• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.37-45
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• 2014

An embedded length of monopile caused by a scouring should be evaluated to monitor the stability of offshore foundations, because offshore foundations are affected by horizontal load. The objective of this study is to evaluate the scouring around offshore foundation by using electrical resistivity and to estimate ground stiffness by using shear wave tomography. The electrical resistivity profiles and shear wave tomography were measured according to the scour depth of model ground prepared with sand and cement. Several electrodes and bender elements were used to measure the electrical resistivity and shear waves, respectively. The electrode sets are attached on the monopile surface and bender elements are arranged in $7{\times}7$ arrays by using nylone frames. The electrical resistivity profiles and shear wave tomography are acquired by laboratory experiment. Maximum scour depth was estimated by electrical resistivity profiles and the ground stiffness of model ground was estimated by shear wave tomography. This study suggests that the electrical resistivity profiles and shear wave tomography may be useful for monitoring the stability of the offshore foundations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.47-54
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• 2006

Shear wave velocity of uncemented soil can be expressed as the function of effective stresses when capillary phenomena are negligible. However, the terms of effective stresses are divided into the direction of wave propagation and polarization because stress states are generally anisotropy. The shear wave velocities are affected by ${\alpha}$ parameters and ${\beta}$ exponents that are experimentally determined. The ${\beta}$ exponents are controlled by contact effects of particulate materials (sizes, shapes, and structures of particles) and the ${\alpha}$ parameters are changed by contact behaviors among particles, material properties of particles, and type of packing (i.e., void ratio and coordination number). In this study, consolidation tests are performed by using clay, mica and sand specimens. Shear wave velocities are measured during consolidation tests to investigate the stress-induced and inherent anisotropies by using bender elements. Results show the shear wave velocity depends on the stress-induced anisotropy for round particles. Furthermore, the shear wave velocity is dependent on particle alignment under the constant evvective stress. This study suggests that the shear wave velocity and the shear modulus should be carefully estimated and used for the design and construction of geotechnical structures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.607-614
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• 2010

Shear behavior of granular soils largely affects the safety and stability of underground and earth structures. This study presents the characteristics of shear zone in a direct shear test using shear wave and electrical resistivity measurements. An innovative direct shear box made of transparent acrylic material has been developed to prevent direct electric current. Bender elements and electrical resistivity probe are embedded in the wall of direct shear box to estimate the shear wave velocities and the electrical resistivity at the shear and non-shear zones. Experimental results show that the void ratio and shear wave velocity at shear zone increase during shearing while the values remain constant at non-shear zone. The results demonstrate correlation among the contact force, small strain shear modulus, and void ratio at shear zone. This study suggests that the application of the modified direct shear box including shear wave and electrical resistivity measurements may become an effective tool for analyzing soil behavior at shear zone.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.71-77
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• 2008

Microstructural changes may arise due to the particle vanishing, fluid diffusion, heating, etc. This study focuses on the changes in small-strain shear stiffness in k0 loading produced by local straining in particular system made of sand-salt mixtures. Local strains were induced by dissolution of salt particles. Experiments were carried out in a conventional oedometer cell equipped with bender elements. Axial displacement and shear wave signals are recorded at each loading stage and during saturation process. Experimental data showed that microstructural changes due to particle vanishing were clearly captured by using shear wave measurement. Saturation of sand-salt mixture at a larger axial stress did not always create a more condense soil at the end of loading stage. Sand-salt mixture is useful for laboratory test on controlled artificial specimen.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.7 s.172
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• pp.164-169
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• 2005

The micro-gripper system is one of the systems that should be improved in the respect of performance for practical usage. In the previous works, the important issues are considered and presented using axiomatic design approach. In this paper, the functional requirements and design parameters are evaluated in order to improve the performance and efficiency of the system. The evaluation is a very difficult task since many variables are related to the outcomes. To provide a basis for correct design decisions, axiomatic design principles have been advanced. Since the framework of axiomatic design makes design issues easier to understand when they are analyzed, we used those as an evaluation tool. The object of the system is to handle micro-size parts. Main device is a micro-gripper using two bender-typed and one stack-typed PZTs as actuators. And it has three tips made of tungsten wires fur holding function. Also the system must satisfy other functional requirements for appropriate handling performance. The results of this study show design improvements of micro-gripper system such as structural change of gripper, additional element, and integration of physical parts. Axiomatic design guides presented suitable design parameters corresponding to functional requirements and made the design elements improve through diagrams of whole system.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.4E
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• pp.167-175
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• 2003

