• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.505-515
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• 2017

Based on the collapse characteristics of a shallow rectangular cavity, a three-dimensional failure mechanism which can be used to study the collapsing region of the rock mass above a shallow cavity roof is constructed. Considering the effects of surcharge pressure and surface bolt on the collapsing block, the external rate of works produced by surcharge pressure and surface bolt are included in the energy dissipation calculation. Using variational approach, an analytic expression of surface equation for the collapsing block, which can be used to study the collapsing region of the rock mass above a shallow cavity roof, is derived in the framework of upper bound theorem. Based on the analytic expression of surface equation, the shape of the collapsing block for shallow cavity is drawn. Moreover, the changing law of the collapsing region for different parameters indicates that the collapsing region of rock mass decreases with the increase of the density of surface bolt. This conclusion can provide reference for practicing geotechnical engineers to achieve an optimal design of supporting structure for a shallow cavity.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.847-865
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• 2016

In this study, a series of geotechnical centrifugal tests were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of settlement control of two types of rigid pile structure embankments (PRSE) in collapsible loess under high-speed railway embankments. The research results show that ground reinforcement is required to reduce the post-construction settlement and settlement rate of the embankments. The rigid pile structure embankments using rigid piles can substantially reduce the embankment settlement in the construction of embankments on collapsible loess, and the efficiency in settlement reduction is affected by the pile spacing. The pile-raft structure embankments (PRSE) have much stronger ability in terms of the effectiveness of settlement control, while the pile-geogrid structure embankments (PGSE) provides rapid construction as well as economic benefits. Rational range of pile spacing of PRSE and PGSE are suggested based on the requirements of various railways design speeds. Furthermore, the time effectiveness of negative skin friction of piles and the action of pile-cap setting are also investigated. The relevant measures for improving the bearing capacity and two parts of transition zone forms as positive control mean have been suggested.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.6
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• pp.699-712
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• 2019

The reinforced concrete lining of hydraulic pressure tunnels tends to crack under high inner water pressure (IWP), which results in the inner water exosmosis along cracks and involves typical hydro-mechanical interaction. This study aims at the development, validation and application of an indirect-coupled method to simulate the lining cracking process. Based on the concrete damage plasticity (CDP) model, the utility routine GETVRM and the user subroutine USDFLD in the finite element code ABAQUS is employed to calculate and adjust the secondary hydraulic conductivity according to the material damage and the plastic volume strain. The friction-contact method (FCM) is introduced to track the lining-rock interface behavior. Compared with the traditional node-shared method (NSM) model, the FCM model is more feasible to simulate the lining cracking process. The number of cracks and the reinforcement stress can be significantly reduced, which matches well with the observed results in engineering practices. Moreover, the damage evolution of reinforced concrete lining can be effectively slowed down. This numerical method provides an insight into the cracking process of reinforced concrete lining in hydraulic pressure tunnels.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 2019

In this paper, it was presented an investigation on the load-settlement and vertical stress analysis of the ring footings on the loose sand bed by conducting both laboratory model tests and numerical analyses. A total of twenty tests were conducted in geotechnical laboratory and numerical analyses of the test models were carried out using the finite element package Plaxis 3D to find the ultimate capacities of the ring footings. Moreover, the results obtained from both foregoing methods were compared with theoretical results given in the literature. The effects of the ring width on bearing capacity of the footings and vertical stresses along the depth were investigated. Consequently, the experimental observations are in a very good agreement with the numerical and theoretical results. The variation in the bearing capacity is little when $r_i/R_o$ <0.3. That means, when the ring width ratio, $r_i/R_o$, is equal to 0.3, this option can provide more economic solutions in the applications of the ring footings. Since, this corresponds to less concrete consumption in the ring footing design.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.5-12
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• 2021

The reliable seismic stability evaluation of the natural slopes and geotechnical structures has become a critical factor of the design. Pseudo-static or permanent displacement methods are typically employed to evaluate the seismic slope performance. In both methods, the effect of input ground motion on the sliding surface is ignored, and failure surface from the limit equilibrium method is used. For the assessment of the seismic sensitivity of failure surface, two-dimensional non-linear finite element analyses are performed. The performance of the finite element model was validated against centrifuge measurements. A parametric study with a range of input ground motion was performed, and numerical results were used to assess the influence of ground motion characteristics on the sliding surface. Based on the results, it is demonstrated that the characteristics of input ground motion have a significant influence on the location of the seismically induce failure surface. In addition to dynamic analysis, pseudo-static analyses were performed to evaluate the discrepancy. It is observed that sliding surfaces developed from pseudo-static and dynamic analyses are different. The location of the failure surface change with the amplitude and T_m of motion. Therefore, it is recommended to determine failure surfaces from dynamic analysis

