• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.125-135
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• 2008

Rigid-soft particle mixtures, which consist of sand and rubber, are investigated for the understanding of the stress-deformation and elastic moduli. Specimens are prepared with various size ratio sr between sand and rubber particles, and different volumetric sand fraction sf. Small strain shear waves are measured under $K_o$-loading condition incorporated with the stress-deformation test by using oedometer cell with bender elements. The stress-deformation and small strain shear wave characteristics of rigid-soft particle mixtures show the transition from a rigid particle behavior regime to a soft particle behavior regime under fixed size ratio. A sudden rise of $\Lambda$ factor and the maximum value of the $\zeta$ exponent in $G_{max}=\;{\Lambda}({\sigma}'_{o}/kPa)^{\zeta}$ are observed at $sf\;{\approx}\;0.4{\sim}0.6$ regardless of the size ratio sf. Transition mixture shows high sensitivity to confining stress. The volume fraction for the minimum porosity may depend on the applied stress level in the rigid-soft particle mixtures because the soft rubber particles easily distort under load. In this experimental study, the size ratio and volumetric sand fraction are the important factors which determine the behavior of rigid and soft particle mixtures.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.25-36
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• 2008

The plane strain test can reproduce the real field condition and failure behavior precisely over other laboratory shear tests. Accordingly, this test has been utilized to investigate the shearing behaviors associated with overall failure behavior and local deformation of soils. However, most plane strain tests have been carried out with restrained end plates due to difficulties in manufacturing the equipment and also performing it. This restraint induces different results with real field because of shear stress on end plates. In this study, plane strain tests with/without bottom plate restraint were performed on Jumunjin-sand. The measurement of overall and local deformation was accomplished by digital image correlation technique as well as external LVDT. By applying digital image correlation method using two consecutive images captured through the transparent wall, local deformation behavior of various parts inside the specimen was estimated. And the formation and development of shear band caused by the restrained effect of end plate and the deformation mechanism of sand under plane strain condition were examined.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.45-55
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• 2008

CFRD (Concrete Faced Rockfill Dam) has been world-widely constructed due to a lot of advantages which it has compared with rockfill dam and recently, sand/gravel materials, Instead of crushed rock materials, are also utilized as a main rockfill material to overcome geological and environmental problems. In Korea, two dams using sand/gravel materials as a main fill material were designed and are being constructed. In this research, the strength and deformation characteristics of the rockfill and sand/gravel materials taken from 2 dam sites were tested by using a laboratory large triaxial testing equipment for a total of 7 cases. From the results of large triaxial and compaction tests, it was observed that two kinds of materials show a little different compaction, shear strenght and deformation characteristics. It could be expected that the shear strength of sand/gravel material was not disadvantageous compared with that of rockfill materials, however, there was some difference between two materials with respect to behavior characteristics. On the other hand, smaller displacements were observed from numerical analysis based on the data from a large triaxial test when the sand/gravel is used as a main fill material compared with the case when the crushed rock material is used as a main fill material. Finally, in spite of a little different shear strength and behavior characteristic between two materials, it was concluded that it will not lead to a significant problem when the sand/gravel material is used as a main rockfill material.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.41-50
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• 2010

The behavior of laterally cyclic loaded piles is different from that of piles under monotonic loading and depends on soil and load characteristics. In this study, model pile load tests were performed using a calibration chamber to investigate the effects of load characteristics on the behavior of laterally cyclic loaded piles in sand. Results of the model tests show that the ultimate lateral load capacity of laterally cyclic loaded piles decreases linearly with increasing the number of cycles and increases slightly with increasing the magnitude of cyclic lateral loads. When the piles reach the ultimate state, the maximum bending moment developed in the piles decreases linearly with increasing the number of cycles and it occurs at a depth of 0.36 times pile embedded length for all the number of cycles. However, both the magnitude and depth of the maximum bending moment of piles in the ultimate state increase slightly as the magnitude of cyclic lateral loads increases. It is also observed that the cyclic lateral loading generates a decrease in the ultimate lateral load capacity and maximum bending moment for piles in the ultimate state. In addition, based on the model test results, a new empirical equation for the ultimate lateral load capacity of laterally cyclic loaded piles in dense sand is also proposed. A comparison between predicted and measured load capacities shows that the proposed equation reflects satisfactorily the model test results.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.83-94
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• 2007

Piled raft foundations have been highlighted as an economical design concept of pile foundations in recent years. However, piled raft foundations have not been widely used in Korea due to the difficulty in estimating the complex interaction effects among rafts, piles and soils. The authors developed an effective numerical program to analyze the behavior of piled raft foundations for practical design purposes and presented it briefly in this paper. The developed numerical program simulates the raft as a flexible plate consisting of finite elements with eight nodes and the raft is supported by a series of elastic springs representing subsoils and piles. This study imported another model to simulate pile groups considering non-linear behavior and interaction effects. The apparent stiffnesses of the soils and piles were estimated by iterative calculations to satisfy the compatibility between those two components and the behavior of piled raft foundations can be predicted using these stiffnesses. For the verification of the program, the analysis results about some example problems were compared with those of rigorous three dimensional finite element analysis and other approximate analysis methods. It was found that the program can analyze non-linear behaviors and interaction effects efficiently in multi-layered soils and has sufficient capabilities for application to practical analysis and design of piled raft foundations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.5-16
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• 2008

