• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.39-48
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• 2007

The soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC) is a useful tool in the prediction of the engineering behavior of unsaturated soils. Several equations are available in the literature to mathematically represent the experimental behavior of the SWCC. Some equations are based on the assumption that the shape of curve is dependent upon pore-size distribution. Other equations assume that SWCC can be estimated from the grain size distribution and the physical properties of soils. This study evaluated the suitability of using two different SWCC equations for defining the relationship between water content and matric suction. Various parameters that influence the SWCC behavior are also briefly discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.57-64
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• 2013

In this paper, in order to solve high water content of water sludge and promote its recycle, sludge mixtures with various mixing ratios were produced. Sludge mixture consisted of water sludge and weathered granite soil. Their physical properties and unsaturated characteristics (soil-water characteristic curve, and unsaturated permeability function) were investigated by laboratory tests. Experimental test results indicated that at a given matric suction volumetric water content of sludge mixture increased as water sludge content increased. Air entry values of sludge mixture increased from 0.9 kPa to 2.4 kPa with an increase in water sludge content or fine content. In addition, unsaturated permeability function, which is an important factor for performing infiltration analysis, was predicted using saturated permeability and soil-water characteristic curve of sludge mixture.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.15-24
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• 2016

To investigate the unsaturated characteristics of the Boeun granite weathered soil, matric suction and volumetric water content were measured in both drying and wetting paths using Automated Soil-Water Characteristics Curve Apparatus. Based on the measured results, Soil-Water Characteristics Curve was estimated by van Genuchten (1980) model. The relationship between effective degree of saturation and matric suction showed the non-linear curve with S-shape and the hysteresis phenomenon occurred during drying and wetting paths. Suction Stress Characteristics Curve was estimated by the Lu and Likos (2006) model. The suction stress in drying path was constantly maintained and that in wetting path tended to increase when the effective degree of saturation was low. But the suction stress in drying path was larger than that in wetting path at the same degree of saturation when the effective degree of saturation became larger. Meanwhile, Hydraulic Conductivity Function was evaluated by the van Genuchten (1980) model which is one of the parameter estimation methods. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity decreased with increasing the matric suction, and the decreasing velocity regarding to the matric suction in drying path was larger than that in wetting path.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.4C
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• pp.169-175
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• 2012

Soil water retention characteristics are influenced by factors of the confining stress and hysteresis in the variably saturated soil. In the description of effective stress based on hydraulic characteristics, the contribution of a matric suction to effective stress then varies with depth or is different between the processes of infiltration and evaporation. Unsaturated effective stress can be described based on suction stress characteristic curve, in which a representative soil water retention curve is required to evaluate. Pressure palate extractor tests under various confining stresses were performed and the hysteresis of drying and wetting process was also acquired. In the process of drying or wetting, a unique relationship has been estimated on the effective volumetric water content and the matric suction, which defines suction stress characteristic curve. In the unsaturated shear strength from triaxial tests, the suction stress and the effective stress were evaluated by matric suctions. The failure envelop by effective stress based on soil water retention characteristics was unique and the same as the saturated one. The measured suction stress from triaxial tests was similar to that from the soil water retention curve. Therefore it is verified that a representative soil water retention curve can be defined which is independent of the confining effect under wetting or drying process of the hysteresis.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.5-12
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• 2018

Tests for transient water release and imbibitions measurement were conducted to estimate the unsaturated hydraulic conductivities by using back analysis. By using transient hydraulic characteristics, both the soil water retention curve and hydraulic conductivity fuction can be evaluated effectively and accurately. In this study the experiment for three samples were conducted accurately to measure the change of water content with time for various steps of matric suction. The back analysis calculated the amount of transient flow reliably in comparison with the experimental results. In the soil water retention curve there was no significant difference between the result of back analysis and that of experiment. The hydraulic conductivity function from back analysis was compared with the theoretical relation based on retention curve but they showed much difference. However, the unsaturated hydraulic behavior obtained by the combination of experimental and analytical techniques are considered to agree with the actual behavior.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.9-16
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• 2024

