• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.71-82
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• 2001

불포화토에 있어서 함수상태는 지반이 건조할수록 수축하고 습윤상태로 진행할수록 파괴에 이르게 하는 추가적인 입자간 응력을 발생시키며, 이러한 간극수와 흙입자 사이에 발생하는 현상을 규명하기 위해서는 정확한 모형화가 필요하다. 흙입자와 간극수 사이의 상호작용에서 흡입유발 유효응력(suction-induced effective stress)을 규명하기 위해 정규모형(regular packing)과 임의모형(random packing)이 적용될 수 있다. 최근의 연구결과에 따르면 흙은 흡입유발 유효응력과 밀접한 관계가 있으며, 흙의 비등방텐서(anisotropic tensor)를 구하기 위해 적용된 ALTERNAT 모델을 이용하여 구조텐서(fabric tensor)를 개략적으로 정의할 수 있다. Thornton의 임의모형 시뮬레이션은 구조텐서에 상응하는 파괴응력 상태를 포함하고 있으며, 미소역학 시뮬레이션을 통하여 구조텐서를 구하였다. 본 연구에서는 상기에 언급된 구형의 흙입자 모형에 대한 이론적 고찰이 수행되었고, ALTERNAT 모델을 적용한 간단한 비등방텐서의 결과를 구조텐서와 비교하였다. 본 연구결과 비등방텐서는 미소역학 시뮬레이션에 의한 구조텐서에 비해 약 20~40%정도 큰 값을 나타내었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.314-317
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• 2003

Plants may enhance the remediation of munitions at contaminated soils using various natural processes. A computer model can be used as a valuable tool for assisting phytoremediation by predicting the transport and fate of target contaminants at remediation sites. For this research, modeling of phytoremediation and bioremediation of soil contaminated with 2, 4, 6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was studied. Indian mallow (Abutilion avicennae) was grown in columns packed with 126mg TNT/kg contaminated soils for 50 days and a simulation model was developed to simulate the transport and fate of TNT and its breakdown products interacting with plant roots in a partially saturated soil. The column test showed the substantially enhanced reduction of TNT and greater soil microbial activity in Indian mallow planted soil compared to unplanted soil. The model successfully simulated the fate of TNT and by-products in phytoremediation. The results suggested that plants could provide favorable environments for reduction of TNT.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.243-259
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• 2016

The Richards equation for water movement in unsaturated soil is highly nonlinear partial differential equations which are not solvable analytically unless unrealistic and oversimplifying assumptions are made regarding the attributes, dynamics, and properties of the physical systems. Therefore, conventionally, numerical solutions are the only feasible procedures to model flow in partially saturated porous media. The standard Finite element numerical technique is usually coupled with an Euler time discretizations scheme. Except for the fully explicit forward method, any other Euler time-marching algorithm generates nonlinear algebraic equations which should be solved using iterative procedures such as Newton and Picard iterations. In this study, lumped mass and distributed mass in the frame of Picard and Newton iterative techniques were evaluated to determine the most efficient method to solve the Richards equation with finite element model. The accuracy and computational efficiency of the scheme and of the Picard and Newton models are assessed for three test problems simulating one-dimensional flow processes in unsaturated porous media. Results demonstrated that, the conventional mass distributed finite element method suffers from numerical oscillations at the wetting front, especially for very dry initial conditions. Even though small mesh sizes are applied for all the test problems, it is shown that the traditional mass-distributed scheme can still generate an incorrect response due to the highly nonlinear properties of water flow in unsaturated soil and cause numerical oscillation. On the other hand, non oscillatory solutions are obtained and non-physics solutions for these problems are evaded by using the mass-lumped finite element method.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.77-85
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• 2014

The paper presents comparison between numerical and experimental results to verify finite element algorithm of air diffusion in three-phase porous media. The theory of two-phase flow in partially saturated soil is a fundamental study to predict the safety for $CO_2$ sequestration. Geotechnical engineering problems exposed to atmospheric pressure generally assume that air pressure is equal to zero in three-phase porous media, but the geotechnical engineering problem at a depth of about over 1 km needs to be considered in connection with deformable solid skeleton due to air pressure. Therefore, the objective of this study is to validate the numerical algorithm by comparing with results obtained from measurement of air diffusion and dissipation through drainage test.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.257-282
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• 2015

In this study, the authors present a coupled fluid-structures-seabed interaction analysis of a monopile type of wind turbine foundations in liquefiable soils. A two dimensional analysis is performed with a nonlinear stiffness degradation model incorporated in the finite difference program Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua (FLAC), which captured the fundamental mechanisms of the monopiles in saturated granular soil. The effects of inertia and the kinematic flow of soil are investigated separately, to highlight the importance of considering the combined effect of these phenomena on the seismic design of offshore monopiles. Different seismic loads, such as those experienced in the Kobe, Santa Cruz, Loma Prieta, Kocaeli, and Morgan Hill earthquakes, are analyzed. The pore water pressure development, relative displacements, soil skeleton deformation and monopile bending moment are obtained for different predominant frequencies and peak accelerations. The findings are verified with results in the liter.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.135-147
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• 2013

