• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.108-113
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• 2006

Urban conditions, such as existing underground facilities and ambient noise due to cultural activity, restrict the general application of conventional geophysical techniques. At a tunnelling site in an urban area along an existing railroad, we used the refraction microtremor (REMI) technique (Louie, 2001) as an alternative way to get geotechnical information. The REMI method uses ambient noise recorded by standard refraction equipment and a linear geophone array to derive a shear-wave velocity profile. In the inversion procedure, the Rayleigh wave dispersion curve is picked from a wavefield transformation, and iteratively modelled to get the S-wave velocity structure. The REMI survey was carried out along the line of the planned railway tunnel. At this site vibrations from trains and cars provided strong seismic sources that allowed REMI to be very effective. The objective of the survey was to evaluate the rock mass rating (RMR), using shear-wave velocity information from REMI. First, the relation between uniaxial compressive strength, which is a component of the RMR, and shear-wave velocity from laboratory tests was studied to learn whether shear-wave velocity and RMR are closely related. Then Suspension PS (SPS) logging was performed in selected boreholes along the profile, in order to draw out the quantitative relation between the shear-wave velocity from SPS logging and the RMR determined from inspection of core from the same boreholes. In these tests, shear-wave velocity showed fairly good correlation with RMR. A good relation between shear-wave velocity from REMI and RMR could be obtained, so it is possible to estimate the RMR of the entire profile for use in design of the underground tunnel.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.157-164
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• 2005

Urban conditions such as underground facilities and ambient noises due to cultural activity restrict the application of conventional geophysical techniques in general. We used the refraction microtremor (REMI) technique as an alternative way to get the geotechnical information, in particular shear-wave (S-wave) velocity information, at a site along an existing rail road. The REMI method uses ambient noises recorded using standard refraction equipment to derived shear-wave velocity information at a site. It does a wavefield transformation on the recorded wavefield to produce Rayleigh wave dispersion curve, which are then picked and modeled to get the shear-wave velocity structure. At this site the vibrations from the running trains provided strong noise sources that allowed REMI to be very effective. REMI was performed along the planned new underground rail tunnel. In addition, Suspension PS logging (SPS) were carried out at selected boreholes along the profile in order to draw out the quantitative relation between the shear wave velocity from the PS logging and the rock mass rating (RMR) determined from the inspection of the cores recovered from the same boreholes, These correlations were then used to relate the shear-wave velocity derived from REMI to RMR along the entire profile. The correlation between shear wave velocity and RMR was very good and so it was possible to estimate the RMR of the total zone of interest for the design of underground tunnel,

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.17-27
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• 2022

To characterize the dynamic properties of Gimhae Plains sediments, we calculated natural frequencies using microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios and derived shear wave velocity profiles by inversion of Rayleigh-wave dispersion curves obtained by the high frequency-wavenumber and modified spatial autocorrelation methods. Our results suggest that in this region, strong amplification of ground motion is expected in the vibration frequency (f ≥ 1 Hz). Additionally, obtained velocity profiles show that shear wave velocities are ~200 and 400 m/s for the shallow marine and old fluvial sediments, respectively. Bedrock is possibly encountered at depths of 60-100 m at most sites. We developed a simplified shear wave velocity model of shallow sediments based on the obtained profiles. Our results suggest that a large area in the Gimhae Plains could be categorized as an S6 site based on the Korean seismic design code (KDS 17 10 00).

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.4 s.50
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• pp.381-392
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• 2006

The passive surface wave survey using microtremor is conducted in areas of crystalline rock basements to obtain average shear-wave velocity structures to 30 m deep (Vs30), on which the earthquake-resistant design standard is based. Test data were recorded at two sites with triangular and L-shaped arrays for 4 seconds with an sampling interval of 2 ms. The microtremor recorded at a site were analysed using the spatial autocorrelation method to obtain phase-velocity spectra and effects of major factors such as size and shape of away and number of record and receiver were examined. At the other site, shear-wave velocities were derived from VSP and microtremor data separately. The results from these two methods agree to each other reasonably well, indicating that the microtremor method can be an effective geophysical tool to measure Vs30.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.73-85
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• 2006

Array observations of the vertical component of microtremors are frequently conducted to estimate a subsurface layered-earth structure on the assumption that microtremors consist predominantly of the fundamental mode Rayleigh waves. As a useful tool in the data collection, processing and analysis, the spatial autocorrelation (SPAC) method is widely used, which in practice requires a circle array consisting of M circumferential stations and one centre station (called "M-station circle array", where M is the number of stations). The present paper considers the minimum number of stations required for a circle array for efficient data collection in terms of analytical efficacy and field effort. This study first rearranges the theoretical background of the SPAC algorithm, in which the SPAC coefficient for a circle array with M infinite is solely expressed as the Bessel function, $J_0(rk)$ (r is the radius and k the wavenumber). Secondly, the SPAC coefficient including error terms independent of the microtremor energy field for an M-station circle array is analytically derived within a constraint for the wave direction across the array, and is numerically evaluated in respect of these error terms. The main results of the evaluation are: 1) that the 3-station circle array when compared with other 4-, 5-, and 9-station arrays is the most efficient and favourable for observation of microtremors if the SPAC coefficients are used up to a frequency at which the coefficient takes the first minimum value, and 2) that the Nyquist wavenumber is the most influential factor that determines the upper limit of the frequency range up to which the valid SPAC coefficient can be estimated.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.211-222
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• 2021