Most of roadway tunnels have been constructed in the form of parallel twin tunnel in Korea. If parallel twin tunnel does not have a sufficient separation distance between tunnels, the problem of tunnel stability can occur. Generally, it is reported that tunnels are not influenced by each other when a center distance between tunnels is two times longer than tunnel diameter under the complete elastic ground and five times under the soft ground. In this study, the scaled model tests of closely-spaced parallel twin tunnel using homogeneous material are performed and induced displacements are measured around the tunnel openings during excavation. The influence of separation distance between tunnels on the behavior of closely-spaced tunnel is investigated. The experimental results are expressed by the induced displacement vector and progress of crack during construction and at failure. The results show that based on the analysis of induced displacement at the crown during construction, the additional displacement of the preceding tunnel induced by the excavation of following tunnel decreases as the separation distance between twin tunnel increases until the center to center distance is two times of tunnel diameter. Beyond this point, however, the additional displacement has become stabilized.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2024

PHC piles demonstrate superior resistance to compression and bending moments, and their factory-based production enhances quality assurance and management processes. Despite these advantages that have resulted in widespread use in civil engineering and construction projects, the design process frequently relies on empirical formulas or N-values to estimate the soil-pile friction, which is crucial for bearing capacity, and this reliance underscores a significant lack of experimental validation. In addition, environmental factors, e.g., the pH levels in groundwater and the effects of seawater, are commonly not considered. Thus, this study investigates the influence of vibrating machine foundations on PHC pile models in consideration of the effects of varying pH conditions. Concrete model piles were subjected to a one-month conditioning period in different pH environments (acidic, neutral, and alkaline) and under the influence of seawater. Subsequent repeated direct shear tests were performed on the pile-soil interface, and the disturbed state concept was employed to derive parameters that effectively quantify the dynamic behavior of this interface. The results revealed a descending order of shear stress in neutral, acidic, and alkaline conditions, with the pH-influenced samples exhibiting a more pronounced reduction in shear stress than those affected by seawater.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.4 s.50
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• pp.1-13
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• 2006

Soil and rock dynamic properties such as shear wave velocity $(V_s)$, compressional wave velocity $(V_p)$ and corresponding Poisson's ratio (v) are very important geotechnical parameters in predicting deformational behavior of structures as well as practicing seismic design and performance evaluation. In an effort to measure the parameter efficiently and accurately, various bore-hole seismic testing techniques have been, thus, developed and used during past several decades. In this study, cross-hole seismic testing technique which is known as the most reliable seismic method was adopted for obtaining geotechnical dynamic properties. To perform successfully the cross-hole test for rock as well as soil layers regardless of the ground water level, spring-loaded source which impact laterally a subsurface ground in vertical bore-hole was developed and applied at three study areas, which contain four sites composed of two existing port sites and two new LNG storage facility sites. The geotechnical dynamic properties such as $V_s,\;V_p$ and v with depth from the soil surface to the engineering and seismic bedrock were efficiently determined from the laterally impacted cross-hole seismic tests at study sites, and were provided as the fundamental parameters for the seismic performance evaluation of the existing ports and the seismic design of the LNG storage facilities.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.43-53
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• 2012

In the conventional design of a piled raft, the axial resistance offered by the raft itself is typically neglected and only that of the group pile is accounted in estimating the total axial resistance of the piled raft. As a consequence, piled rafts are usually designed conservatively by neglecting the raft resistance. In this study, a series of centrifuge model tests have been performed to compare the axial behavior of a group pile with that of a piled raft (both having 16 component piles with an array of $4{\times}4$) in sands with different relative densities and in clays with different preconsolidated pressures. The test results revealed that, with respect to the allowable settlement of 25 millimeters for bridge foundations, the piled raft resistances were greater than those of the group pile by 13% for dense sand, by 22% for loose sand, by 30% for stiff clay, and by 22% for soft clay. Furthermore, the ratio of piled raft resistance to group pile resistance increased as the settlement increased.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.131-141
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• 2004

For geotechnical applications, engineers use data obtained from a site investigation to interpret the structure and potential behavior of the subsurface. In most cases, these data consist of samples that represent 1/100,000 or less of the total volume of soil. These samples and associated field and lab testing provide the information used to estimate soil parameter values. The resulting values are estimated ones and there exists some likelihood that actual soil conditions are significantly different from the estimates. This may be the case even if the sampling and interpretation procedures are performed in accordance with standard practice. Although these efforts have been made to characterize the uncertainty associated with geotechnical parameters, there is no commonly accepted method to evaluate quantitatively the quality of an investigation plan as a whole or the relative significance of individual sampling points or potential sampling points.