• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.584-594
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• 2010

It is difficult to prepare a specimen for directly testing a tensile strength of soils. Therefore, a tensile strength of soils has been measured indirectly. In this study, a mold and sample preparation tool for directly testing a tensile strength of soils has been developed and a tensile strength of weakly cemented sand was measured by using such device. A compressive strength of the cemented sand was also measured and its value was 30 times greater than its tensile strength.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 2014

Cemented soils have been widely used in road and dam construction, and recently ground improvement of soft soils. The strength of such cemented soils can be tested by using cored sample or laboratory-prepared specimen through unconfined compression or triaxial tests. It takes time to core a sample or prepare a testing specimen in the laboratory. In a certain situation, it is necessary to determine the in-situ strength of cemented soils very quickly and on time. In this study, the relation between unconfined compressive strength and shear wave velocity was investigated for predicting the in-situ strength of cemented soils. A small cemented specimen with 5 cm in diameter and 10 cm in height was prepared by Nakdong river sand and ordinary Portland cement. Its cement ratios were 4, 8, 12, and 16% and air cured for 7, 14, and 28 days. For recycling of resources, a blast furnace slag was also used with sodium hydroxide as an alkaline activator. The shear wave velocity for cemented soils was measured and then unconfined compressive strength test was carried out. As a cement ratio increased, the shear wave velocity and unconfined compressive strength increased due to increased density and denser structure. The relation between unconfined compressive strength and shear wave velocity increased nonlinearly for cemented soils with less than 16% of cement ratio.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.463-471
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• 2009

Cemented soils or concrete are usually cured under moisture conditions and their strength increases with curing time. An insufficient supply of water to cemented soils can contribute to hydration process during curing, which results in the variation of bonding strength of cemented soils. In this study, by the consideration of in situ water supply conditions, cemented sand with cement ratio less than 20% was prepared by air dry, wrapped, and underwater conditions. A series of unconfined compression tests were carried out to evaluate the effect of curing conditions on the strength of cemented soils. The strength of air dry curing specimen was higher than those of wrapped cured specimen when cement ratio was less than 10%, whereas it was lower when cement ratio was greater than 10%. Regardless of cement ratio, air dry cured specimens were stronger than underwater cured specimens. A strength increase ratio with cement ratio was calculated based on the strength of 4% cemented specimen. The strength increase ratio of air dry cured specimen was lowest and that of wrapped and underwater cured ones increased by square. Strength of air dry cured specimen dropped to maximum 30% after wetting when cement ratio was low. However, regardless of cement ratio, strength of wrapped specimens dropped to an average 10% after wetting.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.79-86
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• 2012

Cemented soils have been used for subbase or base materials of roads, backfill materials of retaining walls and cofferdam. Such cemented soils can be degraded due to repeated wetting and drying or various weathering actions. Unlike rocks, a standard method was not defined for evaluating the durability of cemented soils. In this study, a slaking durability test and an ultrasound cleaner were used for developing a new durability test method for cemented soils. For durability tests, cemented sands with different cement ratios (4, 6, 8, and 12%) with cylindrical specimens were prepared and then air cured or under-water cured for three days. Three-day-cured specimens were dried for one day and then submerged for one day before testing. The weight loss after the slake durability test or ultrasonic cleaner operation for 10 or 20 min was measured and used for assessing durability. When a cement ratio was 4%, the weight loss from ultrasonic cleaner test was 7-25% but that from slake durability test was as much as 30-60%. For specimens with cement ratio of more than 8%, the weight loss was less than 10% from both tests. A durability index increased with increasing a cement ratio. The durability index of under-water cured specimen was higher than that of air cured specimen. The ultrasonic cleaner test was found to be an effective tool for durability assessment of cemented sands rather than the slake durability test.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.448-456
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• 2010

The mechanical behavior of granular soils is affected by particle bonding including natural cementation. This study addresses a simple model of small strain stiffness and salt concentration based on wave measurements of salt-cemented particulate media. Published models of artificially cemented soils with different curing methods and several types of cementation agents are reviewed. Glass beads with the median diameter of D50 = 0.5mm are prepared in rectangular cells using the water-pluviated method in salt water with different concentrations. Piezo disk elements and bender elements embedded in the cell are used for the measurements of compressional and shear waves. The relationships between elastic wave velocities and salt concentration show an exponential function. The measured small strain stiffness matches well the predicted small strain stiffness based on micromechanics for simple cubic monosized sphere particles. This study demonstrates that the salt concentration in salt-cemented specimen may be evaluated by using elastic wave velocities.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.5C
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• pp.183-190
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• 2009

