• Land and Housing Review
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.51-57
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• 2018

The causes of landslides are dependant on rainfall events and the soil characteristics of a slope. For the conventional slope stability, the slope stability analysis has been carried out assuming the saturated soil theory. But, in order to clearly explain a proper soil slope condition by rainfall, the research should be performed using the unsaturated soil mechanism suitable for a soil slope in the field. In the study, by using two major categories of soils in Korea, such as granite and gneiss weathered soils, landslide model test and finite element method have been compared with the difference of seepage and soil stability analysis. The hydraulic conductivity of gneiss weathered soil is slower than that of granite weathered soil, and the gneiss weathered soil contains much finer soils than the granite weathered soil. It was confirmed that the instability of the slope was progressing slowly due to the slow rate of volumetric water content of the surface layer.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.153-163
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• 2020

Laboratory experiments were conducted with two different soil conditions to investigate rainfall infiltration characteristics. The soil layer materials that were tested were weathered granite soil and weathered gneiss soil. Artificial rainfall of 80 mm/hr was reproduced through the use of a rainfall device, and the volumetric water content and matric suction were measured. In the case of the granite soil, the saturation velocity and the moving direction of the wetting front were fast and upward, respectively, whereas in the case of the weathered gneiss soil, the velocity and direction were slow and downward, respectively. Rainfall penetrated and saturated from the bottom to the top as the hydraulic conductivity of the granite soil was higher than the infiltration capacity of the artificial rainfall. In contrast, as the hydraulic conductivity of the gneiss soil was lower than the infiltration capacity of the rainfall, ponding occurred on the surface: part of the rainfall first infiltrated, with the remaining rainfall subsequently flowing out. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function of weathered soils was determined and analyzed with matric suction and the effective degree of saturation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.28-33
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• 2006

Shallow failures of slopes in weathered soils are caused by infiltration due to prolonged rainfall. These failures are mainly triggered by the deepening of the wetting band accompanied by a decrease in suction induced by the water infiltration. In this paper, hysteresis on soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC) of granite and gneiss weathered soils are investigated using transient flow analysis respectively. Each case was subjected to artificial rainfall intensities and time duration depending on the laboratory-based drying and wetting processes. The results show that the unsaturated seepage on weathered slopes are very much affected by the initial suction of soils and unsaturated permeability of the soils. In addition, a granite weathered soil has a lower air-entry value, residual matric suction, and wetting front suction and less hysteresis loop than a gneiss weathered soil.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.21-28
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• 2021

The factors of landslides depend on rainfall intensity, duration, and the characteristics of the soil slope. The conventional slope stability analysis has been carried out by assuming that the slope is saturated. But, a site slope consisting of unsaturated ground must be imitated and interpreted in order to explain a proper behavior of the slope due to rainfall. In this study, by using two major categories of soils in Korea, such as granite and gneiss weathered soils, landslide model test and numerical analysis have been compared with the difference of seepage and volumetric water content. In general, the permeability of gneiss weathered soil, which contains a lot of fines content, is slower than that of granite weathered soil. As a result, in extreme rainfall, numerical analysis can show results that can penetrate quickly, resulting in saturation or more dangerous collapse.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.55-64
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• 2006

Shallow failures of slopes in weathered soils are caused by infiltration caused by prolonged rainfall. These failures are mainly triggered by the deepening of the wetting band accompanied by a decrease in suction induced by the water infiltration. In this paper, hysteresis on soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) of granite and gneiss weathered soils is investigated using transient flow analysis respectively. Each case was subjected to artificial rainfall intensities and time duration depending on the laboratory-based drying and wetting processes. The results show that the unsaturated seepage on weathered slopes are very much affected by the initial suction of soils and unsaturated permeability of the soils. In addition, a granite weathered soil has a lower air-entry value, residual matric suction, and wetting front suction and less hysteresis loop than a gneiss weathered soil.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.336-346
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• 1995

