• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.1C
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• pp.1-9
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• 2009

In this study, the influence of wetting band depth by continuous rainfall and the magnitude of wetting front suction on the stability of slopes in weathered soils were investigated by using finite element programs SEEP/W and SLOPE/W. Three different intensities of rainfall (10mm/hr, 30mm/hr, 50mm/hr) were chosen, and the total duration of rainfall was 96 hours. Three infinite slopes with the inclination of 1:1.5 and 1:1.8, 1:2.0 were considered and the typical properties and the shear strength parameters of the weathered soil were applied. It is shown that rainfall duration plays an important role in slope stability. Based on the analytical results, it is found that as the rainfall duration increases, the wetting band depth also increases. Also, the increasing rate of the wetting band depth was decreased as the soil density was increased. These results come from the decrease of the coefficient of permeability and the increase of the soil suction. Finally, it is also shown that the safety factors of slopes by unsaturated analysis are mostly larger than those by saturated analysis. Therefore, commonly used saturated analysis may substantially underestimate the degree of safety factor in realistic situations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.155-162
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• 2003

The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) represents the essential constitutive relationship for solving various problems in unsaturated soil mechanics. A reliable and convenient experimental method is needed for the determination of the SWCC in engineering applications. This study introduces and proves that the suction-saturation experimental measurement based on the flow pump technique is a convenient and accurate method for obtaining the SWCC. The flow pump technique provides complete control over the test conditions and is capable of detecting all the important elements of the SWCC. In particular, it is capable of defining continuous drying and wetting curves, the moment of air occlusion, and the hysteretic behavior of unsaturated soils. Not only the optimal testing procedure but also the analysis technique for the flow pump technique has been established in this study. Especially, the method of the suction drop measurement was developed to measure the SWCC. This method is a convenient and time saving method without losing accuracy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.111-118
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• 2008

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the overburden effect on soil-water characteristic curve and unsaturated permeability of unsaturated weathered soils. For this, unsaturated suction and permeability tests under various overburden stress were conducted respectively. Then, the coefficient of unsaturated permeability and moisture capacity of weathered soils were estimated and compared. All these results are presented in the paper.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.17-26
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• 2005

Soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) is a unique characteristic that should be considered In the analysis of unsaturated soil and prediction of unsaturated properties. However, the volume change of soil specimens that happens in the existing apparatus affects the SWCC, Therefore, In this study, we intended to obtain more appropriate SWCC by measuring the change In the volume of the specimen in the SWCC tests. The measured change of void ratio indicates that the saturation step prior to the test changes the original structure of the soil specimen. Thus we carried out the test far the same specimen omitting the saturation step prior to the test. The change of void ratio by this test procedure is relatively small.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.109-120
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• 2004

There has been outstanding research on the soil-water characteristic curves of unsaturated soils over the past several decades. Unfortunately, unsaturated soil mechanics has not been considered as an important factor in Korea. In this paper, laboratory test and numerical analysis(SoilVision Professional ver 3.04) were performed to investigate the prediction method of soil-water characteristic curve and unsaturated permeability coefficient in reclaimed ground. The pressure cell, desiccator, and tensiometor tests were conducted on three types of reclaimed soils(dredged soil, sand, weathered granite soil). Numerical analysis was executed to compare the results with the laboratory test results and also compared with the results of each prediction method. Based on the laboratory test, three different types of soils have shown different soil-water characteristic curves. The hysteresis fir these soils is clearly defined. As a result of numerical analysis, Fredlund & Xing's method and Fredlund & Wilson's model proved to worke out well for reclaimed ground soils in Korea. Also, predicting method based on the soil-water characteristic curves from the particle-size distributions is flirty reliable for estimating unsaturated permeability coefficient.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.119-131
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• 2020

A numerical model was developed using COMSOL Multiphysics to evaluate groundwater flow that causes radionuclide migration in the unsaturated zone of a near-surface disposal facility, which is considered as a domestic low and an intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal facility. Each scenario was modeled by constructing a two-dimensional domain that included the disposal vault, backfill, disposal cover, and unsaturated aquifer. A comparison of the continuous and intermittent rainfall conditions exhibited no significant difference in any of the factors considered except the wave pattern of water saturation. The input data, such as porosity and residual water content of the unsaturated aquifer, were observed to not have a significant effect on the groundwater flow. However, the hydraulic conductivity of the unsaturated aquifer was found to have a significant effect on the groundwater flow. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the hydraulic conductivity of an unsaturated aquifer to determine the extent of groundwater infiltration into the disposal vault.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.17-28
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to measure the volumetric water content of unsaturated soils during drying and wetting process by using volumetric pressure plate extractor (VPPE) incorporated with time domain reflectometry (TDR). The VPPE consists of a pressure cell, a pressure regulator, a burette system and a TDR probe. Two samples with different initial void ratios were prepared in the pressure cell, and the air pressure at the range of 0.1 kPa - 50 kPa was applied to adjust the matric suction by the pressure regulator. The burette system was used to measure the volumetric water content change of the sample according to the matric suction. In addition, the TDR probe, installed in the cell, was used to evaluate the dielectric constant from the reflected signal of the electromagnetic wave at the probe. The volumetric water content of specimen was estimated by the empirical equation between the volumetric water content and dielectric constant, which was calibrated with the Jumunjin sand. The test results show that the volumetric water content calculated by TDR probe is strongly correlated to the measured value by burette system. The hysteresis occurs during drying and wetting process. Furthermore, the degree of hysteresis reduces in the repeated process. This study suggests that TDR may be effectively used to evaluate the water content soil for the determination of water characteristic curve of unsaturated soils.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.180-188
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• 2006

