• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.411-426
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• 2023

Soft clay is widely distributed in the southeast coastal areas of China. Many large underground structures, such as subway stations and underground pipe corridors, are shallow buried in the soft clay foundation, so the dynamic characteristics of the soft clay must be considered to the seismic design of underground structures. In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of saturated soft clay in Shanghai under the bidirectional excitation for earthquake loading are studied by dynamic triaxial tests, comparing the backbone curve and hysteretic curve of the saturated soft clay under different confining pressures with those under different vibration frequencies. Considering the coupling effects of the confining pressure and the vibration frequency, a fitting model of the maximum dynamic shear modulus was proposed by the multiple linear regression method. The M-D model was used to fit the variations of the dynamic shear modulus ratio with the shear strain. Based on the Chen model and the Park model, the effects of the consolidation confining pressure and the vibration frequency on the damping ratio were studied. The results can provide a reference to the earthquake prevention and disaster reduction in soft clay area.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.459-474
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• 2017

In this study an analytical expression is derived for the natural frequency of the wind turbine towers supported on flexible foundation. The derivation is based on a Euler-Bernoulli beam model where the foundation is represented by a stiffness matrix. Previously the natural frequency of such a model is obtained from numerical or empirical method. The new expression is based on pure physical parameters and thus can be used for a quick assessment of the natural frequencies of both the real turbines and the small-scale models. Furthermore, a relationship between the diagonal and non-diagonal element in the stiffness matrix is introduced, so that the foundation stiffness can be obtained from either the p-y analysis or the loading test. The results of the proposed expression are compared with the measured frequencies of six real or model turbines reported in the literature. The comparison shows that the proposed analytical expression predicts the natural frequency with reasonable accuracy. For two of the model turbines, some errors were observed which might be attributed to the difference between the dynamic and static modulus of saturated soils. The proposed analytical solution is quite simple to use, and it is shown to be more reasonable than the analytical and the empirical formulas available in the literature.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.139-155
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• 2024

The piled raft foundations are subjected to lateral loading under the action of wind and earthquake loads. Their bearing behavior and flexural responses under these loadings are of prime concern for researchers and practitioners. The insufficient experimental studies on piled rafts subjected to lateral loading lead to a limited understanding of this foundation system. Lateral load sharing between pile and raft in a laterally loaded piled raft is scarce in literature. In the present study, lateral load-displacement, load sharing, bending moment distribution, and raft inclinations of the piled raft foundations have been discussed through an instrumented scaled down model test in 1 g condition. The contribution of raft in a laterally loaded piled raft has been evaluated from the responses of pile group and piled raft foundations attributing a variety of influential system parameters such as pile spacing, slenderness ratio, group area ratio, and raft embedment. The study shows that the raft contributes 28-49% to the overall lateral capacity of the piled raft foundation. The results show that the front pile experiences 20-66% higher bending moments in comparison to the back pile under different conditions in the pile group and piled raft. The piles in the piled raft exhibit lower bending moments in the range of 45-50% as compared to piles in the pile group. The raft inclination in the piled raft is 30-70% less as compared to the pile group foundation. The lateral load-displacement and bending moment distribution in piles of the single pile, pile group, and piled raft has been presented to compare their bearing behavior and flexural responses subjected to lateral loading conditions. This study provides substantial technical aid for the understanding of piled rafts in onshore and offshore structures to withstand lateral loadings, such as those induced by wind and earthquake loads.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.341-352
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• 2023

Long-short pile composite foundations bear both vertical and horizontal loads in many engineering applications. This study used indoor model tests to determine the horizontal bearing mechanism of a composite foundation with long and short piles under horizontal loads. A custom experimental device was developed to prevent excessive eccentricity of the vertical loading device caused by the horizontal displacement. ABAQUS software was used to analyze the influence of the load size and cushion thickness on the horizontal bearing mechanism. The results reveal that a large vertical load leads to soil densification and increases the horizontal bearing capacity of the composite foundation. The magnitude of the horizontal displacement of the pile and the horizontal load borne by the pile are related to the piles' positions. Due to different pile lengths, the long piles exhibit long pile effects and experience bending deformation, whereas the short piles rotate around a point (0.2 L from the pile bottom) as the horizontal load increases. Selecting a larger cushion thickness significantly improves the horizontal load sharing capacity of the soil and reduces the horizontal displacement of the pile top.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.455-462
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• 2003

