• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.5-15
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• 2017

In this study, the liquid and plastic limit tests were conducted on Paju clay with Casagarande method (dynamic) and the fall cone test method (static) to find out the effects of test methods and testers on their values. Six testers, who already have the experience of test, participated. As a results of liquid limit tests, the fall cone test method showed 4% smaller liquid limit compared to the value determined by Casagrande method. As the number of tests increased, the fall cone test method showed less variation between testers and the variation range of level of proficiency was also more stable. In the case of one point method, the liquid limit determined by the fall cone test method varied with smaller range compared to the Casagrande. Consequently, the fall cone test provided more stable liquid limit value than that of Casagrande method. For the results of plastic limit tests, there were no difference between Casagrande method and the fall cone test unlike liquid limit test results. In other words, both methods showed that plastic limit reached the average value as the number of tests increased, and the tendency level of proficiency also showed to get better.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.68-79
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• 2018

An examination of the characteristics of the ground material in is very important in a ground investigation. Casagrande classified soil using the material properties of soils. The liquid-plastic limit test is useful for obtaining basic information of soil, and is an effective method for classifying silt and clay, as well as the material properties, such as shear strength, shrinkage, and expansion. Unlike the liquid limit test, the plasticity limit test is due to the ambiguity of the test procedure. Many geotechnical engineers and scholars have questioned the test results. In this study, a new plasticity limit method was used to compare with the thread rolling method with kaolinite, ilite and bentonite at a certain ratio, and samples were collected from the west coast of Korea. As a result of the comparison, the test value of the new test method showed high reproducibility because the error range of the test value of the conventional thread rolling test was only 10% but the error range of the new test values decreased to 2%. The difference in the slope of the existing plasticity test values was 0.1519 ~ 0.1925, and the results of the test were similar or coincided with each other. Aone - point method was proposed to make it easier to apply the new test method.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.79-88
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• 2012

Small amount of salt and various microorganisms are contained in natural soils or clays near the shore. In this study, most common clay minerals such as kaolinite and bentonite are used to evaluate the effect of salt and microorganism on liquid and plastic limits. The effect of time after mixing clays with water was also investigated for the consistency limits of clays. The test was conducted immediately, 1 day, or 7 days after mixing soils. For liquid limit tests two different test methods were used, the percussion cup method by Casagrande and the fall cone method. When sea water or microbial solution was used for mixing soils rather than distilled water, the liquid limit of kaolinite decreased by 6-15% and that of bentonite further decreased up to 37-53%. The liquid limit obtained from the fall cone method was approximately 10% for bentonite and 20% for kaolinite, which are higher than those from the percussion cup method. The effect of time on liquid and plastic limits was significant for those tested immediately or 1 day later but the values obtained after 1 day or 7 days did not vary a lot, regardless of soils, mixing waters or test methods.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.17-26
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• 2021

Ground investigation and result analysis generally used to examine all sorts of structures' subsidence or stability can be classified into sandy soil and cohesive soil, and analysis on the liquid limit of soil is utilized to evaluate the physical properties of ground and types or technical behavior of soil. The most widely used method to analyze liquid limit is Casagrande with which liquid limit can be calculated relatively easily; however, it is fairly difficult to apply it to soil equipped with intermediate properties. Therefore, concerning the properties of soil having the intermediate properties of sedimentary ground, this researcher mixed the clay from Yangsan, Gwangyang, and Busan with sandy soil to make intermediate soil and then carried out the test of consistency limit and also evaluated applicability by using the suggested formula of consistency revision. The sample of intermediate soil was the mixture of clay and sandy soil, and to produce intermediate soil, the content (F_c) of fine soil was applied as 50%, 75%, or 100%. Regarding the physical properties of intermediate soil, to maintain the properties of clay in the natural state, bentonite was added at a fixed rate for controlling the properties of clay, and then, consistency was analyzed. By adopting the formula of consistency revision suggested in advanced research, this author analyzed consistency based on the experiment and consistency based on the suggested formula of revision. Also, about intermediate soil collected at the site, consistency based on the experiment and consistency based on the suggested formula of revision were analyzed comparatively, and about intermediate soil collected, this researcher analyzed particle size and calculated the content (F_c) of fine soil to analyze intermediate soil in diverse conditions. Moreover, about intermediate soil collected at the site, the suggested formula of consistency revision was applied to calculate the compression index, and the compression index based on the experiment and the compression index based on the suggested formula were analyzed comparatively to evaluate the applicability of the suggested formula.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.5-17
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• 2023

