan gum treatment affects the Atterberg limits, shear strength, and compressive strength by interparticle bonding and the formation of a viscous hydrogel. However, xanthan gum delays the consolidation procedure and increases the compressibility of soils. While ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$ treatment does not affect compressive strength, it shows potential for coagulating soil particles in a suspension state. ${\varepsilon}-Polylysine$ forms bridges between soil particles, showing an increase in settling velocity and final sediment density. The results of this study show various potential applications of biopolymers. Xanthan gum biopolymer was identified as a soil strengthening material, while ${\varepsilon}-polylysine$ biopolymer can be applied as a soil-coagulating material.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.36 no.12
• /
• pp.125-132
• /
• 2020

Embedded joints in the rock mass are a major constituent influencing its mechanical behavior. Numerical analysis requires a rigorous modeling methodology for the rock mass with detailed information regarding joint properties, orientation, spacing, and persistence. This paper provides a mechanical model for a jointed rock mass based on the implicit joint-continuum approach. Stiffness tensors for rock mass are evaluated for an assemblage of intact rock separated by sets of joint planes. It is a linear summation of compliance of each joint sets and intact rock in the serial stiffness system. In the application example, kinematic analysis for a planar failure of rock slope is comparable with empirical daylight envelope and its lateral limits. Since the developed implicit joint-continuity model is formulated on a continuum basis, it will be a major tool for the numerical simulations adopting published plenteous thermal-hydro-chemical experimental results.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.36 no.12
• /
• pp.7-16
• /
• 2020

This study presents an acoustic technique to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of soils. Acoustic attenuation and propagation velocity spectra were measured for dry and saturated sandy specimens to confirm that the relationship between Biot's characteristic frequency and its associated hydraulic conductivity exists only for saturated soils. From the experiments presented in this paper, both attenuation-based and propagation-velocity-based techniques resulted in almost identical characteristic frequencies for saturated soils. The propagation velocity based measurements, however, show a a a slightly clearer trend compared to the attenuation based measurements. The results also show that the acoustically estimated hydraulic conductivities of soils agree well with constant head laboratory test results, demonstrating that this acoustic technique can be a useful nondestructive tool to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of sandy or silty soils.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.36 no.12
• /
• pp.69-76
• /
• 2020

Since the mechanically stabilized earth walls have a form of retaining wall compatible with a narrow section, the geogrid overlaps according to the separation distance between the walls. There is a problem that the overall behavior may occur in the state of being integrated with the stress change due to the interaction of the geogrid. Therefore, a careful approach is required at the design stage, but there are currently no design criteria or guidelines in Korea. This study investigated the optimal reinforcement length ratio according to the retaining wall width to height ratio (width to height ratio, Wb/H) for these back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth walls. Retaining wall width ratio is 1.1H, 1.4H, 1.7H, 2.0H for Case II of the FHWA design standard, and the height is 3.0 m, 5.0 m, 7.0 m, and 10.0 m, which are most commonly applied. Through numerical analysis, the appropriateness of the FHWA design standard and the optimal reinforcement length ratio according to the height of the retaining wall and the width of the retaining wall were proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.21-28
• /
• 2021

The factors of landslides depend on rainfall intensity, duration, and the characteristics of the soil slope. The conventional slope stability analysis has been carried out by assuming that the slope is saturated. But, a site slope consisting of unsaturated ground must be imitated and interpreted in order to explain a proper behavior of the slope due to rainfall. In this study, by using two major categories of soils in Korea, such as granite and gneiss weathered soils, landslide model test and numerical analysis have been compared with the difference of seepage and volumetric water content. In general, the permeability of gneiss weathered soil, which contains a lot of fines content, is slower than that of granite weathered soil. As a result, in extreme rainfall, numerical analysis can show results that can penetrate quickly, resulting in saturation or more dangerous collapse.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.36 no.12
• /
• pp.87-97
• /
• 2020

Recently, interest in Tie-cell wave-dissipating blocks that can compensate for the disadvantages of block-type breakwaters and provide economically effective design is increasing. Tie-cell wave-dissipating block has high activity resistance due to its structure in which each block is held together by a pile. In this study, through the laboratory model experiments, it was possible to confirm the increase in lateral resistance of the Tie-cell wave-dissipating blocks due to the penetration of the piles. The lateral resistance of the piles appeared almost constant regardless of the overburden load of the blocks. The lateral resistance shared by the piles changed depending on the increase or decrease in the lateral resistance of the friction between blocks. In the experiment in which two piles were penetrated, the overall lateral resistance was larger than the case a single pile was used, but the resistance behavior of the piles was different.