The magnitude 5.4 earthquake occurred in 2017 near 7.5 km north of Buk-gu, Pohang. In order to find out the characteristics of microtremor in Buk-gu, Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, where earthquake damage occurred significantly, a total of 39 points were acquired to analyze the horizontal to vertical spectral ratio (HVSR). Microtremor vary from region to region, so the resonant frequency of the region is obtained by examining the microtremor. For Thickness analysis, we analyze the structure and properties of shear wave velocity (Vs) up to the underlying rock to compare resonance frequencies to match the horizontal to vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) analysis technique against nearby boring data. Using F₀ = V_s/4H with a resonance frequency of alluvium is 1.3 ± 0.07 Hz and a resonance frequency of Yeonil group is 0.69 ± 0.22 Hz, the alluvium thickness was found to be 26~30 m and the Yeonil group thickness was 170~250 m.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.16 no.1 s.68
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• pp.73-79
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• 2004

Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) was applied to control the vibration of an offshore structure due to ocean waves. The errors caused by the linearization of the fluid-structure interaction effect and the phenomena when using the linearized equation of motion in TMD design were analyzed. To determine the performance of TMD in controlling vibration, both regular waves with varying periods and irregular waves with different significant wave heights were used. When the offshore structure received regular waves with a period similar to the first natural period of structure. TMD performed well in terms of response reduction. Such was not the case for the other periods. however, In the case of irregular waves, TMD triggered the reduction of structural response for waves with relatively small significant wave height. For irregular waves with relatively big significant wave height, however, TMD did not show any control effect. Therefore, TMD is useful in reducing offshore structural vibration due to ambient waves, thereby helping secure fatigue life.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.93-101
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• 2006

In this study, we propose a joint inversion method, using genetic algorithms, to determine the shear-wave velocity structure of deep sedimentary layers from receiver functions and surface-wave phase velocity. Numerical experiments with synthetic data indicate that the proposed method can avoid the trade-off between shear-wave velocity and thickness that arises when inverting the receiver function only, and the uncertainty in deep structure from surface-wave phase velocity inversion alone. We apply the method to receiver functions obtained from earthquake records with epicentral distances of about 100 km, and Rayleigh-wave phase velocities obtained from a microtremor array survey in the Kanto Plain, Japan. The estimated subsurface structure is in good agreement with the previous results of seismic refraction surveys and deep borehole data.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.31-40
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• 2023

We installed temporary strong motion seismometers at the ground surface, 1 m, 2 m, and 9 m at an existing seismic station that houses permanent seismometers installed at 20 m and 100 m, to investigate the influence of installation depth on the recorded ambient and anthropogenic noise level and the characteristics of earthquake signals. Analysis of the ambient noise shows that anthropogenic noise dominates where vibration period T < 1 s at the studied site, whereas wind speed appears to be strongly correlated with the noise level at T > 1 s. Frequency-wavenumber analysis of 2D seismometer array suggests that ambient noise in short periods are predominantly body waves, rather than surface waves. The level of ambient noise was low at 9 m and 20 m, but strong amplification of noise level at T < 0.1 s was observed at the shallow seismometers. Both the active-source test result and the recorded earthquake data demonstrated that the signal level is decreased with the increase of depth. Our result also shows that recorded motions at the ground and 1 m are strongly amplified at 20 Hz (T = 0.05 s), likely due to the resonance of the 3 m thick soil layer. This study demonstrates that analysis of ambient and active-source vibration may help find optimal installation depth of strong motion seismometers. We expect that further research considering various noise environments and geological conditions will be helpful in establishing a guideline for optimal installation of strong motion seismometers.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.541-554
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• 2010

Fifteen min-microtremor data sets were collected at 136 sites from a coastal area of Kunsan and 117 sites from an inland area of Jeonju located in SW Korea, and were analyzed for the HVSR (Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio) of the sites. The microtremor spectra of the coastal area have stronger energy in the lower frequency range from 1-6 Hz than those of the coastal area. This result can be attributed to the effect of the waves and tides in the Keum river and the Yellow sea. Twenty four hours of measurement of the microtremor indicated that the microtremor spectrum correlates with the human activities, but the microtremor HVSR peak was observed consistently at the characteristic frequency for the site. The HVSR peaks were grouped into 4 types -"single peak", "double peak", "broad peak" or "no peak"- based on their shapes. More than 90% of the data sets exhibit peak frequencies ($F_0$) which can be easily identified. The distribution of $F_0$ reveals a close relationship with the topography and local geology of the areas, exhibiting high F0s in the hillside areas and low $F_0s$ in the reclaimed land area. While the amplitudes of microtremor HVSR peak frequencies are less than 4 in the downstream of the inland area, those of the recently reclaimed land in the coastal area are extremely high (more than 10). The results of this study indicate that detailed HVSR studies are essential for the earthquake hazard reduction of reclaimed lands.