• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.553-569
• /
• 2024

In recent tunneling projects, encounters with multi-layered strata have become more frequent as the desired scale of tunneling increases. Despite substantial practical experience, the design of large-diameter shield-driven tunnels often simplifies the surrounding ground as uniform, overlooking the complexities introduced by non-uniform geotechnical factors. This study comparatively analyzed the influence of design factors, particularly segment stiffness and joint parameters, on segmental lining behavior in layered ground conditions using numerical methods. A comprehensive parametric study revealed the significant impact of deformative interaction between the lining and the soft top soil layer on overall tunnel behavior. Permitting lining deformation in the soft soil layer effectively mitigated the induced internal forces but resulted in considerable tunnel lining convergence, adopting a peanut-shaped appearance. From a practical design perspective, application of a soft segment with lower stiffness near the stiff soil layer is an economically advantageous approach, alleviating internal forces within an acceptable convergence level. Notably, around the interfaces between soil layers with different stiffnesses, the induced internal forces in the lining were minimized based on joint rotational stiffness and location. This indicates the possibility of achieving an optimal design for segmental lining joints under layered ground conditions. Additionally, a preliminary design method was proposed, which sequentially optimizes parameters for joints located near soil layer interfaces. Subsequently, a specialized design based on the proposed method for complex multi-layered strata was compared with a conventional design. The results confirmed that the internal force was effectively relieved at an allowable lining deflection level.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.71-82
• /
• 2017

It is necessary to conduct a detailed geotechnical investigation on the tunnel section in order to secure the tunnel design and construction stability. It is necessary for the importance of geotechnical investigation that needed for the analysis of distribution and size of fractured fault zone and distribution of groundwater in tunnel. However, if it is difficult to perform the ground survey in the tunnel design due to ground condition of the tunnel section and the limited conditions such as civil complaint, the tunnel design is performed using the result of the minimum survey. Therefore, if weathered fault zone exists in the face the reinforcement method is determined in the design process to secure the stability of the tunnel. The most important factor in reinforcing the tunnel excavation surface is to secure the stability of the tunnel by performing quick reinforcement. In particular, if groundwater leaching occurs on the excavation surface, more rapid reinforcement is needed. In this study, fractured fault zone exists on the tunnel excavation surface and displacement occurs due to weathered fracture zone. When the amount of groundwater leaching rapidly increased under the condition of displacement, the behavior of tunnel displacement was analyzed based on tunnel collapse. In the study, reinforcement measures were taken because the first stage displacement did not converge continuously. After the first reinforcement, the displacement was not converged due to increased groundwater leaching and the second stage displacement occurred and chimney collapse occurred.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.29 no.8
• /
• pp.37-51
• /
• 2013

An energy pile encases heat exchange pipes to exchange thermal energy with the surrounding ground formation by circulating working fluid through the pipes. An energy pile has many advantages in terms of economic feasibility and constructability over conventional Ground Heat Exchangers (GHEXs). In this paper, a coil-type PHC energy pile was constructed in a test bed and its thermal performance was experimentally and numerically evaluated to make a preliminary design. An in-situ thermal response test (TRT) was performed on the coil-type PHC energy pile and its results were compared with the solid cylinder source model presented by Man et al. (2010). In addition, a CFD numerical analysis using FLUNET was carried out to back-analyze the thermal conductivity of the ground formation from the Ttype PHC energy RT result. To study effects of a coil pitch of the coil-type heat exchange pipe, a thermal interference between the heat exchange pipes in PHC energy piles was parametrically studied by performing the CFD numerical analysis, then the effect of the coil pitch on thermal performance and efficiency of heat exchange were evaluated. Finally, an equivalent heat exchange efficiency factor for the coil-type PHC energy pile in comparison with a common multiple U-type PHC energy pile was obtained to facilitate a preliminary design method for the coil-type PHC energy pile by adopting the PILESIM2 program.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.29 no.12
• /
• pp.11-24
• /
• 2013

This study presents a design method for typical rainfall-induced landslide considering in-situ matric suction. Actual landslide data are used to validate the proposed method. The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) and unsaturated permeability are experimentally determined to estimate hydraulic properties of testing site. The field measurement of matric suction is carried out to monitor in-situ matric suction in a natural slope subjected to rainfall infiltration, which is incorporated in the landslide analysis. The wetting band depth and safety factor of the slope are assessed to clarify the effect of domestic rainfall pattern. Especially, the effect of antecedent rainfall on the slope stability is investigated and discussed in terms of wetting band depth using parametric study. It is found from the result of this study that proposed design method can consider the characteristic of unsaturated soil and effect of antecedent rainfall. The location of the scarp zone is fairly well predicted by proposed design method. Moreover, heavy rainfall, concentrated in the backward part with time, causes the lowest safety factor of the slope. These results demonstrate that decrease in matric suction due to antecedent rainfall may trigger slope instability. After the antecedent rainfall, additional rainfall may cause the slope failure due to increasing wetting band depth.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.71-82
• /
• 2015

