• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.159-166
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• 2004

In this study, experiments on the SWCC were performed in order to find out the characteristics of unsaturated soil and to analyze the stability of unsaturated weathered slopes with rainfall-induced wetting. Several soil types classified by mixture portion of clay (CH) in the weathered soil (SW) were used in experimental tests. To achieve the SWCC, the filter paper method was used on SW with varying clay contents. A tensiometer test was used for measuring wetting front suction of the soils in a laboratory with varying relative densities. Based on the experimental results, it is shown that the wetting front suction increases as clay contest of mixture soil increases : in particular, the wetting front suction increases sharply as the clay contents increase. It is also found that wetting front suction affects the initial wetting band depth and stability of the slope.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.73-83
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• 2006

Seepage analysis through unsaturated zone based on the theory of unsaturated flow is commonly performed to evaluate dam safety. However, the concepts of unsaturated soil behavior have not been transferred into the hands of practicing geotechnical engineers since the problems involving unsaturated soils often have the appearances of being extremely complex. There is variability and uncertainty associated with the unsaturated hydraulic properties that in turn will lead to variability in predicting unsaturated soil behavior such as seepage rate and the pore water pressure distribution. In this paper, measurements of the soil-water characteristic curve and saturated hydraulic conductivity for the core material of dam were conducted. Then, finite element stochastic analysis was used to capture the effect of unsaturated hydraulic properties on the seepage behavior of dam. It is observed that the amount of seepage increases, as the values of unsaturated soil parameters a and n increase. The values of m and p showed opposite trend.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.37-51
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• 2018

The slope failure due to the rainfall infiltration occurs frequently in Korea, since the depth of the weathered residual soil layer is shallow in mountainous region. Depth of the failure surface is shallow and tends to pass near the interface between impermeable bedrock and soil layer. Soil parameters that have a significant impact on the instability of unsaturated slopes due to rainfall infiltration inevitably include large uncertainties. Therefore, this study proposes a probabilistic analysis procedure by Monte Carlo Simulation which considers the hydraulic characteristics and strength characteristics of soil as random variables in order to predict slope failure due to rainfall infiltration. The Green-Ampt infiltration model was modified to reflect the boundary conditions on the slope surface according to the rainfall intensity and the boundary condition of the shallow impermeable bedrock was introduced to predict the stability of unsaturated soil slope with shallow bedrock under constant rainfall intensity. The results of infiltration analysis were used as inputs of infinite slope analysis to calculate the safety factor. The proposed analysis method can be used to calculate the time-dependent failure probability of soil slope due to rainfall infiltration.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.317-325
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• 2019

A suction caisson has been widely used for anchor and foundation of offshore structures due to its broad application, simple installation, and rapid construction. In design of suction caisson foundation, the bearing capacity and the stability of soil are mainly dealt with and analysis methods for them are presented in design codes related to the foundation. On the other hand, the method for structural safety analysis of the suction caisson is not generalized, in particular for load modeling of the caisson under suction. Consequently, there are difficulties in design of the caisson cross section. For this reason, this study analyzed the magnitude and distribution of pore water pressure on inner and outer surface of the caisson using theoretical and numerical seepage analyse, and an approach to reasonably estimate the load applied to the structural analysis of the caisson was presented. Furthermore, effects of penetration depth, anisotropy of permeability, and suction pressure on the pore water pressure were analyzed.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.412-424
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• 2019

In this study, the changes of the streamflow characteristics of the watershed were analysed depending on the infiltration methods of CAT. The study area, Boryeong-dam watershed located in Chungcheongnam-do area, has been suffered from severe drought in recent years and stabilized regarding on the storage rate through efforts such as constructing a channel connecting the upstream of Boryeong-dam from the downstream of the Geum river. In this study, the effects of soil infiltration parameters on the watershed streamflow characteristics were analyzed by the infiltration methods of CAT such as Rainfall Excess, Green&Ampt and Horton. And the parameter calibrations were conducted by SCEUA-P, a global optimization technique module of the PEST, the package for parameter optimization and uncertainty analysis, to compare the yearly variations of soil parameters for infiltration methods of CAT. In addition, the streamflow characteristics were analyzed for three infiltration methods by applying three different scenarios, such as applying calibrated parameters for every years to simulate the model for each years, applying calibrated parameters for the entire period to simulate the model for entire period, and applying the average value of yearly calibrated parameters to simulate the model for entire period.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.229-240
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• 2004

