• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.79-90
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• 2012

Air pluviation method is widely adopted for preparation of large, uniform and repeatable sand beds of desired densities for laboratory studies to simulate in-situ conditions and obtain test results which are highly reliable. This paper presents details of a portable traveling pluviator recently developed for model sand bed preparation. The pluviator essentially consisted of a hopper, orifice plates for varying deposition intensity, combination of flexible and rigid tubes for smooth travel of material, and a set of diffuser sieves to obtain uniformity of pluviated sand bed. It was observed that sand beds of lower relative density can be achieved by controlling height of fall, whereas, denser sand beds could be obtained by controlling deposition intensity. Uniformity of pluviated sand beds was evaluated using cone penetration test and at lower relative densities minor variation in density was observed with depth. With increase in relative density of sand bed higher repeatability of uniform pluviation was achieved.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제37권5호
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• pp.431-441
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• 2024

A newly developed line-style sand pluviator has been calibrated to prepare repeatable sand specimens of specific statuses of compactness and homogeneity for laboratory tests. Sand is falling via a bottom slot of a fixed hopper, and by moving the sample container under the slot, the container is evenly filled with sand. The pluviator is designed with high flexibility: The falling height of sand, the hopper's opening width and the relative moving speed between the hopper and the sample box can be easily adjusted. By changing these control factors, sand specimens of a wide range of densities can be prepared. A series of specimen preparation was performed using the coarse Merwede River sand. Performance of the pluviator was systematically evaluated by exploring the alteration of achievable density, as well as checking the homogeneity and fabric of the prepared samples by CT scanning. It was found that the density of prepared coarse sand samples has monotonic correlations with none of the three control factors. Furthermore, CT scanning results suggested that the prepared samples exhibited excellent homogeneity in the horizontal direction but periodical alteration of density in the vertical direction. Based on these calibration test results, a preliminary hypothesis is proposed to describe the general working principles of this type of pluviators a priori, illustrating the mechanisms dominating the non-monotonic correlations between control factors and the relative density as well as the vertically prevalent heterogeneity of specimens. Accordingly, practical recommendations are made in a unified framework in order to lessen the load of similar calibration work.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제28권5호
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• pp.521-529
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• 2022

This research work deals with the development of air pluviation method for preparing uniform sand specimens for conducting large scale laboratory testing. Simulating real field conditions and to get reliable results, air pluviation method is highly desirable. This paper presents a special technique called air pluviation or sand raining technique for achieving uniform relative density. The apparatus is accompanied by a hopper, shutters with different orifice sizes and numbers and set of sieves. Before using this apparatus, calibration curves are drawn for relative density against different height of fall (H) and shutter sizes. From these calibration curves, corresponding to the desired relative density of 60%, the shutter size of 13mm and height of fall of 457.2 mm, are selected and maintained throughout the pluviation process. The density obtained from the mobile pluviator is then verified using the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) test where the soil is poured in the box using defined shutter size and fall height. The results obtained from the DCP test are averaged as 60±0.5 which was desirable. The mobile pluviator used in this research is also capable of obtaining relative densities up to 90%. The instrument is validated using experimental and numerical approach. In numerical study, Plaxis 3D software is used in which the soil mass is defined by 10-Node tetrahedral elements and 6-Node plate is used to simulate plate behavior in the validation phase. The results obtained from numerical approach were compared with that of experimental one which showed very close correlation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.131-139
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• 2018

The preparation of repeatable and uniformly reconstituted soil specimens up to the specified conditions is an essential requirement for the laboratory tests. In this study for large samples replication, the simultaneous usage of the traveling pluviation and curtain raining technique is used to develop a new method, called the curtain travelling pluviator (CTP). This simple and cost effective system is based on the air pluviation approach, whilst reducing the sample production time, can reproduce uniform samples with relative densities ranging from 25% to 96%. In order to investigate the resulting suitability and uniformity from the proposed method, a series of tests is performed. The effect of curtain traveling velocity, curtain width, drop height, and flow rate on the parameters of the sample is thoroughly investigated. Increase in the curtain velocity and drop height leads to the increase in relative density for the sand specimen. Increase in curtain width typically resulted in the reduction of relative density. Test results reveal that the terminal drop height for the sand specimen in this study is more than 500 mm. Relative density contour lines are presented that can be utilized in optimizing the drop height and curtain width parameters. Sample uniformity in the vertical and horizontal orientation is investigated through the sampling containers. Increasing relative density tends to result in the higher sample repeatability and uniformity.

• 한국지반신소재학회논문집
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

본 연구에서는 헬리컬 파일의 관입시간과 극한하중에 관한 연구를 진행하고자 1/6 축소모형 실험을 진행하였다. 균질한 상대밀도의 사질토 지반을 형성하기 위하여 강사법을 사용하였다. 실험 조건으로 헬리컬 파일의 나선형 원판(heilx plate) 간격을 50mm와 150mm 두 Type으로 제작하였고, 헬리컬 파일의 회전관입 시 회전속도를 15rpm과 30rpm으로 진행하였다. 관입 완료된 헬리컬 파일에 콘 장비를 항타하여 관입하였다. 콘 장비 관입으로 헬리컬 파일의 극한하중 증가와 폐색의 정도를 확인 할 수 있었다. 위의 실험 결과를 토대로 헬리컬 파일의 관입시간은 "회전속도 30rpm-나선형 원판 간격 50mm"에서 단축 되었고, 극한하중은 "회전속도 30rpm-나선형 원판 간격 150mm-콘 장비 유"인 조건에서 높은 극한하중을 보였다.

• 한국지반신소재학회논문집
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.67-77
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• 2017

본 연구에서는 콘 장비를 강관말뚝 중공에 설치함에 따른 말뚝의 거동을 분석하기 위해 축소 모형실험을 진행하였다. 콘 장비를 항타하여 설치 할 경우 먼저 강관 내부에 유입되는 관내토의 높이를 수치상으로 확인 할 수 있으며, 이를 통해 플러깅을 예측하여 플러깅에 따른 말뚝의 거동을 분석 할 수 있다. 또한 물리적인 항타 에너지로 지반의 강성과 강도를 증가 시켜 지지력을 상승 시킬 것으로 기대된다. 강사 장치를 이용하여 상대밀도 90%의 지반을 조성하고 거칠기가 다른 두 강관말뚝을 항타높이를 200mm와 500mm로 나누어 근입깊이 600mm까지 설치한다. 그리고 콘 장비의 유무에 따라 총 8가지 케이스를 나누어 말뚝의 지지력을 분석하였다. 말뚝의 항타높이, 말뚝의 거칠기, 콘 장비의 유무에 따른 세 가지 변수 중 항타높이가 약 70%로 지지력에 미치는 영향이 가장 컸으며 다음으로 콘 장비의 유무가 약 40%, 말뚝의 거칠기가 약 21%로 나타났다.