• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.35-43
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• 2010

Partially saturated permeability should be defined by the function of suction (or degree of saturation) and porosity. However, commercial software and most researchers' model often describe as the function of suction. The stability of a soil slope can be affected by both hydraulic and shear strength properties of partially saturated soils. For both studies, we generally use an uncoupled seepage analysis program Seep/W(Geo-Slope, 2007) and a series stress-deformation analysis program Sigma/W, or slope stability analysis program Slope/W. Seep/W is performed for simulations of partially saturated flow problems in non-deformable soil media. However, under real situations, the water flow processes in a deformable soil are influenced by soil skeleton movement and the pore water pressure changed due to seepage will lead to changes in stresses and to deformation of a soil. Many researchers are currently developing their models for solving coupled hydro-mechanical problems to simulate slope stability during a rainstorm. For a proper implementation in the field, the developed model should be still needed in order to achieve appropriate accuracy of the solution for coupled hydro-mechanical problems in soil slope stability. Thus, the paper presents the comparison of slope stability between uncoupled and coupled analyses of seepage and stress deformation problems.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.643-653
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• 2013

Recently, there are an increasing number of studies on the method of wrapping the outer wall of granular piles with geosynthetic fibers such as geotextile or geogrid that has a certain level of tensile strength as an alternative method for the ground improvement techniques. In this study, triaxial compression tests are performed on the sand and clay specimen encased with various textiles to evaluate the reinforcing effect with regard to the tensile strength of the textile. Furthermore, triaxial compression tests are performed on the clay specimen inserted by sand only and sand encased with geosynthetics to compare behavioral differences between the conventional sand compaction pile and geosynthetic encased sand pile with regard to the replacement ratio, ${\alpha}_s$ and the tensile strength of the geosynthetics. Based on the experimental results, the strength enhancement due to the textile is affected by the longitudinal tensile strength rather than the transverse one of the applied textile. The effect of the confinement by the textile encasement results in the large increase of the cohesions. The overall behaviors, such as shear strength, pore pressure parameter at failure and stress ratio, of the geosynthetic encased sand pile is quite different from those of the conventional sand compaction pile.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.47-56
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• 2013

There are many technical problems, which can not be resolved by the concept of saturated soil mechanics. Unsaturated soils show an apparent cohesion due to negative pore pressure and relatively lower permeability due to entrapped air compared to saturated soils. The determination of engineering properties of soils with various moisture content is very important to evaluate shear strength and stability of natural and engineered soils. So various researches should be made on unsaturated soils. Especially, sandy soils are widely distributed near Nakdong river, one of the four rivers where Restoration Projects were carried out. Many structures such as dams, flood control facilities, detention facilities and reservoirs have been built in this area. In this study, unsaturated triaxial compressive tests were conducted on sands or silty sands at Nakdong river in order to provide their fundamental characteristics for design and construction of geotechnical structures. As a result of the tests, the maximum deviator stress increased as the confining stress and matric suction increased. The cohesion increased non-linearly as the matric suction increased, but the angle of internal friction was marginally changed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2021

The hydraulic fracturing developed to improve permeability of tight reservoir is one of key stimulation technologies for developing unconventional resources such as shale gas and deep geothermal energy. The experimental study was conducted to improve disadvantage of hydraulic fracturing which has simple fracture pattern and poor fracturing efficiency. The fracturing experiments was conducted for tight rock using various fracturing fluids, water, N2, and CO2 and the created fracture pattern and fracturing efficiency was analyzed depending on fracturing fluids. The borehole pressure increased rapidly and then made fractures for hydraulic fracturing with constant injection rate, however, gas fracturing shows slowly increased pressure and less fracture pressure. The 3D tomography technic was used to generate images of induced fracture using hydraulic and gas fracturing. The stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) was estimated increment of 5.71% (water), 12.72% (N2), and 43.82% (CO2) respectively compared to initial pore volume. In addition, permeability measurement was carried out before and after fracturing experiments and the enhanced permeability by gas fracturing showed higher than hydraulic fracturing. The fracture conductivity was measured by increasing confining stress to consider newly creating fracture and closing induced fracture right after fracturing. When the confining stress was increased from 2MPa to 10MPa, the initial permeability was decreased by 89% (N2) and 50% (CO2) respectively. This study shows that the gas fracturing makes more permeability enhancement and less reduction of induced fracture conductivity than hydraulic fracturing.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.145-159
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• 2004