Shear wave velocity was measured and grain size analysis was conducted on two core samples obtained in unconsolidated marine sediments of the western continental margin, the East Sea. A pulse transmission technique based on the Hamilton frame was used to measure shear wave velocity. Duomorph ceramic bender transducer-receiver elements were used to generate and detect shear waves in sediment samples. Time delay was calculated by changing the sample length from the transducer-receiver element. Time delay is 43.18 μs and shear wave velocity (22.49 m/s) is calculated from the slope of regression line. Shear wave velocities of station 1 and 2 range from 8.9 to 19.0 m/s and from 8.8 to 22 mis, respectively. Shear wave velocities with depth in both cores are qualitatively in agreement with the compared model〔1〕, although the absolute value is different. The sediment type of two core samples is mud (mean grain size, 8-9Φ). Shear wave velocity generally increases with sediment depth, which is suggesting normally consolidated sediments. The complicated variation of velocity anisotropy with depth at station 2 is probably responsible for sediment disturbance by possible gas effect.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.713-723
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• 2016

Shear wave velocities of three selected sandy soils subject to drained triaxial compression test were continuously measured using the bender elements. The shear wave velocity during isotropic compression, as widely recognized, increased as confining pressure increased and they were correlated well. However, during drained shearing, the mean effective stress could no further provide a suitable correlation. The shear wave velocity during this stage was almost constant with respect to the mean effective stress. The vertical stress was found to be more favorable at this stage (since confining stress was kept constant). When sample was attained its peak stress, the shear wave velocity reduced and deviated from the previously existed trend line. This was probably caused by the non-uniformity induced by the formation of shear band. Subsequently, void ratios computed based on external measurements could not provide reasonable fitting to the initial stage of post-peak shear wave velocity. At very large strain levels after shear band formation, the digital images revealed that sample may internally re-arrange itself to be in a more uniform loose stage. This final stage void ratio estimated based on the proposed correlation derived during pre-peak state was close to the value of the maximum void ratio.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.275-287
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• 2011

The behaviors of saturated soils such as compressibility and permeability are distinguished by preconsolidation stress. Preconsolidation stress becomes an important design parameter in geotechnical structures. The goal of this study is to introduce a new method for the evaluation of preconsolidation stress based on the shear wave velocity at small strain, using Busan, Incheon, and Gwangyang clays in Korea. Standard consolidation tests are conducted by using an oedometer cell equipped with bender elements. The preconsolidation stresses estimated by shear wave velocity are compared with those evaluated by the Casagrande, constrained modulus, work, and logarithmic methods. The preconsolidation stresses estimated by the shear wave velocity produce very similar values to those evaluated by the Onitsuka method (one of the logarithmic methods), which yields an almost real preconsolidation stress. This study shows that the shear wave velocity method provides a reliable method for evaluating preconsolidation stress and can be used as a complementary method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09c
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• pp.24-30
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• 2010

The void ratio and elastic moduli are design parameters used in geotechnical engineering to understand soil behavior. Elastic and electromagnetic waves have been used to evaluate the various soil characteristics due to high resolution. The objective of this study is to evaluate the void ratio and elastic moduli based on elastic wave velocities and electrical resistivity. The Field Velocity Resistivity Probe (FVRP) is developed to obtain the elastic and electromagnetic wave profiles of soil during penetration. The Piezoelectric Disk Elements (PDE) and Bender Elements (BE) are used as transducers for measuring the elastic wave velocities such as compressional and shear wave velocities. The Electrical Resistivity Probe (ERP) is also installed for capturing the electrical resistivity profile. The application test is carried out on the southern coast of the Korean peninsula. The field tests are performed at a depth of 6~20 m, at 10 cm intervals for measuring elastic wave velocities and at 0.5cm intervals for measuring electrical resistivity. The elastic moduli such as constraint and shear moduli are calculated by using measured elastic wave velocities. The void ratios are also evaluated based on the elastic wave velocities and the electrical resistivity. Furthermore, the converted void ratios by using FVRP are compared with the volumetric void ratio obtained by a standard consolidation test. The comparison shows that the void ratios based on the FVPR match the volume based void ratio well. This study suggests that the FVRP may be a useful device to effectively determine the elastic moduli and void ratio in the field.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.31-37
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• 2014

In situ investigations and laboratory tests using elastic wave have become popular in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering. Propagation velocity of elastic wave is the key index to evaluate the ground characteristics. To evaluate this, various methods were used in both time domain and frequency domain. In time domain, the travel time can be found from the two points that have the same phase such as peaks or first rises. Cross-correlation can also be used in time domain by evaluating the time shift amount that makes the product of signals of input and received waveforms maximum. In frequency domain, wave propagation velocity can be evaluated by computing the phase differences between the source and received waves. In this study, wave propagation velocity evaluated by the methods listed above were compared. Bender element tests were conducted on the specimens cut from the undisturbed hand-cut block samples obtained from Block 37 excavation site in Chicago, IL, US. The evaluation methods in time domain provides relatively wide range of wave propagation velocities due to the noise in signals and the sampling frequency of data logger. Frequency domain approach provides relatively accurate wave propagation velocities and is irrelevant to the sampling frequency of data logger.