수리 전도도는 hydraulic gradient에 대한 flux의 비율 또는, flux-hydraulic gradient 직선의 기울기를 나타내며, 포화된 토양에서의 물의 이동이 포화수리 전도도이고 불포화된 토양에서의 이동이 불포화수리전도도이다. 일반적인 밭 상태에서의 토양수분 조건은 불포화수리 전도도로 표시하는 것이 적절하나 그 상태를 표현하기가 쉽지 않다. 토양의 불포화 상태를 나타내는데 가장 많이 쓰이고 있는 VGM(van Genuchten Mualem) 모형은 토양수분 포텐셜과 수분함량의 함수로 구성된 모형이며 몇 가지 매개변수가 필요하다. VGM 모형의 매개변수를 얻기 위해 본 연구에서는 VGM 모형의 매개변수를 계산해주는 프로그램인 Rosetta를 사용하였다. Rosetta 모형은 신경그물 얼개(neural network)를 이용하여 토양의 물리적 자료들인 토성이나 모래, 미사, 점토 함량 또는 용적밀도나 33kPa, 1500kPa에서의 토양수분 함량 자료를 가지고 VGM의 매개변수인 Ko(effective saturated hydraulic conductivity), ${\theta}r$(residual soil water content), ${\theta}s$(saturated soil water content), L, n, m(=1-1/n)을 예측하는 모형으로 미국 농무성(USDA-ARS)에서 개발한 프로그램이다. Rosetta를 이용하여 10kPa에서의 불포화수리 전도도를 예측하였다. 또한 Gardner(1958)와 Wooding (1968)의 모형을 기반으로 하여 만들어진 tension infiltrometer의 포화수리 전도도 값을 Gardner 식에 적용하여 1, 3, 5, 7kPa에서의 불포화수리 전도도 값을 17개 토양통을 대상으로 하여 구했다. 토양수분 potential이 3kPa에서는 물의 이동이 거의 없는 토양들이 있었는데 반해 남계통을 비롯한 학곡통, 회곡통, 백산통, 상주통, 석천통, 예산통 등 7개의 토양은 3kPa에서도 약간의 물의 이동이 있었다. 이는 모암이 화강 편마암인 관계로 토양 내에 물의 이동에 영향을 미치는 자갈의 함량이 높았기 때문일 것으로 생각되고 추후의 연구에서는 이 부분에 대한 내용도 검토되어야 할 것이다. 또한, 1kPa에서 물의 이동은 삼각통에서 35.21 cm/day로 이동 속도가 가장 컸으며 그 뒤로 예산통, 화봉통, 학곡통, 백산통 등이 토양에서 빠른 속도로 이동하였다. 가천통이나 석천통 및 우곡통은 1kPa에서의 이동 속도가 아주 느린 토양으로 판단되었다. 또한, 포화되지 않은 상태인 1kPa에서 물의 이동 속도를 VGM 모형에 의해 예측된 값과 측정된 값으로 비교하였을 때 불포화 수리 전도도가 예측되지 않은 토양(석천통, 지곡통, 풍천통)이 존재하여 불포화 수리 전도도 특성평가에 대한 VGM 모형의 적용성에 문제를 보였다. 이는 결과적으로 논이라는 영농형태가 존재하는 우리나라에서 토양의 수리적 특성해석을 위한 VGM 모형의 적용성에 한계가 있을 것으로 판단되었다.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.171-181
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• 2004

This study was conducted to explore the tensile strength models in granular soil at the full range of unsaturated state. Direct tension experiments were carried out with a newly developed direct tension technique. The measured experimental data were compared with theoretical models developed by Rumpf and Schubert for monosized ideal particulate solids at the unsaturated state. To do this, the soil-water characteristic curve obtained from a suction-saturation experiment was used to define the unsaturation state and the negative pore water pressure with different water content levels, which are important factors in theoretical tensile strength models. The nonlinear behavior of the tensile strength for unsaturated granular soil at the pendular state is appropriately simulated with Rumpf's model. For the funicular and capillary states, the predicted trend by Schubert's model is properly matched with the experimental data: tensile strength steadily increases and reaches a maximum value and then decreases until it reaches zero. This comparison supports the concept that the tensile strength of unsaturated real granular soil can be approximately simulated with theoretical models.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.45-51
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• 2012

The shear strength of weathered granite soils under unsaturated condition was evaluated by $K_0$ consolidated triaxial tests. Various matric suctions in the unsaturated triaxial tests were applied using suction-controlled triaxial test apparatus for weathered granite soils obtained in Daegu. Soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) laboratory tests for drying and wetting procedure were performed and van Genuchten curves were fitted by experimental results. The contribution of matric suction in unsaturated soils is directly correlated to effective stress and evaluated from SWCCs. The effective stresses were estimated from these SWCCs and the relationship between effective stress and unsaturated shear strength was determined. In the effective stress description, the unsaturated shear strength with respect to various suctions indicates unique relationship and almost the same as that of the saturated envelope.