• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.71-86
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• 2022

In Taiwan, an efficient approach for enhancing the stability of colluvium slopes is the drilled shaft method. For slopes with drilled shafts, the soil arching effect is one of the primary factors influencing slope stability and intertwines to the failure mechanism of the pile-soil system. In this study, the contribution of soil arching effect to slope stability is evaluated using the FEM software (Plaxis 3D) with the built-in strength reduction technique. The result indicates the depth of the failure surface is influenced by the S/D ratio (the distance to the diameter of piles), which can reflect the contribution of the soil arching effect to soil stability. When α (rock inclination angles)=β (slope angles) is considered and the S/D ratio=4, the failure surface of the slope is not significantly influenced by the piles. Overall, the soil arching effect is more significant on α=β, especially for the steep slopes. Additionally, the soil arching effect has been included in the proposed stability charts. The proposed charts were validated through two case studies, including that of the well-known Woo-Wan-Chai field in Taiwan. The differences in safety factor (FoS) values between the referenced literature and this study was approximately 4.9%.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.19-27
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• 2018

Terzaghi proposed a 2D formula for arching based on the assumption of a vertical sliding surface induced in the upper part due to the downward movement of a trapdoor. The formula was later expanded to consider 3D tunnel excavation conditions under inclined sliding surfaces. This study further extends the expanded formula to consider the effects of different ground properties and inclined sliding conditions in the transverse and longitudinal directions considering anisotropic ground conditions, as well as 3D tunnel excavation conditions. The 3D formula proposed in this study was examined of the induced vertical stress under various conditions (ground property, inclined sliding surface, excavation condition, surcharge pressure, earth pressure coefficient) and compared with the 2D Terzaghi formula. The examination indicated that the induced vertical stress increased as the excavation width and length increased, the inclination angle increased, the cohesion and friction angle decreased, the earth pressure coefficient decreased, and the surcharge pressure increased. Under the conditions examined, the stress was more affected at low excavation lengths and by the ground properties in the transverse direction. In addition, The comparison with the 2D Terzaghi formula showed that the induced vertical stress was lower and the difference was highly affected by the ground properties, inclined sliding conditions, and 3D tunnel excavation conditions. The proposed 3D arching formula could help to provide better understanding of complex arching phenomena in tunnel construction.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.507-534
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• 2015

The present work investigates the behavior of the embankment models resting on soft soil reinforced with ordinary and stone columns encased with geogrid. Model tests were performed with different spacing distances between stone columns and two lengths to diameter ratios (L/d) of the stone columns, in addition to different embankment heights. A total number of 42 model tests were carried out on a soil with undrianed shear strength $${\sim_\sim}10kPa$$. The models consist of stone columns embankment at s/d equal to 2.5, 3 and 4 with L/d ratio equal 5 and 8. Three embankment heights; 200 mm, 250 mm and 300 mm were tested for both tests of ordinary (OSC) and geogrid encased stone columns (ESC). Three earth pressure cells were used to measure directly the vertical effective stress on column at the top of the middle stone column under the center line of embankment and on the edge stone column for all models while the third cell was placed at the base of embankment between two columns to measure the vertical effective stress in soft soil directly. The performance of stone columns embankments relies upon the ability of the granular embankment material to arch over the 'gaps' between the stone columns spacing. The results showed that the ratio of the embankment height to the clear spacing between columns (h/s-d) is a key parameter. It is found that (h/s-d)<1.2 and 1.4 for OSC and ESC, respectively; (h is the embankment height, s is the spacing between columns and d is the diameter of stone columns), no effect of arching is pronounced, the settlement at the surface of the embankment is very large, and the stress acting on the subsoil is virtually unmodified from the nominal overburden stress. When $(h/s-d){\geq}2.2$ for OSC and ESC respectively, full arching will occur and minimum stress on subsoil between stone columns will act, so the range of critical embankment height will be 1.2 (h/sd) to 2.2 (h/s-d) for both OSC and ESC models.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.5-16
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• 2005

Geosynthetic-reinforced and pile-supported embankments have been increasingly used and researched around the world. The inclusion of one or multiple geosynthetic reinforcements over the pile is intended to enhance the efficiency of load transfer from soft ground to piles, to reduce total and differential settlement and increase global or local stability. In this paper, the reinforcement effectiveness and arching effect of the geogrid-reinforced and pile-supported embankments have been studied in terms of field model tests and numerical analysis with varying the space between piles and reinforcement. 2-dimensional numerical analysis has been conducted using the FLAC (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) program. And load transfer mechanisms between soil-piles-geogrid were investigated. The mechanisms of load transfer can be considered as a combination of embankment soil arching, tension geogrid, and stress concentration due to the stiffness difference between pile and soft ground. Based on the field model test and numerical analysis results, it was found that the geosynthetic reinforcement slightly interferes with soil arching, and helps reduce differential settlement of the soft ground. Also. at the D/b=3 (D: spacing of pile cap, b: diameter of pile), the total settlement is reduced by about $40\%$ compared to that without reinforcement. For $D/b{\ge}6$, the effectiveness of geogrid reinforcement in reducing settlement is negligible.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.784-791
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• 2008

