• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.25-34
• /
• 2009

Since the particle sizes of the coarse materials used in dam or harbor constructions are much larger than those of typical soils, it is desirable that large shear testing apparatuses are used when performing shear tests on the coarse materials to obtain as accurate results as possible. Two large-scale shear testing apparatuses, large direct shear testing apparatus and large triaxial shear testing apparatus, are commonly used. Currently in Korea, however, there have not been many cases in which shear tests were done using the large apparatus due to mainly difficulties in manufacturing, diffusing, and operating them. In present study, both large direct shear tests and large triaxial shear tests were performed on the coarse materials, which are used as dam fill materials, for 6 test cases in which particle sizes, specimen sizes, vertical pressure (confining pressure) conditions were little different, and then, the shear strength characteristics of the materials were compared with the two different shear tests. The test results showed that, by the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion, overall the shear strength obtained by the large direct shear tests was larger than that by the large triaxial shear tests. Moreover, the shear strength under the normal stress of 1,000 kPa was about 10 to 70% larger for the large direct shear tests than for the large triaxial shear tests, revealing the larger differences in the coarse materials, compared to typical soils.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.32 no.9
• /
• pp.51-62
• /
• 2016

Parametric studies for various site conditions by using 3d numerical model were carried out in order to estimate dynamic behavior of soil-pile-structure system in dry soil deposits. Proposed model was analyzed in time domain using FLAC3D which is commercial finite difference code to properly simulate nonlinear response of soil under strong earthquake. Mohr-Coulomb criterion was adopted as soil constitutive model. Soil nonlinearity was considered by adopting the hysteretic damping model, and an interface model which can simulate separation and slip between soil and pile was adopted. Simplified continuum modeling was used as boundary condition to reduce analysis time. Also, initial shear modulus and yield depth were appropriately determined for accurate simulation of system's nonlinear behavior. Parametric study was performed by varying weight of superstructure, pile length, pile head fixity, soil relative density with proposed numerical model. From the results of parametric study, it is identified that inertial force induced by superstructure is dominant on dynamic behavior of soil-pile-structure system and effect of kinematic force induced by soil movement was relatively small. Difference in dynamic behavior according to the pile length and pile head fixity was also numerically investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.39 no.7
• /
• pp.57-67
• /
• 2023

Slope failures during rainfall have been observed in mountainous areas of South Korea as a result of the presence of solar power facilities. The seepage behavior and pore pressure distribution differ from typical slopes due to the presence of impermeable solar panels, and the load imposed by the solar power structures also affects the slope behavior. This study aims to develop a method for evaluating the stability of slopes with solar power facilities and to analyze vulnerable points by considering the maximum slope displacement. To assess the slope stability and predict behavior while considering rainfall seepage, a combined seepage analysis and finite difference method numerical analysis were employed. For the selected site, various variables were assumed, including parameters related to the Soil Water Characteristic Curve, strength parameters that satisfy the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion, soil properties, and topographic factors such as slope angle and bedrock depth. The factors with the most significant influence on the factor of safety (FOS) were identified. The presence of solar power facilities was found to affect the seepage distribution and FOS, resulting in a decreasing trend due to rainfall seepage. The maximum displacement points were concentrated near the upper (crest) and lower (toe) sections of the slope.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.31 no.11
• /
• pp.33-40
• /
• 2015

Volcanic rocks in Jeju Island indicate the differences in geological and mechanical characteristics from region to region, and have vesicular structure caused by various environmental factors. In this study, triaxial compressive strength tests were conducted for intact rocks sampled in northeastern onshore and offshore, southeastern offshore and northwestern offshore of Jeju Island. The estimated cohesion and internal friction angle from the results of triaxial compression tests were compared and analyzed with absorption, a parameter representing the vesicular properties of basalts in Jeju Island. As a result, it was found that the relationship between cohesion and absorption could be classified clearly, considering two different linear relationships in bulk specific gravity and absorption. As the absorption increases, the cohesion decreases exponentially. In addition, the internal friction angle decreases almost linearly with increasing in the absorption, regardless of the relationships in bulk specific gravity and absorption.

• Coupled systems mechanics
• /
• v.1 no.4
• /
• pp.381-395
• /
• 2012

Dynamic response of Pile Supported Structures is highly depended on Soil Pile Structure Interaction. In this paper, by comparison of experimental and numerical dynamic responses of a prototype jacket offshore platform for both hinge based and pile supported boundary conditions, effect of soil-pile-structure interaction on dynamic characteristics of this platform is studied. Jacket and deck of a prototype platform is installed on a hinge-based case first and then platform is installed on eight skirt piles embedded on continuum monolayer sand. Dynamic characteristics of platform in term of natural frequencies, mode shapes and modal damping are compared for both cases. Effects of adding and removing vertical bracing members in top bay of jacket on dynamic characteristics of platform for both boundary conditions are also studied. Numerical simulation of responses for the studied platform is also performed for both mentioned cases using capability of ABAQUS and SACS software. The 3D model using ABAQUS software is created using solid elements for soil and beam elements for jacket, deck and pile members. Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and pile-soil interface element are used for considering nonlinear pile soil structure interaction. Simplified modeling of soil-pile-structure interaction effect is also studied using SACS software. It is observed that dynamic characteristics of the system changes significantly due to soil-pile-structure interaction. Meanwhile, both of complex and simplified (ABAQUS and SACS, respectively) models can predict this effect accurately for such platforms subjected to dynamic loading in small range of deformation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.3 no.4
• /
• pp.291-321
• /
• 2011