Recently, due to the expansion of urban infrastructure for the citizen convenience, the shield tunnel construction has increased considering the civil complaints minimization and construction stability. Most shield tunnels are designed based on the assumption of the undrained condition that underground water does not inflow, but they are operated in the field as drained tunnels with drainage facility to drain underground water. Therefore, the drained condition needs to be considered in the shield tunnel design. It is also necessary to consider the weathered granite soil that is widely distributed throughout the country and consequently is encountered in most of construction sites. In this paper, the model test which can control total stress and pore water pressure and simulate the underground tunnel located in the weathered granite soil below ground water level is conducted. Total stress, pore water pressure and an inflow water into an inner pipe were measured using the testing device. Test results showed that the total stress in a drained condition was lower than in an undrained condition because pore water pressure decreased in a drained condition and an inflow water into an inner pipe was proportional to the loading stress in a drained condition. As a result, if a drained condition is considered in the shield tunnel design, the more economical design can be expected because of the stress reduction of the lining.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.5-14
• /
• 2013

Among the various thermal properties, thermal conductivity of soils is one of the most important parameters to design a horizontal ground heat exchanger for ground-coupled heat pump systems. It is well known that the thermal conductivity of soil is strongly influenced by its density and water content because of its particulate structure. This paper evaluates some of the well-known prediction models for the thermal conductivity of particulate media such as soils along with the experimental results. The semi-theoretical models for two-component materials were found inappropriate to estimate the thermal conductivity of dry soils. It comes out that the model developed by Cote and Konrad provides the best overall prediction for unsaturated sands available in the literature. Also, a parametric analysis is conducted to investigate the effect of thermal conductivity, water content and soil type on the horizontal ground heat exchanger design. The results show that a design pipe length for the horizontal ground heat exchanger can be reduced with an increase in soil thermal conductivity. The current research concludes that the dimension of the horizontal ground heat exchanger can be reduced to a certain extent by backfilling materials with a higher thermal conductivity of solid particles.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.5-16
• /
• 2022

In the case of domestic seismic design, deformation of structures and ground is reviewed through undrained condition analysis and applied to design and maintenance. However, when the ground undergoes dissipation after liquefaction due to a dynamic load such as an earthquake, additional displacement occurs and greater damage occurs. Therefore, it is necessary to additionally analyze the drained conditions, It is necessary to grasp the exact ground behavior such as calculating and reviewing the amount of subsidence of the ground that has undergone the loss process after an earthquake and apply it to design and maintenance together. Therefore, in this study, numerical analysis was performed assuming undrained and drained conditions by dividing pure sandy soil into loose soil with Dr=30% and high-density soil with Dr=70%. In particular, when a dynamic load such as an earthquake is applied, considering the drained conditions of the ground, the settlement amount and the pore water pressure ratio of loose and dense ground are compared, This study focused on comparative analysis of settlement amount and pore water pressure ratio in the process of ground loss after an earthquake. As a result, the amount of subsidence during the dissipation process was 30 to 60 times greater than that of the earthquake.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.26 no.8
• /
• pp.27-37
• /
• 2010

Downdrag force develops when a pile is driven through a soil layer which will settle more than a pile. There is no obvious criterion for application of the current pile design method considering the negative skin friction. Therefore, in this study, numerical analyses were performed to investigate the behavior of a single pile subjected to negative skin friction and their results were used to determine the applicability of the current design method. Including three different sites in Song-do area and two different cases with friction pile and end bearing pile conditions, total six cases were considered. The load-settlement relationships and the neutral points were estimated for different end bearing conditions and the allowable bearing capacity of piles with negative skin friction was investigated through parametric studies. Based on the results showed that the negative skin friction made a major influence on the settlement of a pile and its stress. However the allowable bearing capacity may not be influenced by the negative skin friction. Compared with the allowable bearing capacity obtained from the ultimate bearing capacity with the safety factor of 3, the current design method with the safety factor of 3 underestimated the allowable bearing capacities regardless of the end bearing conditions. On the other hand, the current design method with the safety factor of 2 yielded reasonable results depending on the end bearing conditions.

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

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2000.03b
• /
• pp.87-92
• /
• 2000

In excavation of tunnels especially located in shallow depth, it is not rare to meet geological change in excavation progress worse than expected in the initial design stage. This paper present a case study on the re-design of excavation and support system of a shallow tunnel under construction where it meets the unexpected bad geological condition during excavation. The detailed geological investigation shows that the rock mass is heavily weathered and fractured with RMR value less than 20. Considering this geological condition, the design concept is focused on the reinforcement of the ground preceding the excavation of tunnel. Two design patterns, LW-grouting & forepoling with pilot tunnelling method and the steel pipe reinforced grouting method, are suggested. Numerical analysis by FLAC shows that these two patterns give the tunnel and roof ground stable in excavation process while the original design causes severe failure zone around the tunnel and floor heaving. In point of the mechanical stability and the degree of construction, the steel pipe reinforced grouting technique proved to be good for the reinforcement of heavily fractured rock mass in tunnelling. This assessment and design process would be a guide in the construction of tunnels in heavily weathered and fractured rock mass situation.