In this study, we recognized about application of the load distribution factor for design of tunnel in 3D numerical analysis. Generally, load distribution factor of tunnel is applied to describe 3D arching effect that can not describe when 2D numerical analysis. Through result of 3D numerical analysis, we used to apply in numerical analysis for the load distribution factor that ratio of finally displacement to displacement of construction step. But 3D numerical analysis need to apply to load distribution factor for convenience of numerical analysis. Therefore, we proposed load distribution factor that reduce time and coast. It corrected variable of advanced length in load distribution factor of 3D numerical analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2020

These days the circular cross section cofferdam has been frequently used for the earth retaining structures or cut off wall such as ventilating opening, intake tower in cofferdam, shaft for emergency. By the arching effect, the circular cross section type cofferdam has more advantage than a polygon cofferdam in terms of the structural forces and moment. This paper shows the proper approach to analyze the circular cross section cofferdam using 2D Finite Element Method (FEM) for the circular stiffener (ring beam) evaluation. Besides, the various shapes of cofferdam indluding circular cross section have modeled the 3D Finite Element Mothod (FEM). The circular cross section cofferdam shows the minimum reaction force compared with the other shapes of cofferdam.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.17-32
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• 1998

has been much progress in theories and construction techniques to secure the stability of the underground structures. Recently, several studios have shown that it is possible to predict the existence of discontinuities ahead of a tunnel face by analyzing 3-dimensional absolute displacements measured during tunnel excavation. This paper concentrated on the development of a methodology to predict the existence and location of the discontinuities, or the void space(abandoned mine) , by performing 3-dimensional FEM analysis and considering the stress relocation caused by arching effect during excavation. Also, this study tried to verify deformation for choosing the most suitable support system. The results of this study might provide a way of safer and economical tunnel construction by utilizing the in-situ monitoring data.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.11-18
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• 2005

A pilot scale filed model test and 2-D numerical analysis was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of constructing a geogrid-reinforced and pile-supported embankment system over soft ground to reduce differential settlement, and the results are presented hearin. Three-by-three pile groups with varying the space between pile were driven into a layer of soft marine clay and a layer of geogrid was used as reinforcement over each pile group. 2-D numerical analysis has been conducted by using the FLAC-2D(Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) program for same condition of field model test. The settlement, vertical stress, and strain of geogrid due to the construction of embankment were measured at various locations. Based on the field model test and numerical analysis results, pile reinforcement generated the soil arching at the midspan of pile cap and the geogrid reinforcement helps reduce the differential settlement of the soft ground by tensile strength of geogrid. Also for $D/b{\geq}6.0$, the effectiveness of geogrid reinforcement in reducing settlement is negligible.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.276-284
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• 2009

Recently pile-supported embankments have emerged as an optimum method when the rapid construction and strict deformation of structures are required on soft soils. Especially geosynthetic-reinforced and pile-supported (GRPS) embankments are used worldwide as they can provide economic and effective solutions. However the load transfer mechanism in GRPS embankments is very complex, and not yet fully understood. Particularly the purpose and effect of geosynthetic inclusion are ambiguous and considered as an auxiliary measure assisting the arching effect of piles. Numerical parametric study using 3D finite element method has been conducted to investigate the effect of geosynthetic reinforcement on the load transfer mechanism of GRPS embankments. Numerical results suggested that as more stiffer geosynthetic is included, arching effect decreases considerably and the load concentration to the piles mostly caused by tension effect of geosynthetic. This finding is contradictory to the common understanding that geosynthetic inclusion only enhance the efficiency of load transfer. Consequently the design parameters determined from the numerical analyses are compared with those of three existing design methods. The problems of the existing methods are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.15-24
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• 2020

In this study, the stress concentration ratio for the improved material of the low slump mortar grouting was evaluated through the composite ground method, the ground arching theory, the plastic angle method, the 2D and 3D numerical analysis and the 3D model experiment. The stress concentration ratio calculated by the composite ground method was 89.3, 3.75~59.0 when the three-dimensional ground arching theory was applied, and 82.8 for the three-dimensional plastic angle method. As a result of the 2D numerical analysis, the stress concentration ratio was 63.0~77.0, which was found to increase as the improvement ratio increased. The results of 3D numerical analysis were predicted to be 50.0~56.0 smaller than the results of 2D analysis. In the case of a special model experiment using a large triaxial compression cell, the stress concentration ratio for each load step was 53.0~60.0, and the stress concentration ratio evaluated by the experiment was measured within 2D and 3D numerical analysis predictions. In this study, a predictive equation for the stress concentration ratio according to the improvement ratio is proposed based on the analysis and experimental values for the improved ratio of the low slump mortar grouting.