Geotechnical Information System (GTIS) for efficient management of three dimensional borehole data has been developed. Some problems were raised during the input process of borehole data, and alternative solutions were sought. According to the previous geotechnical reports, there is no unified weathering classification scheme. A criterion, 100 times/30cm from SPT, was turned out inappropriate to the discrimination of weathered rock from weathered soil. It has also been suggested that weathered soil, weathered rock, soft rock, and hard rock should be defined as CW, HW, MW, and SW~fresh condition. For better comparison of RQD, the use of NX size coring is recommended for the whole area although BX size coring has been used in excavated area. The limit of drilling depth up to 1 m from the top of surface of hard rock should be extended to avoid possible wrong interpretation of rock head due to the existence of corestone. The input data were analysed by geostatistical methods. It is found that the range in semivariogram is about 300m, and the variance of gneiss is greater than that of granite. It is because the granite data analysed came from almost single uniform rock mass(i.e.Seoul granite), but gneiss data came from the rock mass(i.e. Gyeonggi gneiss complex experienced several metamorphic metamorphic processes.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.5C
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• pp.191-198
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• 2009

It has been reported in Korea that surface slope failures in weathered soil are mainly caused by downward infiltration due to rainfall. These failures are triggered by the deepening of the wetting band in soils accompanied by a decrease in matric suction induced by the water infiltration. So, a need exists that these trends of wetting path in gneiss weathered soils, which is commonly found in Korea, are assessed by phenomenological approach. In this paper, numerical analyses of unsaturated soil slope under rainfall conditions are presented based on the wetting path soil-water characteristic curve in the laboratory. As the field SWCC matches well with the wetting path of the laboratory SWCC from the literatures, it seems reasonable to adopt the laboratory wetting SWCC as an upper boundary condition in the assessment of unsaturated slope instability.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.311-319
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• 2008

Evaluation of an amplitude domain reflectometry (ADR) type soil moisture sensor as ThetaProbe ML2x using the response of frequency impedance was performed in a variety of soil porous media such as Jumunjin standard sand, weathered granite soil at Sangju area, and weathered gneiss soil at Jangsu area. The tested soils were classified with a dried condition and a wetted condition for comparing with soil volumetric water content under different installed depths of the measurement sensor. In the results the part of measurement rod including one signal rod and three shield rod 6cm in length was found to decrease the variation of measurement output voltage with insert 5cm over into the soil porous media. The measurement output voltage was verified to more stable output voltage under weathered granite soils and weathered gneiss soils contained the fine grain materials such as clay and silt minerals than the gradual grain material like as the standard sands. Therefore, measurement values by soil moisture sensor can be offered the more stable values when an contact volume between soil porous media and measurement sensor increase.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.15-23
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• 2023

In this study, the infiltration behavior of slopes composed of mixed soils with clay contents of 0%, 5%, and 10% in weathered Gneiss soil, which is a representative weathered soil in Korea, was investigated, and the stability of unsaturated slopes due to rainfall infiltration was examined. For this, in this study, the soil water characteristic curve was obtained through the water retention test, and the strength constant was obtained through the triaxial compression test. Based on the obtained results, the influence of clay content and antecedent rainfall effect (i.e., initial suction) on the formation of saturated zone (i.e., wetting band) and slope stability due to rainfall infiltration was examined through infiltration and stability analyses. As a result, it was found that the hig her the initial suction, the slower the formation of the saturated zone on the slope. In addition, it was found that as the clay content increases, the shear strength of the ground increases and the resistance to rainfall infiltration increases, and eventually the slope stability is greatly improved.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.53-66
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• 1998

Since weathered soils are made by weathering process, the characteristics of weathered soils are strongly related to the originated rock and its forming process. Investigations on the originated rock and the weathering environments that decide the forming process are indispensable for the appropriate analysis on weathered soils. In this study, forming process of weathered soil is investigated by geological viewpoint. Test results show that weathering of rock is closely related to the distribution of rock-forming mineral and forming process. Weathered granite soils have the isotropic in-situ stress state and shearing behavior caused by the non-directional characteristics of originated rock. And weathered gneiss soils have the directional characteristics that mechanical behavior is determined by internal discontinuities. It it proved that the weathering resistance of Quarte is greater than that of feldspar and mica, and it is concluded that the thickness of weathered region is greatly influenced by the distribution of rock-forming mineral.