In this study, a classification and uniaxial compression test of soil was conducted on 15 collapsed sites to use ground improvement with excellent protection effect owing to the increase of localized heavy rain in Korea. The Casagrande method and fall cone test were performed on the field soil to derive an expression for comparing liquid limit and plastic limit values, soil classification, and correlation between each other. By deriving the optimal mixing ratio of the ground improvement agent using uniaxial compressive strength for each soil classification, the classification of the fine-grained soil was not clear owing to the proficiency difference and test error. However, after classifying using the fall cone test, it was possible to suggest a clear optimal mixing ratio.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.65-76
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• 2014

For soil improvement, sand mats or sand compaction piles are often constructed on soft marine clays. In such cases, some amounts of sand and clay are inevitably mixed. Sand or gravel often exists in the weathered soils near the slope surface. This research investigates the effect of mixing sand content on consistency limits and shear strength of clays. Firstly, sand was mixed with kaolinite or bentonite at 0, 9, 17, 23, 29, 33, 50% and then liquid and plastic limits were measured. Both plastic and liquid limits decreased as a sand content increased. The water content of clay-sand mixtures with different sand content increased by 10% or 20% step by step and then their undrained shear strength was measured using a portable vane shear device called Torvane. For all cases, undrained shear strength of clay-sand mixtures decreased rapidly until reaching a certain value. Their state changed from undrained to drained state gradually as the sand content increased, which caused their undrained shear strength to decrease. On the other hand, a series of direct shear tests were also conducted on such clay-sand mixtures to investigate the effect of sand content on cohesion and angle of internal friction. It was found from clay-sand mixtures that their cohesion decreased but angle of internal friction increased as the sand content increased.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.19-23
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• 2022

For the substantiation and verification of studies related to the construction of a levee using riverbed soil, real-scale levee construction and experimental studies are essential. One of the most important factors in the experimental study is the reproducibility of the multiple levees with the same initial conditions. Quantitative analysis of the reproducibility should be presented. In this study, a number of physical properties (specific gravity test, sieving test, liquid-plastic limit test, compaction test, on-site Density test) for multiple embankments built with fine-grained bed soil was obtained. The collected data then used to obtain the possibility of reproducing levee through statistical analysis to suggest a process of indicating a numeric initial condition of the real-scale test. As a result of statistical analysis to verify the aforementioned process, it was confirmed that it was possible to quantitatively evaluate the reproducibility of the construction under the same conditions of embankments. This is expected to be a basic data for a full-scale embankment test using riverbed soil including other soil based real-scale tests.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.43-71
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• 1999

This research is an experimental work of developing a construction material using municipal wastewater sludge as liner and cover materials for waste disposal landfill. Weathered granite soil and flyash, produced as a by-product in the power plant, were used as the primary additives to improve geotechnical engineering properties of sludge. For secondary additives, bentonite and cement were mixed with sludge to decrease the permeability and to increase the shear strength, respectively. Various laboratory test required to evaluate the design criteria for liner and cover materials, were carried out by changing the mixing ratio of sludge with the additives. Basic soil properties such as specific gravity, grain size distribution, liquid and plastic limits were measured to analyze their effects on permeability, compaction, compressibility and shear strength properties of mixtures. Laboratory compaction tests were conducted to find the maximum dry densities and the optimum moisture contents of mixtures, and their effectiveness of compaction in field was consequently evaluated. Permeability tests of variable heads with compacted samples, and the stress-controlled consolidation tests with measuring permeabilities of samples during consolidation process were performed to obtain permeability, and to find the compressibility as well as consolidational coefficients of mixtures, respectively. To evaluate the long term stability of sludges, creep tests were also conducted in parallel with permeability tests of variable heads. On the other hand, for the compacted sludge decomposed for a month, permeability tests were carried out to investigate the effect of decomposition of organic matters in sludges on its permeability. Direct shear tests were performed to evaluate the shear strength parameters of mixed sludge with weathered granite, flyash and bentonite. For the mixture of sludge with cement, unconfined compression tests were carried out to find their strength with varying mixing ratio and curing time. On the other hand, CBR tests for compacted specimen were also conducted to evaluate the trafficability of mixtures. Various test results with mixtures were assessed to evaluate whether their properties meet the requirements as liner and cover materials in waste disposal landfill.