• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.79-86
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• 2012

Cemented soils have been used for subbase or base materials of roads, backfill materials of retaining walls and cofferdam. Such cemented soils can be degraded due to repeated wetting and drying or various weathering actions. Unlike rocks, a standard method was not defined for evaluating the durability of cemented soils. In this study, a slaking durability test and an ultrasound cleaner were used for developing a new durability test method for cemented soils. For durability tests, cemented sands with different cement ratios (4, 6, 8, and 12%) with cylindrical specimens were prepared and then air cured or under-water cured for three days. Three-day-cured specimens were dried for one day and then submerged for one day before testing. The weight loss after the slake durability test or ultrasonic cleaner operation for 10 or 20 min was measured and used for assessing durability. When a cement ratio was 4%, the weight loss from ultrasonic cleaner test was 7-25% but that from slake durability test was as much as 30-60%. For specimens with cement ratio of more than 8%, the weight loss was less than 10% from both tests. A durability index increased with increasing a cement ratio. The durability index of under-water cured specimen was higher than that of air cured specimen. The ultrasonic cleaner test was found to be an effective tool for durability assessment of cemented sands rather than the slake durability test.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.341-352
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• 2013

The physical and mechanical properties of red shale and black shale exposed in the Daegu area were investigated in tests conducted to determine unit weight, absorption ratio, porosity, ultrasonic velocity, unconfined compressive strength, point load strength, slake durability index, and deterioration characteristics. XRD, XRF, and SEM analyses were also performed on the shale specimens. While the unit weights of the two shales were similar, the absorption ratio and porosity were higher in the red shale than in the black shale. Despite the higher porosity of the red shale, the ultrasonic velocity, compressive strength, and point load strength were higher in the red shale, which is an unexpected result that may be due to the presence of fine laminations in the black shale. The deterioration rate, as determined from the point load strength and the slake durability index, increased with increasing immersion time and with the acidity of the immersion liquid. The deterioration rate was higher for the red shale than for the black shale because of the higher porosity of the former.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.315-324
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• 2016

Because of a fissility characteristics of shale in the Gyoungsang super-group, it breaks down to debris when daylighted by construction work and causes a slope unstability. To assess the durability property of shale, a series of slake durability tests was conducted by controlling test conditions such as shape of specimen, number of specimen, revolution speed, revolution number, drying temperature and pH of submerging liquid. For the specimen shape, cube one showed relatively lower durability index than cuboid and/or fan shape one. The test with the more number of specimens showed the less durability index because of a higher friction among specimens in the drum. The durability index is linearly decreased by increasing the total number of revolution, while the revolution velocity could not affect the index. And the durability index is also decreased by increasing the drying temperature of specimen and by decreasing the pH of submerging liquid. Because the durability index of shale is almost similar to that of crystalline rocks, the disintegration characteristics of shale could not be assessed by the slake durability test recommended by ISRM, and thus a new test method by changing the total revolution number may be required for the shale having fissility characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.53-58
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• 2015

Engineers should take great care of characterizing the engineering properties of mudrock, because the uncemented mudrock can be considered as a hard rock in appearance. Therefore, the mudrock samples obtained from the cut slope in Gyeongki-do were tested to evaluate the strength characteristics of uncemented mudrock in this study. The performed tests are index properties, slake durability, and swelling tests for the classification of the mudrock for engineering practice. To evaluate the effect of water on the engineering properties of the uncemented mudrock, resonant column, triaxial compression and direct shear tests with various water contents were performed. With the increasing water contents, stiffness at very small to small strain region and the cohesion value of the strength parameters decrease. Based on the test results, engineers should take great care of evaluating the engineering properties of uncemented mudrock.