Most of slope failures are triggered by heavy rainfall during rainy season. If the rain keeps on for the season, the water content of the ground increases and its matric suction decrease, and then the safety factor of soil slope gets lower. The change of water table level for soil slope stability dose not describe the behavior of the soil slope in real situation, hence it may be necessary to modify the design standard for slope stability in association with rain infiltration. For correct design, economical construction, and maintenance of a soil slope, unsaturated flow analysis is needed for estimation of slope instability regarding water infiltration and soil behavior on unsaturated soil slopes. The entire soil slope cannot be saturated by prolonged rainfall and wetting band depth (saturated zone) just deepens from slope surface, hence the cause of the shallow surface slide is the wetting band depth depending on rainfall duration and intensity. Therefore, the paper presents the differences between theoretical equation and numerical analysis for wetting band depth on soil surface and its safety factor, and compares the slope stability obtained from unsaturated flow analysis with that obtained from conventional slope stability analysis.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2010

Cometabolic air sparging (CAS) is a new and innovative technology that uses air sparging principles but attempts to optimize in situ contaminant degradation by adding a growth substrate to saturated zone. CAS relies on the degradation of the primary growth substrate and cometabolic substrate transformation in the saturated zone and in the vadose zone for volatilized contaminants. In this study, we have investigated to determine MTBE degradation pattern and microbial activity variation if using propane as a primary substrate at the condition of considering air injection rate and air injection pattern. Laboratory-scale two-dimentional aquifer physical model studies were used and the experimental results were represented that the optimal conditions were as air injection rate of 1,000 mL/min and pulsed air injection pattern (15 min on/off). Over 1,000 mL/min air injection rate and continuous air injection pattern was no affected to increase DO concentration. On the other hand, Injection of propane and propane-utilizing bacteria degraded MTBE partially. And also, injection of propane- and MTBE-utilizing bacteria effectively degraded MTBE and TBA production was observed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.223-235
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• 2022

Bearing capacity of shallow foundations is often determined for either dry or saturated soils. In some occasions, foundations may be subjected to external loading which is inclined and/or eccentric. In this study, the ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations resting on partially saturated coarse-grained cohesionless and fine-grained cohesive soils subjected to a wide range of combined vertical (V) - horizontal (H) - moment (M) loadings is rigorously evaluated using the well-established limit equilibrium method. The unified effective stress approach as well as the suction stress concept is effectively adopted so as to simulate the behaviour of the underlying unsaturated soil medium. In order to obtain the bearing capacity, four equilibrium equations are solved by adopting Coulomb failure mechanism and Bishop effective stress concept and also considering a linear variation of the induced matric suction beneath the foundation. The general failure loci of the shallow foundations resting on unsaturated soils at different hydraulic conditions are presented in V - H - M spaces. The results indicate that the matric suction has a marked influence on the bearing capacity of shallow foundations. In addition, the effect of induced suction on the ultimate bearing capacity of obliquely-loaded foundations is more pronounced than that of the eccentrically-loaded footings.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.109-122
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• 2024

Standard triaxial cells are commonly used to measure the mechanical behavior of saturated soils. However, this type of standard system is difficult to use for unsaturated soil specimens since it cannot measure the changes in the pore-air volume and pressure. This paper proposes to extend the measurement possibilities of the standard triaxial testing device in a simple way and to adapt it to partially saturated soils. The system is supplied by two hygrometers installed at each end of the cylindrical unsaturated specimen to measure local relative humidity, which allows the derivation of suction. The volumetric strain of the specimen is calculated by analyzing digital photos captured from the outside of the transparent cell wall. Specimens made of kaolin clay, having different hydraulic properties, were tested to verify the reliability of the measurements, and thus, the relevance of the proposed techniques to study the mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.57-64
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• 2007

Since matric suction of unsaturated soil was related to soil and ground water contaminations, it is very important to analyze its mechanism that was represented by shear characteristics. In three phases of soil, a little air makes the condition of unsaturated soil on contract or shrinkage surface between water and air. Capillarity and suction in pore of unsaturated soil cause surface tension and surface force so it makes negative pore water pressure and increases effective stress as a result. Therefore, negative pore water pressure in partially saturated soil affects the soil structure and degree of saturation and it is important to evaluate accurately unsaturate flow and behavior. In this study, the shear strength characteristics of the seven sandy soils were investigated using consolidated drained triaxial tests with special emphasis on the effects of the negative pore pressure and the matric suction. These tests involved shearing under either a constant net confining pressure and varying matric suction or under a constant matric suction and varying net normal stress.