• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.17-28
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• 1987

Reliability of the cone penetration test (CPT) for estimating shear strength of marine soils is investigated in this paper. For sands, the uncertainty about the angle of internal friction is analyzed. It includes the spatial variation of the soil and the model error in the equation used for interpretation. The most serious uncertainty encountered was the error in the interpretative models. Different methods of interpretation gave quite different values. Subjective opinion was introduced to combine all the interpretative models in a systematic manner. For clays, the undrained Shear Strength from the CPT results is usually =derived by empirical correlations between cone resistance and untrained shear strength from laboratory tests or field vane tests, expressed in terms of cone factor and function of overburden pressure. The uncertainty of the undrained shear strength is caused by data scatter of the cone factor in the correlation, model error of the cone factor, effect of anisotropy, and spatial variability of cone resistance. Among these uncertainties, the most serious one was the data scatter of the cone factor in the .correlation. Between the laboratory test and the field vane test used for correlation, the field vane test was more reliable.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.43-51
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• 2010

In the downstream areas of the Nakdong river, Pusan clays are commonly found and thickness may reach to maximum of 100m. From geological point of view, Pusan clay are characterized as holocene clays, deposited for approximately 20,000 years ago. Recently, there have been many construction projects based on these soft ground areas. It is needed to know clearly soil properties of the areas for design and safety analysis, especially undrained shear strength of soft clays. However, Pusan clay have not been studied systematically because the clay layers are usually very deep, having high sensitivity characteristic. In this study, undisturbed UD samples obtained from the downstream areas of the Nakdong river were researched using laboratory tests (CthUE, CKcUC, CIUC, UU and UC) and in-situ tests (Field Vane, CPTu). The undrained shear strength characteristics of the samples were depicted using stress-strain relationship.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.33-44
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• 2020

In order to analyze the shear strength characteristics of the grout with sudden gelation in the pre-hardening state, the viscosity of the mixture and the indoor vane shear test were performed. The grout was prepared according to the water-cement (w/c) ratio and the shear strength test was conducted. The plastic-state shear strength of grout was affected by the w/c ratio, so the lower the w/c ratio, the higher the initial shear strength was, and the longer the curing time was, the higher the shear strength was. The maximum shear strength occurred at the faster rotation angle as the higher shear strength was developed, and the lower shear strength occurred at the larger rotation angle. In addition, it was confirmed that the pre-hardening grout rapidly decreased in strength after the maximum shear strength was gained, and converged at a certain level after the rotation angle of the vane blade was about 70° to 90°.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.5-17
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• 2005

Spatial uncertainty of Busan marine clay ground, which commonly occurs during site investigation testing, data analysis and transformation modeling, has been described. In this paper geotechnical uncertainty of shear strength indicator $N_k$ has been quantified in both horizontal direction and vertical direction using geostatistical Kriging method. Most of soil data used are from 25 boring tests, 75 laboratory tests, 124 field vane tests and 25 cone penetration tests (CPT). CPT-$N_k$ data for undrained shear strength determination, which are the most important properties in geotechnical design stages, have been analysed. Comparison between cone factor from conventional CPT-based method and that of geostatistical method shows that geostatistical Kriging method is an ideal tool to quantify the spatial variability of uncertainty from self-correlation of soil property of interest, and can be recommended to identify the spatial distribution of consolidation .md shear strength of soils at any sites concerned.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.89-100
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• 2007

In this study, various field and laboratory tests were performed to investigate the characteristics of shear strength and bearing behavior to be considered in the estimation of stability and trafficability in early stage of stabilization process in marine clay dredged deposit. Site characterization was carried out to grasp the basic properties of the deposit. Field vane test, unconfined compression test and direct shear test were conducted to evaluate the shear strength distribution for varied depths, and the characteristics of shear strength and stress-strain behavior of the crust layer. Plate load tests were also performed to estimate the bearing capacity and to assess load-settlement behavior and failure pattern of the deposit. The bearing capacity was also estimated using previously proposed methods for double-layered clay deposit. The estimated bearing capacity was compared with the results of the plate load tests and then, the applicability of the estimation method was discussed.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3713-3718
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• 2012

The relations of the various undrained geotechnical properties were, in depth, investigated for highly plastic soils using the numerous experimental testing results. The sensitivity is proportional to void ratio and OCR but inversely proportional to effective unit weight. The difference in Su(Un), Su(UU), and Su(FV) tends to increase or decrease with such sensitivity, void ratio, and OCR. The possibility of deducting the empirical equations denoting the correlations of various properties and the indicator for selecting appropriate testing method could be confirmed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.15-24
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• 2001

