• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.669-676
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• 2018

The "pseudo-wedge" failure is a name for a complex instability occurring at the Sarcheshmeh open-pit mine (Iran). The pseudo-wedge failure contains both the rock bridge failure and sliding along pre-existing discontinuities. In this paper, a cross section of the failure area was first modeled using a bonded-particle method. The results indicated development of tensile cracks at the slope toe which explains the freedom of pseudo-wedge blocks to slide. Then, a three-dimensional discrete element method was used to perform a block analysis of the instability. The technique of shear strength reduction was used to calculate the factor of safety. Finally, the influence of geometrical characteristics of the mine wall on the pseudo-wedge failure was investigated. The safety factor significantly increases as the dip and dip direction of the wall decrease, and reaches an acceptable value with a 10-degree decrease of them.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.527-534
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• 2000

136 cut slopes which extends from Namyangju to Chunchon city along the 46th national highway were investigated to analyze the influence factors affecting slope instability. Geologic and geotechnical conditions were examined and the detailed investigation were carried out for fifty five failed slopes. failure mode (wedge failure, planar failure, circular failure, sheet eroison and rock falls) are examined with respect to slope inclination, rock type, weathering grade and discontinuity patterns. It is suggested that the failure modes and their dimensions have relations to the morphology and geologic conditions of the slopes. Wedge failure has highest is the most frequent failure mode and falls, sheet erosions, planar failures and circular in descending order of failure percentage. Wedge failure is most dominant failure type over all lithology except quartzite formation. In slopes of well foliated and banded gneiss, failure ratio of wedge is up to 50% ca. Failure ratio(number of rock fall/number of total failure) of rock fall increases with increase fo slope inclinations and decrease of weathering grade. Dimension analyses of failed slopes shows wedge and circular failure has higher value of D/L and D/H than planar failure and sheet erosion.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.265-273
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• 2024

Predicting fracture properties requires an understanding of structural failure behaviour in relation to specimen type, dimension, and notch length. Facture properties are evaluated using various testing methods, wedge splitting test being one of them. The wedge splitting test was numerically modelled three dimensionally using the finite element method on self compacting concrete specimens with varied specimen and notch depths in the current work. The load - Crack mouth opening displacement curves and the angle of rotation with respect to notch opening till failure are used to assess the fracture properties. Furthermore, based on the simulation results, failure curve was built to forecast the fracture behaviour of self-compacting concrete. The fracture failure curve revealed that the failure was quasi-brittle in character, conforming to non-linear elastic properties for all specimen depth and notch depth combinations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.59-72
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• 2009

The load distribution and deflection of offshore piles are investigated by lateral load-transfer curve method (p-y curve). Special attention is given to the soil-pile interaction and soil resistance of 3D wedge failure mode. A framework for determining a hyperbolic p-y curve is proposed based on theoretical analysis and experimental load test results. The methods for determining appropriate material parameters needed for constructing the proposed p-y curves are presented in this paper. Through comparisons with field case studies, it was found that the proposed method in the present study estimates reasonably the load transfer behavior of pile, and thus, the computed pile responses, such as bending moment and lateral displacement, agree well with the actual measured responses.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.20-27
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• 1996

Ice loads can determined by many factors like ice properies and dimension, velocity and type of structures. The magnitude of ice load varies with the failure mode which can be predicted by failure maps if the aspect ratio and strain rate are known. To reduce the ice force, various types of structure have been investigated and it is now known that the identor shape plays an important role in reducing ice load on Arctic offshoe structures. The conical and wedge structures are good applied examples in the Arctic region. In this study, ice forces on single wedge indentors are investigated for crushing failure mode. The ice loads on wedged indentors are compared with those on cylindrical structures. Also the concept of "ice annual"is introduced to verify the ice loads to multi and single wedge structures.tructures.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.5-18
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• 2016