The conventional method for assessment of liquefaction potential proposed by Seed and Idriss has been widely used in most countries because of simplicity of tests. Even though various data such as stress, strain, stress path, and excess pore water pressure can be obtained from the dynamic test, especially, two simple experimental data such as the maximum deviatoric stress and the number of cycles at liquefaction have been used in the conventional assessment. In this study, a new detailed assessment for liquefaction potential to reflect both characteristics of real earthquake motion and dynamic soil resistance is proposed and verified. In the assessment, the safety factor of the liquefaction potential at a given depth of a site can be obtained by the ratio of a resistible cumulative plastic shear strain determined through the performance of the conventional cyclic test and a driving cumulative plastic shear strain calculated from the shear strain time history through the ground response analysis. The last point to cumulate the driving plastic shear strain to initiate soil liquefaction is important for this assessment. From the result of cyclic triaxial test using real earthquake motions, it was concluded that liquefaction under the impact-type earthquake loads would initiate as soon as a peak loading signal was reached. The driving cumulative plastic shear strain, therefore, can be determined by adding all plastic shear strains obtained from the ground response analysis up to the peak point. Through the verification of the proposed assessment, it can be concluded that the proposed assessment for liquefaction potential can be a progressive method to reflect both characteristics of the unique soil resistance and earthquake parameters such as peak earthquake signal, significant duration time, earthquake loading type, and magnitude.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.43-52
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• 1984

This paper is concerned with the strain characteristics of the time effect on the remoulded saturated day sampled from the downstream of the Yeongsan river, and the constitutive equation that can generally explain time-dependent behaviors of norma1ly consolidated clay. This paper examines whether or not the afore-said constitutive equation can be applied to the remoulded Mooan-clay. Throughout this study, the conclusions obtained are as follows. 1. Throughout the isotropic consolidation test for 7 days and the isotropic relaxation test, the existence of the static and dynamic yielding surfaces is confirmed respectively. 2. The characteristics of time effect of the deformation, namely, the existence of a unique stress-strain-time relation, is conformed from the experimental result on the Mooan-clay. 3. The prodictions of the stress path and the strain on the Cam-clay theory is not consistent with those observed during the experiments. 4. Constitutive equation(2-3-12) obtained by applying Cam-clay theory to Perzyna's elastic-viscoplasticity theory can explain the behavior of pore water pressure during isotropic stress relaxation, concerned with time dependency under undrained condition. The equation can also explain the results of the undrained triaxial compression test for the clay with different strain rate under the same or different consolidation history. 5. This constitutive equation has eight material parameters which can be determined from triaxial compression tests.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.583-603
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• 2023

Recently, the advancement of mechanical tunnel boring machine (TBM) technology and the characteristics of subsea railway tunnels subjected to hydrostatic pressure have led to the widespread application of shield TBM methods in the design and construction of subsea railway tunnels. Subsea railway tunnels are exposed in a constant pore water pressure and are influenced by the amplification of seismic waves during earthquake. In particular, seismic loads acting on subsea railway tunnels under various ground conditions such as soft ground, soft soil-rock composite ground, and fractured zones can cause significant changes in tunnel displacement and stress, thereby affecting tunnel safety. Additionally, the dynamic response of the ground and tunnel varies based on seismic load parameters such as frequency characteristics, seismic waveform, and peak acceleration, adding complexity to the behavior of the ground-tunnel structure system. In this study, a finite difference method is employed to model the entire ground-tunnel structure system, considering hydrostatic pressure, for the investigation of dynamic behavior of subsea railway tunnel during earthquake. Since the key factors influencing the dynamic behavior during seismic events are ground conditions and seismic waves, six analysis cases are established based on virtual ground conditions: Case-1 with weathered soil, Case-2 with hard rock, Case-3 with a composite ground of soil and hard rock in the tunnel longitudinal direction, Case-4 with the tunnel passing through a narrow fault zone, Case-5 with a composite ground of soft soil and hard rock in the tunnel longitudinal direction, and Case-6 with the tunnel passing through a wide fractured zone. As a result, horizontal displacements due to earthquakes tend to increase with an increase in ground stiffness, however, the displacements tend to be restrained due to the confining effects of the ground and the rigid shield segments. On the contrary, peak compressive stress of segment significantly increases with weaker ground stiffness and the effects of displacement restrain contribute the increase of peak compressive stress of segment.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.217-246
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• 2018

