• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.4C
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• pp.169-175
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• 2012

Soil water retention characteristics are influenced by factors of the confining stress and hysteresis in the variably saturated soil. In the description of effective stress based on hydraulic characteristics, the contribution of a matric suction to effective stress then varies with depth or is different between the processes of infiltration and evaporation. Unsaturated effective stress can be described based on suction stress characteristic curve, in which a representative soil water retention curve is required to evaluate. Pressure palate extractor tests under various confining stresses were performed and the hysteresis of drying and wetting process was also acquired. In the process of drying or wetting, a unique relationship has been estimated on the effective volumetric water content and the matric suction, which defines suction stress characteristic curve. In the unsaturated shear strength from triaxial tests, the suction stress and the effective stress were evaluated by matric suctions. The failure envelop by effective stress based on soil water retention characteristics was unique and the same as the saturated one. The measured suction stress from triaxial tests was similar to that from the soil water retention curve. Therefore it is verified that a representative soil water retention curve can be defined which is independent of the confining effect under wetting or drying process of the hysteresis.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.261-269
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• 2012

Soil microbial community and soil physiological parameters were investigated by analyzing phospholipid fatty acids extracted from the soils amended with chitosan powder and solution in a cucumber greenhouse. The soils were sampled at 90, 160, 200 days after treatment. Identified fatty acids were analyzed with principal component (PC) analysis. Chitosan powder soils and chitosan solution soils were separated from non-treated control soils by PC1 and PC2 90 days after treatment, respectively. And chitosan powder soils were separated from non-treated control soils by PC2 160 days after treatment. The ratio of fungi to bacteria increased significantly in chitosan solution-amended soils compared with the control soils 90 days after treatment. Microbial groups and physiological parameters were investigated 160 days after treatment: vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (VAM) significantly increased in soils amended with chitosan powder compared with other soils, the ratio of gram negative bacteria to gram positive bacteria and cyclo-fatty acids to precursors were significantly higher and lower in soils amended with chitosan solution and chitosan powder compared with control soils, respectively, and the ratio of fungi to bacteria were significantly lower in control soils compared with chitosan-treated soils. The chitosan powder increased the ratio of aerobic to anaerobic bacteria and lowered the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids compared with chitosan solution 200 days after soil application. In conclusion, chitosan powder changed the soil microbial community and the effects maintained up to 160 days after soil application. The effect of physiological parameters on the soil microbial community started to appear 160 days after and continued up to 200 days after soil application of chitosan.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.153-163
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• 2020

Laboratory experiments were conducted with two different soil conditions to investigate rainfall infiltration characteristics. The soil layer materials that were tested were weathered granite soil and weathered gneiss soil. Artificial rainfall of 80 mm/hr was reproduced through the use of a rainfall device, and the volumetric water content and matric suction were measured. In the case of the granite soil, the saturation velocity and the moving direction of the wetting front were fast and upward, respectively, whereas in the case of the weathered gneiss soil, the velocity and direction were slow and downward, respectively. Rainfall penetrated and saturated from the bottom to the top as the hydraulic conductivity of the granite soil was higher than the infiltration capacity of the artificial rainfall. In contrast, as the hydraulic conductivity of the gneiss soil was lower than the infiltration capacity of the rainfall, ponding occurred on the surface: part of the rainfall first infiltrated, with the remaining rainfall subsequently flowing out. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function of weathered soils was determined and analyzed with matric suction and the effective degree of saturation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.52-61
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• 2000

Permeability is important factor in the geotechnical problems, such as seepage discharge and dissipation of excess pore water pressure. The Kozeny-Carman equation works well for graded soils but serious discrepancies are found in clays. Major factor for these discrepancies is the tortuous flow path and unequal pore size. To estimate the permeability of fine grained soils, a permeability equation in which swelling potential is coupled with Kozeny-Carman equation is proposed in this study. To verify proposed equation, a series of variable head permeability test was carried out for steel making slag and sludge mixed with bentonite. The coefficients of permeability which is measured in the laboratory is compared with the values by the proposed equation. From the comparison, it is shown that the proposed equation can predict the coefficient of permeability of clays with satisfaction. As steel making slag and sludge is industry waste, it is reused as material of road foundation and cement but the rate of use is low. It mixed sodium-bentonite with high swelling property and permeability decrease effect. Then, Admixture investigates reuse possibility as liner of waste fill.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.187-206
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• 2011