In this study, we grasped the resistance state of the back ground which had a notable influence on computing the lateral resistance of the laterally loaded pile group in the homogeneous ground by the model test. Resistance state was grasped as the depth of rotation-point, wedge failure angle, and wedge wing angle. The model experiment is performed by varying the width, spacing and number of piles and the relative density of sand in this study. According to the observation of the rear ground surface deformation of the piles in lateral load, rotation point ratio, wedge failure angle, and wedge wing angle of the front row were similar to those of the middle row; however, those of the back row were relatively smaller. The rotation point ratio, wedge failure angle and wedge wing angle of the piles in parallel were the same as those of a single pile. Based on the model test results, equations for estimation of the rotation-point, wedge failure angle, and wedge wing angle are proposed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.287-297
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• 2020

This paper investigates the stability of a three-dimensional (3D) wedge under the pseudo-static action of an earthquake based on the nonlinear Barton-Bandis (B-B) failure criterion. The influences of the mechanical parameters of the discontinuity surface, the geometric parameters of the wedge and the pseudo-static parameters of the earthquake on the stability of the wedge are analyzed, as well as the sensitivity of these parameters. Moreover, a stereographic projection is used to evaluate the influence of pseudo-static direction on instability mode. The parametric analyses show that the stability coefficient and the instability mode of the wedge depend on the mechanical parameter of the rock mass, the geometric form of the wedge and the pseudo-static state of the earthquake. The friction angle of the rock φ_b, the roughness coefficient of the structure surface JRC and the two angles related to strikes of the joints θ₁ and θ₂ are sensitive to stability. Furthermore, the sensitivity of wedge height h, the compressive strength of the rock at the fracture surface JCS and the slope angle α to the stability are insignificant.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.46-53
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• 2018

This study examined the maximum resistant moment and nonlinear rotational stiffness of wedge joint between the vertical and horizontal members of system supports. To examine the maximum resistant moment and propose the nonlinear rotation stiffness of wedge joint, 6 specimens were tested and additional 3 specimens, where the horizontal member was welded to the vertical member, were tested to compare the moment capacity of wedge joints. The average maximum moment in the tested wedge joint was 1.183 kNm which represented about 70 % of the maximum moment developed in the welded specimens. And, as simulating nonlinear rotational stiffness of the wedge joint, a tri-linear model was suggested. The rotational stiffness was estimated as 23.095 kNm/rad in first stage, 7.945 kNm/rad in second stage, and 3.073 kNm/rad in third stage. For the failure mode, the specimen with the wedge joint showed the failure of joint between vertical and horizontal members. However, the specimen with welded joint represented the yielding of horizontal members.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.561-575
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• 2014

Estimating seismic displacements has a great importance for foundations on or adjacent to slope surfaces. However, dynamic solution of the problem has received little attention by previous researchers. This paper presents a new analytical model to determine seismic displacements of the shallow foundations adjacent to slopes. For this purpose, a dynamic equilibrium equation is written for the foundation with failure wedge. Stiffness and damping at the sliding surface are considered variable and a simple method is proposed for its estimation. Finally, for different failure surfaces, the calculated dynamic displacement and the surfaces with maximum strain are selected as the critical failure surface. Analysis results are presented as curves for different slope angles and different foundation distances from edge of the slope and are then compared with the experimental studies and software results. The comparison shows that the proposed model is capable of estimating seismic displacement of the shallow foundations adjacent to slopes. Also, the results demonstrate that, with increased slope angle and decreased foundation distances from the slope edge, seismic displacement increases in a non-linear trend. With increasing the slope angle and failure wedge angle, maximum strain of failure wedge increases. In addition, effect of slope on foundation settlement could be neglected for the foundation distances over 3B to 5B.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.147-152
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• 1999

Distribution of fracture system is an important factor to analyse instability of jointed rock slope. In the most case of rock slopes, joint distribution properties are related to potential, shape, size and locality of slope failure. The purpose of this paper is to present an application of fracture characterization related to rock slope failure. Fracture data used in this study are collected by scanline survey. Two aspects of fracture characterization for rock slope are handled in this study First, In order to determine the potential and shape of slope failure, trace length of joints is considered as the weighting factor about collected orientation data. Second, Relationship between trace length and spacing is analysed to estimate failure location and size. The distribution of fracture system is directly influenced on wedge failure. It is effective to analyse the orientation of fractures by using weighting factors associated with the trace length of fractures rather than to analyse only that of fractures. It gives a conclusion that the wedge failure occurred along the peak of fracture density(or intensity) cycles.