During the selection and characterization of target formations in the Small-scale Offshore $CO_2$ Storage Demonstration Project in the Pohang Basin, we have carefully investigated the possibility of induced earthquakes and leakage of $CO_2$ during the injection, and have designed the storage processes to minimize these effects. However, people in Pohang city have a great concern on $CO_2$-injection-intrigued seismicity, since they have greatly suffered from the 5.4 magnitude earthquake on Nov. 15, 2017. The research team of the project performed an extensive self-investigation on the safety issues, especially on the possible $CO_2$ leakage from the target formation and induced earthquakes. The target formation is 10 km apart from the epicenter of the Pohang earthquake and the depth is also quite shallow, only 750 to 800 m from the sea bottom. The project performed a pilot injection in the target formation from Jan. 12 to Mar. 12, 2017, which implies that there are no direct correlation of the Pohang earthquake on Nov. 15, 2017. In addition, the $CO_2$ injection of the storage project does not fracture rock formations, instead, the supercritical $CO_2$ fluid replaces formation water in the pore space gradually. The self-investigation results show that there is almost no chance for the injection to induce significant earthquakes unless injection lasts for a very long time to build a very high pore pressure, which can be easily monitored. The amount of injected $CO_2$ in the project was around 100 metric-tonne that is irrelevant to the Pohang earthquake. The investigation result on long-term safety also shows that the induced earthquakes or the reactivation of existing faults can be prevented successfully when the injection pressure is controlled not to demage cap-rock formation nor exceed Coulomb stresses of existing faults. The project has been performing extensive studies on critical stress for fracturing neighboring formations, reactivation stress of existing faults, well-completion processes to minimize possible leakage, transport/leakage monitoring of injected $CO_2$, and operation procedures for ensuring the storage safety. These extensive studies showed that there will be little chance in $CO_2$ leakage that affects human life. In conclusion, the Small-scale Offshore $CO_2$ Storage Demonstration Project in the Pohang Basin would not cause any induced earthquakes nor signifiant $CO_2$ leakage that people can sense. The research team will give every effort to secure the safety of the storage site.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2015

The growth and population dynamics of eelgrass (Zostera marina) due to changes in sediment composition were examined in the lower intertidal zone of the Seomjin Estuary, Korea. We surveyed environmental factors such as water temperature, underwater irradiance, main types and organic content of sediment, tidal exposure, and nutrient concentrations in the water column and sediment pore water, in relation to the shoot density, biomass, morphological characteristics, and growth of Z. marina inhabiting lower intertidal zones. The survey was conducted monthly from May to December of 2004 and 2009. The water temperature showed obvious seasonal trends in both study years. Underwater irradiance was significantly higher in 2009 than in 2004. Tidal exposure was not significantly different between 2004 and 2009. The sediment was muddy-sand in 2004 but became sandy and with a significantly lower organic content in 2009. Water column $NH_4{^+}$ concentrations were significantly higher in 2004 than in 2009. Sediment pore water $NO_3{^-}+NO_2{^-}$ concentrations were significantly higher in 2009 than in 2004. Other nutrient concentrations did not differ significantly between 2004 and 2009. Morphological characteristics, including eelgrass length and leaf width were significantly lower in 2009 than in 2004. Eelgrass shoot height, leaf length, and sheath length showed typical seasonal patterns, increasing in early summer and decreasing in autumn, in both years. Vegetative shoot density was not significantly different between 2004 and 2009, while the biomass of individual plant parts and the total biomass were significantly lower in 2009. Eelgrass leaf productivity did not differ between years, but leaf turnover time was significantly shorter in 2009 than in 2004. Eelgrass downsizing and decreased turnover time in 2009 compared to 2004 indicate more effective adaptations to the stress of long-term changes in sediment composition. Overall, results suggest that changes in sediment composition can be a limiting factor for seagrass growth in the intertidal zone.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.51-61
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• 2013

Researches on the oil recovery enhancement using the nanotechnology has recently been studied in the United States. The previous researches has focused mainly on the flow characteristics of nanoparticles in porous media, and the stability of the nano-emulsion itself. However, the analysis did not deal with the size effects between a nano-emulsion and the pore size which has an important role when nano-emulsion flows in the porous media. In this research, nano-based emulsion was fabricated which is able to be applied for the enhanced oil recovery techniques and its characteristics was analyzed. In addition, in order to identify the characteristics of nano-emulsions flowing through the porous media, the size effect was analysed by filtering test. According to the results, when the emulsion was fabricated, SCA(Silane Coupling Agent) or PVA(Poly Vinyl Alcohol) are added to improve the stability of emulsion. As the ratio of the decane to water increased, the viscosity of emulsion and the droplet size also increased. For the filtering test at the atmospheric conditions, the droplet did not go through the filter; only the separated water from the emulsion was able to be filtered. This phenomenon occurred because the droplet was not able to overcome the capillary pressure. At the filtering test by suction pressure, most of the emulsion was filtered over the filter size of $60{\mu}m$. However, the ratio of filtration was rapidly degraded at less than $45{\mu}m$ filters. This is caused due to deformation and destruction of the droplet by strong shear stress when passing through the pore. The results from the study on the basic characteristic of nano-emulsion and filtering test will be expected to play as the important role for the fabrication of the stable nano-emulsion or the research on the recovery of residual oil in porous media.