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.359-374
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• 2022

Geology conditions are crucial in decision-making during the planning and design phase of a tunnel project. Estimation of the geology conditions of road tunnels is subject to significant uncertainties. In this work, the effectiveness of a novel regression method in estimating geological or geotechnical parameters of road tunnel projects was explored. This method, called Gaussian process regression (GPR), formulates the learning of the regressor within a Bayesian framework. The GPR model was trained with data of old tunnel projects. To verify its feasibility, the GPR technique was applied to a road tunnel to predict the state of three geological/geomechanical parameters of Rock Mass Rating (RMR), Rock Structure Rating (RSR) and Q-value. Finally, in order to validate the GPR approach, the forecasted results were compared to the field-observed results. From this comparison, it was concluded that, the GPR is presented very good predictions. The R-squared values between the predicted results of the GPR vs. field-observed results for the RMR, RSR and Q-value were obtained equal to 0.8581, 0.8148 and 0.8788, respectively.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.275-282
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• 2021

Failure mechanism which can affect geotechnical infrastructures (shallow foundations, retaining walls, and piles) constitutes one of the most encountered problems during the design process. In this respect, the shear behavior of interfaces between grained soils and solid building materials, as well as those between cohesive soils should be investigated. Therefore, a range of ring shear tests with different cohesive soils and stainless-steel interfaces have been carried out through the Bromhead apparatus that allows simulating large displacements along a failure surface. The effects of steel rings roughness and soil type on the residual friction coefficient and the shear zone features (structure, thickness, and texture orientation angle) have been investigated using the Scanning Electron Microscopy. The obtained results indicate that the residual friction coefficient and the structural characteristics of the shear zone vary according to the surface roughness and the soil type. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that the particles inside the shear zone tend to be re-oriented. Also, the shear failure mechanism can be identified along with the interface, within the soil, or simultaneously at the interface and within the soil specimen.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.65-75
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• 2022

Time and cost of construction are key factors in decision-making during a tunnel project's planning and design phase. Estimations of time and cost of tunnel construction projects are subject to significant uncertainties caused by uncertain geotechnical and geological conditions. The Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) technique for predicting ground condition and construction time and cost of mountain tunnel projects is used in this work. The GPR model is trained with data from past mountain tunnel projects. The model is applied to a case study in which the predicted time and cost of tunnel construction using the GPR model are compared with the actual construction time and cost for model validation and reducing the uncertainty for the future projects. In addition, the results obtained from the GPR have been compared with to other models of artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector regression (SVR) that the GPR model provides more accurate results.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.197-208
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• 2022

Micropiles consisting of steel bars and grouts are commonly used in underpinning methods to reinforce supports or to suppress the subsidence of existing structures. Recently, applications in the field of geotechnical engineering have expanded. Despite the increasing use of micropiles are used, the PHC or steel pile formula is still applied for the settlement amount of micropiles. Compared with field test results, the amount of micropile subsidence obtained from the existing method may result in a very large error in the displacement of the micropile. Therefore, it is difficult to utilize micropiles effectively. Hence, to solve this problem, this study evaluated the behaviors and support characteristics of micropiles through field compression and tensile tests, and proposed a method for predicting the amounts of their subsidence. To confirm the appropriateness of the proposed method, field test results and the results obtained using the proposed method were compared. It was found that the settlement amounts of the micropiles as predicted through the existing method were significantly overestimated (error ≈ 50-80%) relative to the field test results, whereas the settlement errors of the piles predicted through the proposed method decreased (error ≈6-32%). Thus, it is possible to reduce the previously overestimated amount of settlement, and the modified method of this study allows more efficient design than the conventional method.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.409-422
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• 2022

The use of calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement as a rapid-hardening cement admixture or eco-friendly alternate for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) has been attempted over the years, but the cost of CSA cement and availability of suitable aluminium resource prevent its wide practical application. To propose an effective ground improvement design in sandy soil, this study aims at blending a certain percentage of CSA with OPC to find an optimum blend that would have fast-setting behavior with a lower carbon footprint than OPC without compromising the mechanical properties of the cemented sand. Compared to the 100% CSA case, initial speed of strength development of blended cement is relatively low as it is mixed with OPC. It is found that 80% OPC and 20% CSA blend has low initial strength but eventually produces equivalent ultimate strength (28 days curing) to that of CSA treated sand. The specific OPC-CSA blend (80:20) exhibits significantly higher strength gain than using pure OPC, thus allowing effective geotechnical designs for sustainable and controlled ground improvement. Further parametric studies were conducted for the blended cement under various curing conditions, cement contents, and curing times. Wet-cured cement treated sand had 33% lower strength than that of dry-cured samples, while the stiffness of wet-cured samples was 25% lower than that of dry-cured samples.