In this paper, we aimed to convert the fire curve in volume units to a fire curve per unit area for application in the Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) surface heat release rate method. The fire curve was expressed dimensionlessly considering the total combustion characteristic time, and improvements were made to represent the appropriate ratios for the growth , steady, and decay phases concerning the fire intensity. Additionally, a correction function for combustion characteristic time varying with mass increase was derived. Also to control the growth time values according to the increase in mass, a function to correct the growth phase ratio was derived. Consequently, utilizing existing data, a formula was established to determine the reference mass for combustion materials and predict the fire curve based on mass increase.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 2021

It takes a long period to conduct the test on soil water retention curve (SWRC) in unsaturated soils. To improve such a problem, the high air entry disk has been replaced by micro-membrane. After the soil water retention test, the results by the micro-membrane were compared with those by the ceramic disk. Multiple samples in 5 regions were used to validate that SWRCs by micro-membrane are equivalent to those by ceramic disk. Therefore, a quick procedure based on micro-membrane has been developed, which makes it available to acquire much soil water retention data. The data of SWRCs were obtained for total 29 samples using ceramic disk or micro-membrane. For Korean weathered soils, the unsaturated hydraulic characteristics are sorted by three groups. Based on van Genuchten model, the group is divided by the parameter n, and the value of n could be correlated to the void ratio as each function.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.21-26
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• 2018

Soil-water characteristic curve, which is called soil retention curve, is required to explore water flows in unsaturated soils, relative permeability of water in multi-phase fluids flow, and change to stiffness and volume of soils. Thus, the understanding of soil-water characteristic curves of soils help us explore the behavior of soils inclduing fluids. Biopolymers are environmental-friendly materials, which can be completely degraded by microbes and have been believed not to affect the nature. Thus, various biopolymers such as deacetylated power, polyethylene oxide, xanthan gum, alginic acid sodium salt, and polyacrylic acid have been studies for the application to soil remediation, soil improvement, and enhanced oil recovery. PAA (polyacrylic acid) is one of biopolymers, which have shown a great effect in enhanced oil recovery as well as soil remediation because of the improvement of water-flood performance by mobility control. The study on soil-water characteristic curves of sandy soils containing PAA (polyacrylic acid) has been conducted through experimentations and theoretical models. The results show that both capillary entry pressure and residual water saturation dramatically increase according to the increased concentration of PAA (polyacrylic acid). Also, soil-water characteristic curves by theoretical models are quite well consistent with the results by experimental studies. Thus, soil-water characteristic curves of sandy soils containing biopolymers such as PAA (polyacrylic acid) can be estimated using fitting parameters for the theoretical model.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.139-152
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• 1996

In order to treat flow problems for unsaturated soils, it is necessary to obtain the soil-water characteristic curves which show nonlinear relationship between metric suction and volumetric water content. With two different pleasuring devices, measurements of the matric suction were taken for Jumoonjin sand, Hangang sand, and weathered granite soils with different fined. Experimental parameters which can describe experimental formulas for the soil-water characteristics were determined by using the data obtained from the experiment. Among experimental formulas of previous researchers, that of van Genuchten(1980) agreed well with the results of experiments. For weathered granite soils, the parameters increased with the increase of fine contents, Therefore, the soil-water characteristic for a weathered soil can be estimated by using Parameters corresponding to its fine contents.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.25-32
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• 2011

The matric suction and volumetric water content of dredging soils obtained from Saemangeum area were measured by the automated Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) apparatus under both drying and wetting conditions. Based on the test result, SWCCs of the dredging soils were estimated by the van Genuchten(1980) model. The matric suction of drying process is larger than that of wetting process at a same effective degree of saturation. The suction stresses for various matirc suctions were estimated using Lu and Likos(2006) model and the Suction Stress Characteristic Curves (SSCC) were predicted using the independent parameter of SWCC. The suction stress of drying path was increased and decreased, while the suction stress of wetting path was continuously decreased with increasing the effective degree. Also, the suction stress of drying path is larger than that of wetting path at a same effective degree of saturation. The Hydraulic Conductivity Function(HCF) was also predicted by the van Genuchten(1980) model. The hydraulic conductivity was increased with increasing the volumetric water content. The hydraulic conductivity of drying path is larger than that of wetting path at a same matric suction. According to the results of SWCCs and SSCCs, the hysteresis phenomenon of suction stress or matric suction during both drying and wetting paths was occurred. The main reason of hysteresis phenomenon is a ink bottle effect of water among soil particles.