Accurate estimations of pre-failure deformations and post-failure responses of geostructures require that the simulation tool possesses at least three main ingredients: 1) a constitutive model that is able to describe the macroscopic stress-strain-strength behavior of soils subjected to complex stress/strain paths over a wide range of confining pressures and densities, 2) an embedded length scale that accounts for the intricate physical phenomena that occur at the grain size scale in the soil, and 3) a computational platform that allows the analysis to be carried out beyond the development of an initially "contained" failure zone in the soil. In this paper, a two-scale micropolar plasticity model will be used to incorporate all these ingredients. The model is implemented in a finite element platform that is based on the mechanics of micropolar continua. Appropriate finite elements are developed to couple displacement, micro-rotations, and pore-water pressure in form of $u_n-{\phi}_m$ and $u_n-p_m-{\phi}_m$ (n > m) elements for analysis of dry and saturated soils. Performance of the model is assessed in a biaxial compression test on a slightly heterogeneous specimen of sand. The role of micropolar component of the model on capturing the post-failure response of the soil is demonstrated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2007.09a
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• pp.481-501
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• 2007

Excessive rainfalls due to climatic changes can trigger an increase in rainfall-induced slope failures that pose real threats to both lives and properties. Many high slopes in residual soils could stand at a steep angle, but failed during or after rainfall. Commonly, these slopes have a deep groundwater table and negative pore-water pressures in the unsaturated zone above the groundwater table contribute to the shear strength of soil and consequently to factor of safety of the slope. Stability assessment of slope under rainfall requires information on rate of rainwater infiltration in the unsaturated zone and the resulting changes in pore-water pressure and shear strength of soil. This paper describes the application of unsaturated soil mechanics principles and theories in the assessment of rainfall effect on stability of slope through proper characterization of soil properties, measurement of negative pore-water pressures, seepage and slope stability analyses involving unsaturated and saturated soils. Factors controlling the rate of changes in factor of safety during rainfall and a preventive method to minimize infiltration are highlighted in this paper.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.838-845
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• 2005

Slope stability analyses have been carried out to investigate surcharge loading effects. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) involves the stress-strain behaviour of soils achieving reasonably accurate and useful results of slope stability analysis. Therefore, in this study, one of well known FEA programs, SIGMA/W, has been used to do slope stability analyses with respect to various upper slope angles and surcharge loadings. Factor of Safety(FS) exponentially decreases and significantly good correlation with the increased slope angle for upper slopes. As the surcharge loading increases from 10 t/m to 90 t/m for nail-reinforced slopes, the FS in fully saturated condition decreases from 42% to 47% and from 17% to 25% for relatively low and high strength of soils, respectively, than in dry condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2004.03b
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• pp.722-729
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• 2004

The horizontal movement of sloping ground due to flow liquefaction has caused many pile foundations to fail, especially those in ports and harbor structures. In this study, a virtual case is assumed in which flow liquefaction is induced by earthquake loads in a fully saturated infinite sand slope with a single pile installation. Under the assumption that the movement of liquefied ground is viscous fluid flow, the influence of ground movement due to flow liquefaction on the pile behavior was analyzed. Since the liquefied soil is assumed as a viscous fluid, its viscosity must be evaluated, and the viscosity was estimated by the dropping ball method ,md the pulling bar method. Finally, the influence of the flow of liquefied soil on a single pile installed in an infinite slope was analyzed by a numerical method.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.56-62
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• 2013

A technique is presented that uses a circular waveguide for the measurement of the bulk shear (S-wave) velocities of unconsolidated, saturated media, with particular application to near surface soils. The technique requires the measurement of the attenuation characteristics of the fundamental torsional mode that propagate along an embedded pipe, from which the acoustic properties of the surrounding medium are inferred. From the dispersion curve analysis, the feasibility of using fundamental torsional mode which is non-dispersive and have constant attenuation over all frequency range is discussed. The principles behind the technique are discussed and the results of an experimental laboratory validation are presented. The experimental data are best fitted for the different depths of wetted sand and the shear velocities are evaluated as a function of depths. Also the characteristics of the reflected signal from the defects are examined and the reflection coefficients are calculated for identifying the relation between defect sizes and the magnitude of the reflected signal.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.11-24
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• 2003

This paper presents the results of laboratory investigation performed to study the role of different air sparging system parameters on the removal of benzene from saturated soils and groundwater. A series of one-dimensional experiments was conducted with predetermined contaminant concentrations and predetermined injected airflow rates and pressures to investigate the effect of soil type and the use of pulsed air injection on air sparging removal efficiency. On the basis of these studies, two-dimensional air sparging remediation systems were investigated to determine the effect of soil heterogeneity on the removal of benzene from three different homogeneous and heterogeneous soil profiles. This study demonstrated that the grain size of the soils affects the air sparging removal efficiency. Additionally, it was observed that pulsed air injection did not offer any appreciable enhancement to contaminant removal for the coarse sand; however, substantial reduction in system operating time was observed for fine sand. The 2-D experiments showed that air injected in coarse sand profiles traveled in channels within a parabolic zone. In well-graded sand the zone of influence was found to be wider due to high permeability and increased tortuosity of this soil type. The influence zone of heterogeneous soil (well-graded sand between coarse sand) showed the hybrid airflow patterns of the individual soil test. Overall, the mechanism of contaminant removal using air sparging from different soil conditions have been determined and discussed.