The paper describes a simple numerical FLAC model that was developed to simulate the dynamic response of two instrumented reduced-scale model reinforced soil walls constructed on a 1-g shaking table. The models were 1 m high by 1.4 m wide by 2.4 m long and were constructed with a uniform size sand backfill, a polymeric geogrid reinforcement material with appropriately scaled stiffness, and a structural full-height rigid panel facing. The wall toe was constructed to simulate a perfectly hinged toe (i.e. toe allowed to rotate only) in one model and an idealized sliding toe (i.e. toe allowed to rotate and slide horizontally) in the other. Physical and numerical models were subjected to the same stepped amplitude sinusoidal base acceleration record. The material properties of the component materials (e.g. backfill and reinforcement) were determined from independent laboratory testing (reinforcement) and by back-fitting results of a numerical FLAC model for direct shear box testing to the corresponding physical test results. A simple elastic-plastic model with Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion for the sand was judged to give satisfactory agreement with measured wall results. The numerical results are also compared to closed-form solutions for reinforcement loads. In most cases predicted and closed-form solutions fall within the accuracy of measured loads based on ${\pm}1$ standard deviation applied to physical measurements. The paper summarizes important lessons learned and implications to the seismic design and performance of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.263-277
• /
• 2014

In the conventional design of retaining structures in a seismic zone, seismic inertia forces are commonly assumed to act upwards and towards the wall facing to cause a maximum active thrust or act upwards and towards the backfill to cause a minimum passive resistance. However, under certain circumstances this design approach might underestimate the dynamic active thrust or overestimate the dynamic passive resistance acting on a rigid retaining structure. In this study, a new analytical method for dynamic active and passive forces in c-${\phi}$ soils with an infinite slope was proposed based on the Rankine earth pressure theory and the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion, to investigate the influence of seismic inertia force directions on the total active and passive forces. Four combinations of seismic acceleration with both vertical (upwards or downwards) and horizontal (towards the wall or backfill) directions, were considered. A series of dimensionless dynamic active and passive force charts were developed to evaluate the key influence factors, such as backfill inclination ${\beta}$, dimensionless cohesion $c/{\gamma}H$, friction angle ${\phi}$, horizontal and vertical seismic coefficients, $k _h$ and $k_v$. A comparative study shows that a combination of downward and towards-the-wall seismic inertia forces causes a maximum active thrust while a combination of upward and towards-the-wall seismic inertia forces causes a minimum passive resistance. This finding is recommended for use in the design of retaining structures in a seismic zone.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.155-162
• /
• 1990

In analysis of deformation in which the stiffness is greatly different between the adjacent materials, the desired results have been obtained by using the interface element method compared with those secured by the conventional method of the concept of continua. However the interface element method was originally developed for the behavior of rocks. This study deals with the deformation analysis of foundation with sand drain by the introduction of interface element. The physical conditions of interface element are devided into three categories by Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion ie. sliding, separation, and contact. Finally the accuracy of the program proposed in this paper is proved highly accurate by performing the comparison of the theoretical values and numerical results of a model element with simplified boundary conditions.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.39-50
• /
• 2020

In order to understand the shear mechanical properties of the interface between clay and structure and better serve the practical engineering projects, it is critical to conduct shear tests on the clay-structure interface. In this work, the direct shear test of clay-concrete slab with different joint roughness coefficient (JRC) of the interface and different normal stress is performed in the laboratory. Our experimental results show that (1) shear strength of the interface between clay and structure is greatly affected by the change of normal stress under the same condition of JRC and shear stress of the interface gradually increases with increasing normal stress; (2) there is a critical value JRC_cr in the roughness coefficient of the interface; (3) the relationship between shear strength and normal stress can be described by the Mohr Coulomb failure criterion, and the cohesion and friction angle of the interface under different roughness conditions can be calculated accordingly. We find that there also exists a critical value JRC_cr for cohesion and the cohesion of the interface increases first and then decreases as JRC increases. Moreover, the friction angle of the interface fluctuates with the change of JRC and it is always smaller than the internal friction angle of clay used in this experiment; (4) the failure type of the interface of the clay-concrete slab is type I sliding failure and does not change with varying JRC when the normal stress is small enough. When the normal stress increases to a certain extent, the failure type of the interface will gradually change from shear failure to type II sliding failure with the increment of JRC.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.35-42
• /
• 2012

This paper evaluates the effect of anisotropic conductivity on the seepage face and reliability index of an homogeneous dam with and without toe drain. The analysis are conducted under steady state saturated-unsaturated seepage condition using finite element method. Various anisotropic conductivity ratios were interpreted under such conditions as the vertical conductivity is reduced while the horizon conductivity is fixed. The shear strength of soil is defined by the modified Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. The analysis results demonstrate that the length of seepage face and reliability index at the downstream and upstream of the dam increase with an increasing anisotropic ratio. These results of the seepage face and reliability index, however, depend on the total head difference between the upstream slope and downstream toe. The difference in seepage face and reliability index is attributed to the different equipotential head with different anisotropic ratios of the dam material.