In order to evaluate undrained shear strength of clayey soils using Piezocone Penetration Test (CPTu), piezoncone factor is utilized. Commonly, piezoncone factors determined by empirical basis were preferred, which were established by correlation between measurements of piezocone test and undrained strengths obtained from other shearing tests. However, previous studies on the empirical piezocone factors were site-specific and there have been no systematic investigations on the effect of both engineering characteristics of clayey soils and soil non-homogeneity on the piezocone factor. Accordingly, the direct application of the previous results to Korean clayey soils without verification may be inappropriate. In this study, empirical piezocone factors are evaluated by comparing 46 CPTu results of 10 test sites with undrained shear strength obtained from Field Vane Test (FVT) and laboratory triaxial tests. Their reliabilities are investigated by the comparison with the previous piezocone factors and the deviation of data distribution from the mean values. And the effects of referencing test methods and typical engineering characteristics of clayey soils such as overconsolidation ratio (OCR) and plastic Index (I$_{p}$) are examined. Because piezocone factors obtained for various soil conditions are widely distributed, it is not appropriate to use the mean value as a representative. Instead, it is recommended to apply the piezocone factors with OCR, which is found to be a major factor in deriving piezocone factor. The necessitated piezocone factors are presented.d.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.387-401
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• 2023

The Earth Pressure Balanced (EPB) Shield Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) is widely employed for constructing urban underground spaces due to its minimal vibration and low noise levels. The injection of additives offers several advantages, including maintaining shield chamber pressure, reducing shear strength, minimizing cutter wear, and decreasing the permeability of the excavated soil. This technique is known as soil conditioning and involves the application of additives such as foam, polymer, and bentonite slurry. In this study, weathered granite soil commonly encountered at domestic tunnel sites was used as a soil specimen. Foam and polymer were applied as additives to assess the rheological properties of conditioned soils. The workability was evaluated through slump tests, while the rheological properties were assessed through laboratory pressurized vane shear tests conducted under the same conditions. Specially, the polymer was applied under specific conditions with low workability with high slump values, with the aim of evaluating the impact of polymer application. The test results revealed that with an increase in the Foam Injection Ratio (FIR), the slump value also increased, while the torque, peak strength, yield stress, apparent viscosity, and thixotropic area decreased. Conversely, an increase in the Polymer Injection Ratio (PIR) led to results opposite to those of FIR. Additionally, a correlation between the slump value and yield stress was proposed. When comparing conditions with only foam applied to those with both foam and polymer applied, even with similar slump values, the yield stress was found to be lower in the latter conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2017

Laboratory and in-situ tests were conducted to evaluate the cone factors for the layers with low plasticity containing a lot of silty and sand soils from the west coast (Incheon, Hwaseong and Gunsan areas) and its applicability was evaluated based on these results. The cone factors were evaluated from 19 to 23 based on unconfined compression strengths (qu), from 13 to 13.8 based on simple CU strengths and from 11.6 to 13.1 based on field vane strengths, respectively. The unconfined compression strengths of undisturbed silty soil samples with low plasticity were considerably underestimated due to the change of in-situ residual effective stress during sampling. Half of unconfined compression strength (qu/2) based cone factors of silty soils with low plasticity fluctuated and were approximately 1.8 times higher than simple CU based values of these soils. When evaluating cone factors of these soils, it should be judged overall on the physical properties such as the grain size distribution and soil plasticity and on the fluctuation of the corrected cone resistance and the sleeve friction due to the distribution of sandseam in the ground including pore pressure parameter.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.209-222
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• 2024

The Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) shield Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) is widely used for underground tunnel construction for its advantages, such as eliminating the need for additional facilities compared to the slurry shield TBM, which requires Slurry Treatment Plant (STP). During EPB shield TBM excavation, a soil conditioning technique is employed to enhance the physical properties of the excavated soil by injecting additives, thus broadening the range of applicable ground conditions to EPB shield TBMs. This study explored the use of xanthan gum, a type of biopolymer, as an alternative to the commonly used polymer additive. Biopolymers, derived from biological sources, are fully biodegradable. In contrast to traditional polymers such as polyacrylic acid, which contain environmentally harmful components, xanthan gum is gaining attention as an eco-friendly material due to its minimal toxicity and environmental impact. Test conditions with similar workability were established through slump tests, and the rheological characteristics were assessed using a laboratory pressurized vane shear test apparatus. The experiments demonstrated that, despite exhibiting similar workability, the peak strength in the flow curve decreased with increasing the content of xanthan gum. Consequently, a correlation between the xanthan gum content and peak strength was established. Replacing the traditional polymers with xanthan gum could enable stable EPB shield TBM operation by reducing equipment load, in addition to offering environmental benefits.