• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.51-61
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• 2011

Spatial estimation of the thickness and depth of the geological profile has been regarded as an important procedure for the design of soft ground. A minimum variance criterion, which has often been used in traditional kriging techniques, does not always guarantee the optima1 estimates for the decision-making process in geotechnical engineering. In this study, a geostatistica; framework is used to determine the optimal thickness of the consolidation layer and the optimal area that needs the adoption of prefabricated vertical drains via indicator kriging and loss function. From the exemplary problem, different optimal estimates can be obtained depending on the loss function chosen. The design procedure and method considering the minimum expected loss presented in this paper can be used in the decision-making process for geotechnical engineering design.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.15-24
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• 2010

Because the thickness and depth of consolidation layer vary at every location, the consolidation settlement and time have to be evaluated spatially. Also, for a rational evaluation of the uncertainty of the spatial distribution of consolidation settlement and time, it is necessary to adopt a probabilistic method. In this study, mean and standard deviation of consolidation settlement and time of whole analysis region are evaluated by using the spatial distribution of consolidation layer which is estimated from ordinary kriging and statistics of soil properties. Using these results and probabilistic method, the area that needs adopting the prefabricated vertical drain as well as raising the ground level for balancing the final design ground level is determined. It is observed that such areas are influenced by the variability of soil properties. The design procedure and method presented in this paper can be used in the decision making process for a geotechnical engineering design.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.85-94
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• 2012

Evaluation of the smear effect caused by mandrel penetration into soft ground for a vertical drain installation is very important to predict the consolidation time of soft ground improvement. 30 kinds of laboratory model tests considering in situ conditions were conducted to investigate the formation of a smear zone and the decrease of coefficient of permeability in the disturbed zone. Three types(C(clay):M(silt)=1:1, 0.5:0.5, and 0:1) of reconstituted samples were used for 3 dimensional smear zone test. An experimental study was performed focusing on length of mandrel penetration, mandrel shape and size, earth pressure, and ground condition(unit weight and grain size distributions). Laboratory test results show that the length of mandrel penetration is the most critical factor for the formation of smear zone. As a result, the ratio between diameter of the smear zone($d_s$) and that of mandrel($d_m$) at field using long mandrel becomes larger than conventional $d_s/d_m$. The ratio between $d_s$ and $d_m$ ranges from 1.89 and 2.48 with the sample at C:M=1:0. It was also found that the $d_s/d_m$ value with the round shape of the mandrel is smaller than that of diamond one. The value of $d_s/d_m$ decreased with larger mandrel size, lower unit weight, and higher earth pressure. However, higher silt content led to increase of $d_s/d_m$. The ratio between coefficient of horizontal permeability in the smear zone($k_{hs}$) and that of undisturbed zone($k_{ho}$) ranged from 0.70 to 0.85. The test results imply that factors and values affecting $k_{hs}/k_{ho}$ show similar tendency with $d_s/d_m$.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.99-110
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• 2009

In order to provide the design criteria, the characteristics of consolidation for soft ground improvement have been investigated using the field banking test performed by the vertical drain method at the northern container section in Busan New Port. Field test results indicated that the estimated degree of consolidation in design stage decreased by about 7% compared with the measured one. This difference is attributed to the fact that the conservative geological properties were applied with relatively high amount of maximum clay mixture ratio during the design stage. Based on this findings, another laboratory oedometer test was implemented to consider various combination of mixture ratio. It was found that the consolidation degree increased in accordance with the increase of sand/silt mixture ratio. Also, the proportion of 10%, 50%, and 40% for sand, silt, and clay, respectively, was observed as the best combination of mixture ratio to the actual measurement, which is very similar to the average grain size distribution in the banking test area. Therefore, it is suggested that the overall geological characteristics as well as the grain size distribution should be considered in design stage to improve the soft ground that contains mixture of sand, silt, and clay.