• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.49-56
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• 2013

The use of geothermal energy has been increased for economic and environmental friendly utilization. Ground thermal conductivity and borehole thermal resistance are very important parameters in the design of geothermal heat pump system. This paper presents an experimental study of heat exchange rate of U and W type ground heat exchangers (GHEs) measured by thermal performance tests (TPTs). U and W type GHEs were installed in a partially saturated dredged soil deposit, and TPTs were conducted to evaluate heat exchange rates under 100-hr continuous operation condition. The heat exchange rates were also calculated by analytical models to estimate borehole thermal resistances and were compared with experimental results. It comes out that multi-pole and equivalent diameter (EQD) models resulted in more accurate agreement than shape factor (SF) model which is currently more often used.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.31-41
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• 2013

The use of energy pile foundation has increased for economic utilization of geothermal energy. In particular, coil-shaped ground heat exchanger (GHE) is preferred to the conventional U-shaped exchanger to ensure better efficiency of heat exchange rate. This paper presents a numerical and experimental study on the heat transfer behavior of PHC energy piles. Field thermal performance tests (TPTs) were conducted for the PHC energy piles installed in a partially saturated weathered granite soil deposit, in which two types of GHEs were considered: W and coil shaped GHEs. Besides, three-dimensional finite element analyses were also conducted, and the results were compared with the experimental results. According to the results of TPT and numerical analyses, the coil shaped GHE showed 10~15% higher heat exchange rate than the W type GHE in the PHC energy piles.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.5-14
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• 2016

The use of geothermal energy has increased for economically and environmentally friendly utilization, and a geothermal heat pump (GSHP) system for space heating and cooling is being used widely. As ground thermal properties such as ground thermal conductivity and ground thermal diffusivity are substantial parameters in the design of geothermal heat pump system, ground thermal conductivity should be obtained from in-situ thermal response test (TRT). This paper presents an experimental study of ground thermal properties of U and 2U type ground heat exchangers (GHEs) measured by TRTs. The U and 2U type GHEs were installed in a partially saturated dredged soil deposit, and TRTs were conducted for 48 hours. A method to derive the thermal diffusivity as well as thermal conductivity was proposed from a non-linear regression analysis. In addition, remolded soil samples from different layers were collected from the field, and soil specimens were reconstructed according to the field ground condition. Then equivalent ground thermal conductivity and ground thermal diffusivity were calculated from the lab test results and they were compared with the in-situ TRT results.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.239-245
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• 2024

PS(Prestressed) tendons are under high tensile stress and have a smaller concrete cover than RC(Reinforced Concrete) member, so that the more conservative specifications on corrosion have been proposed for PS member. In this study, three levels of chloride concentrations(0.0 mol/l, 0.125 mol/l, and 0.25 mol/l) were prepared for evaluating the corrosion behavior in different position of 7 strand wires. For accelerating corrosion and measuring the corrosion amount in tendon, the tendon was embedded in partially saturated soil, and HCP(Half Cell Potential) was measured from the soil surface. During the test period of 28 weeks, HCP was measured every two weeks and the corrosion weight in the tendon was measured at 16 and 28 weeks of test period. Through the test, HCP result in tendon increased as the wires were located toward bottom due to high saturation. HCP in the lowest wire position showed an increase by 5.92 % compared to that in top position in 0.25 mol/l condition. The lower the position of the wire contained more saturation, which yielded increasing corrosion amount and HCP in tendon. In addition, the relation between corrosion weight and chloride concentration was quantitatively obtained through regression analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.91-103
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• 2009

Slope failure depends upon the climatic features related to related rainfall, structural geology and geomorphological features as well as the variation of the mechanical behaviors of soil constituting a slope. In this paper, among many variables, effects of soil layer thickness on the slope failure process, and variations of matric suction and volumetric water content were observed. When the soil layer is relatively thick, the descending wetting front decreases matric suction and the observed matric suction reaches to "0" value. When the wetting front reaches to the impermeable boundary, the bottom surface of steel soil box, ascending wetting front was observed. This observation can be postulated to be the effects of various sizes of pores. When macro size pores exist, the capillary effects can be reduced and infilling of pore will be limited. The partially filled pores would be filled with water during the ascending of the wetting front, which bounces from the impermeable boundary. This assumption has been assured from the observation of variation of the volumetric water contents at different depth. When the soil layer is thick (thickness = 20 cm), for granular material, erosion is a cause triggering the slope failure. It has been found that the initiation of erosion occurs when the top soil is fully saturated. Meanwhile, when the soil layer is shallow (thickness = 10 cm), slope slides as en mass. The slope failure for this condition occurs when the wetting front reaches to the interface between the soil layer and steel soil box. As the wetting front approaches to the bottom of soil layer, reduction of shear resistance along the boundary and increase of the unit weight due to the infiltration occur and these produce complex effects on the slope failure processes.