Coastal aquifers may serve as major sources fur freshwater. In many coastal aquifers, intrusion of seawater has become one of the major constraints imposed on groundwater utilization. The management of groundwater in coastal acquifers means making decision as to the pumping rate and the spatial distribution of wells. Several numerical techniques for flow and solute transport simulation can provide the means to achieve this goal. As a basic study to predict the intrusion of seawater in coastal phreatic aquifers, the coupled flow and solute transport analysis was conducted by use of the 3-D finite element code, SWICHA. In order to understand how the location and the shape of freshwater-seawater transition zone were affected by the boundary conditions and hydrogeologic variables, parametric study was carried out.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2021

The influence of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) fitting parameters for an unsaturated natural slope was evaluated through seepage and slope stability analysis as a function of rainfall. Soil samples were collected from the study area in Jirisan National Park and the physical and mechanical characteristics of unsaturated soil layers were measured in laboratory tests. The saturation depth was calculated via seepage analysis by changing fitting parameters α, the parameter related to the Air Entry Value (AEV) and n, the parameter related to the slope of the SWCC in the range of natural conditions. Slope stability analysis using the limit equilibrium method considered the calculated depth of saturation. Results from seepage analysis for various rainfall conditions indicate the saturation depth in the soil layer suddenly increased as the fitting parameter α decreased; the saturation time for the entire soil layer also decreased. Slope stability analysis considering the calculated depth of saturation shows that the slope safety factor rapidly decreased as the fitting parameter α decreased, whereas the variation in slope safety factor was very small when n increased. Hence, fitting parameter α has a large effect on saturation depth during rainfall and therefore on slope stability, whereas slope stability is relatively unaffected by the fitting parameter n.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.375-385
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• 2012

Infiltration characteristics of cut-slope safety factors are considered for precipitation duration and intensity. Infiltration characteristics (infiltration module) and safety factor (slope module) changes of a cut-slope are analyzed under various conditions of precipitation intensity and duration, using the Soilworks program. The results indicate that the addition safety factors of the slope decreased immediately after the end of precipitation due to an increase in pore water pressure. The minimum safety factor for cut-slope infiltration analysis should be considered because of the because of the decrement of safety factors after precipitation that exceeds the decrement of safety factor during the duration of precipitation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.5-11
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• 2015

Slope stability is affected by duration of precipitation, probable rainfall intensity, unsaturated soil property, and soil strength. The recent analyses of slope stability tend to include unsaturated analysis based on infiltration properties of soil, while researches of unsaturated soil slope tend to include the analysis of deformation and stress distribution of soil over time. However, infiltration property of unsaturated soil slope depends not only on intensity or duration of precipitation, but also on relief and surface condition, which is not considered in status quo. This research uses hydrologic model parameters of soil in order to consider effects of inclination on filtration, and carries out analysis of unsaturated soil slope to confirm the effects according to slope inclination and surface condition. In conclusion, using slope stability analysis, the need to consider infiltration rate according to inclination and surface condition was confirmed even under the same precipitation conditions.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.13-24
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• 1984

The main part of this thesis deals with a three-dimensional transient seepage flow, discussing its fundamental conception into Which the mathematical analysis was introduced based upon the finite element method, propriety of geometrical analysis and flow movement of seepage water. As is commented in the body of the report, the saturated-unsaturated method with respect to the free water surface method is revealed to have the relative merits and demerits. Generally, the unknown sections in the form of free water surface matters in case that tunnels or pores appear. On the other hand, the applicable range is quite large and variable to the methods accordingly. Also, an example as to the seepage analysis in the rock bed section is described. An unfavorable time-consuming problem is inevitale because the complicated and widely multifarious joints and faults are responsible for the intensity of seepage flow.