The current practice of estimating bearing capacity usually employs the conventional bearing capacity formula originally developed for strip footings under vertical central loading, In order account for the effect of footing shape and eccentricity and inclination of loads, correction factors are introduced in the formula, which are derived based on a number of small-scale model test observations. In this paper, comparison of several formulations of bearing capacity factors, as well as values of these factors, are presented. And the conventional bearing capacity equations are compared with some of other failure loci proposed for cohesive soil. Also, the bearing capacity of shallow foundation estimated by the conventional bearing capacity equations are compared with the experimental load test results.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.168-178
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• 2008

The hybrid simulation test method is a versatile technique for evaluating the seismic performance of structures by seamlessly integrating both physical and numerical simulations of substructures into a single test mode. In this paper, a software framework that integrates computational and experimental simulation has been developed to simulate and test a bridge structural system under earthquake loading. Using hybrid simulation, the seismic response of complex bridge structural systems partitioned into multiple large-scale experimental and computational substructures at networked distributed experimental and computational facilities can be evaluated. In this paper, the examples of application are presented in terms of a bridge model with soil-foundation-structure interaction.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.415-422
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• 1999

The general concept of reinforced roadbed in the high-speed railway is to cope with the soft ground for the bearing capacity and settlement of foundation soil. The cyclic plate load tests were performed to determine the behavior of reinforced ground with multiple layers of geogrid underlying by soft soil. Five series of test were conducted with varying the soil profile conditions including the ground level, type of soil, and the thickness of each soil layer. Based on these plate load tests, laboratory model tests under cyclic loading were conducted to know the effect of geogrid reinforcement in particular for the high-speed rail roadbed. The permanent settlement and the behavior of earth pressure in reinforced roadbed subjected to a combination of static and dynamic loading are presented.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.963-975
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• 2017

Improvement of soft clay deposit by preloading with vertical drains is one of the most popular techniques followed worldwide. These drains accelerate the rate of consolidation by shortening the drainage path. Although the analytical and numerical solutions available are mostly based on equal strain hypothesis, the adoption of free strain analysis is more realistic because of the flexible nature of the imposed surcharge loading, especially for the embankment loading used for transport infrastructure. In this paper, a numerical model has been developed based on free strain hypothesis for understanding the behaviour of soft ground improvement by vertical drain with preloading. The unit cell analogy is used and the effect of smear has been incorporated. The model has been validated by comparing with available field test results and thereafter, a hypothetical case study is done using the available field data for soft clay deposit existing in the eastern part of Australia and important conclusions are drawn therefrom.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2014

In this study, permanent deformation of asphalt trackbed was investigated by performing repetitive load test on specimen made with dense graded asphalt mixture that was specially prepared for asphalt trackbed foundation. The obtained test results were compared with those computed from the prediction model proposed by AASHTO 2002, called MEPDG. No prediction model adaptable only for permanent deformation of the asphalt trackbed foundation has yet been developed, so the prediction model by AASHTO was adapted in this study to simulate permanent deformation of trackbed foundations in asphalt slab track and in ballasted asphalt track. In order to simulate permanent deformation, a finite element analysis was performed to obtain stresses generated in trackbed due to wheel load. It was found that the predicted permanent deformation was much smaller than the anticipated deformation and that the asphalt track could be stable during the service life of the structure.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.31 no.B
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• pp.81-90
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• 2011

Centrifuge modeling and numerical analysis on works of breakwater construction were performed to investigate the behavior of caisson type of breakwater and foundation treated with the method of DCM (Deep Cement Mixing) under the condition of wave action in field. In centrifuge modeling, construction sequence of breakwater caisson such as preparation of ground, treatment of DCM, installation of rubble mound, placement of breakwater caisson and lateral loading on the breakwater due to wave action were reconstructed. Lateral movement of model breakwater and ground reaction in the vertical direction were monitored during test. Stress concentration ratio between the untreated ground and the treated ground with DCM was evaluated from measurement of vertical stresses on each ground. Numerical analysis with the software of PLAXIS was carried to compare with Results of centrifuge model test. It was found that stability of model breakwater was maintained during stage of construction and the compared results about stress concentration ratio were in relatively good agreements.