It is necessary to predict the deformation and stresses on soils to establish the nonlinear stress-strain relationship of geomaterials at various strain levels. Especially, a need exists to establish the pre-failure nonlinear characteristic of cemented granular geomaterials used in road constructions. In this paper, therefore, conventional granular soils were mixed with various cementing materials, such as cement and fly ash from coal combustion by-products. Then, the normalized nonlinear behavior of cemented geomaterials was assessed using unconfined compression test. In addition, various constitutive models of soils were evaluated for estimating pre-failure non-linear behavior of cemented geomaterials from the test results.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.5C
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• pp.207-215
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• 2009

Cemented soils or concrete are usually cured under moisture conditions and their strength increases with curing time. An insufficient supply of water to cemented soils can contribute to hydration process during curing, which results in the variation of bonding strength of cemented soils. In this study, by the consideration of in situ water supply conditions, cemented sand with cement ratio less than 20% is prepared by air dry, wrapped, moisture, and underwater conditions. A series of unconfined compression tests are carried out to evaluate the effect of curing conditions on the strength of cemented soils. The strength of air dry curing specimen is higher than those of moisture and wrapped cured specimens when cement ratio is less than 10%, whereas it is lower when cement ratio is greater than 10%. Regardless of cement ratio, air dry cured specimens are stronger than underwater cured specimens. A strength increase ratio with cement ratio is calculated based on the strength of 4% cemented specimen. The strength increase ratio of air dry cured specimen is lowest and that of wrapped, moisture, and underwater cured ones increased by square. Strength of air dry cured specimen drops to maximum 30% after wetting when cement ratio is low. However, regardless of cement ratio, strength of moisture and wrapped specimens drops to an average 10% after wetting. The results of this study can predict the strength variation of cemented sand depending on water supply conditions and wetting in the field, which can guarantee the safety of geotechnical structures such as dam.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.161-168
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• 2003

Most natural deposits of sandy soil possess some degree of cementation resulting from the deposition and precipitation of cementing agents. The presence of cementation can have a significant influence on the stiffness and volume change behavior, and the strength of soils. An important feature of deposits of cemented sandy soils is their ability to remain stable in surprisingly high and almost vertical man-made cuts as well as natural slopes. Numerous field observations and studies of failures in slopes of cemented soils have reported that application of conventional analysis techniques of slope stability is inadequate. That is not only due to the fact that the failure surface of the slope is not circular, but also the fact that the average shear stress along the failure surface is much smaller than the shear strength measured in laboratory shear experiments. This observation alerts us to the fact that a mechanism different from conventional Mohr-Coulomb shear failure takes place, which may be related to fracture processes, which in turn are governed by fracture mechanics concepts and theory. In this study, steep slopes in cemented sand were assessed using fracture mechanics concepts. The results showed that FEM coupled with fracture mechanics concepts provides an excellent alternative in the design and safety assessment of earth structures in cemented soils.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.6C
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• pp.213-220
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• 2011

Fines such as silt or clay are usually mixed with granular particles in natural or reclaimed soils which are slightly cemented. Such fines contained within weakly cemented soils may influence permeability and also mechanical behavior of the soils. In this study, a series of unconfined compression tests on weakly cemented sands with fines are carried out in order to evaluate the effect of fines on unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of cemented soils. Two different cement ratios and fine types were used and fine contents varied by 5, 10, and 15%. Two types of specimens were prepared in this testing. One is the specimen with the same compaction energy applied. The other is the one with the same dry density by varying compaction energy. When the same amount of compaction energy was applied to a specimen, its density increased as a fine content increased. As a result, the UCS of cemented soils with fines increased up to 2.6 times that of one without fines as an amount of fines increased. However, when the specimen was prepared to have the same density, its UCS slightly decreased and then increased a little as a fine content increased. Under the same conditions, a UCS of the specimen with silt was stronger than the one with kaolin. As a cement ratio increased, a UCS increased regardless of fine type and content.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.511-518
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• 2009

In this study, by the consideration of in situ curing conditions, cemented sand with cement ratio less than 20% is prepared by air dry condition and then wetted. A series of unconfined compression tests are carried out to evaluate the effect of wetting on the strength of cemented soils. Strength of air dry cured specimen drops to maximum 30% after wetting at the end of curing period when cement ratio is low. However, regardless of cement ratio, strength of repetitively wetted specimens during curing increases as the number of wetting increases. The results of this study can predict the strength variation of cemented sand depending on wetting conditions in the field, which can guarantee the safety of geotechnical structures such as dam.