• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.955-962
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• 2008

This study concerns the effect of drainage in reinforced soil on its stability during rainfall. A series of finite-element analysis based transient seepage analysis were performed on a number of cases with different drainage conditions in terms of layers of geotextiles installed in the reinforced zone. The results were then coupled with the limit-equilibrium slope stability analysis to investigate the variation of global stability factor of safety with rainfall infiltration into the reinforced wall. The results were thoroughly analyzed to get insight into the mechanism of pore water pressure reduction effect of the geotextile and into its effect on overall slope stability. It is shown that layers of geotextile installed in the reinforced zone can prevent decrease in suction in the reinforced zone during rainfall, thereby reducing potential risk of decreasing shear strength of the reinforced zone. Practical implications of the findings were discussed.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.421-429
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• 2018

Purpose: This study conducted a slope stability study considering changes in the ground water level due to rain phenomena and the duration of rainfall, that is for the purpose of analyzing the stability of the slope surface of the cut section, seepage numerical analysis is performed by height of slope and rainfall accident, and the characteristics of rainfall was applied reasonably in order to determine the slope change during rain by analyzing rainfall and rainfall pattern due to climate change. Results: As a result of numerical analysis of stability for slope composed of the granite weathered soils according to the characteristics of rainfall(Uniform Rainfall, US Army Corps., Huff's method - 1/4, 4/4), Conclusion: The higher the slope, the smaller the safety factor of the slope, the smaller the elevation of the ground water level as the rainwater seepage does not reach the underground water level. In addition, the ground water level was assessed to be rose significantly in condition of case 3 Huff's method - 1/4, rain pattern with the largest initial rainfall duration, and the safety factor was analyzed to be small.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.13-27
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• 2023

The model production for large-scale (lateral length ≥ 2.0 m) capillary barrier (CB) model tests is time and cost-intensive. To address these limitations, the framework of a small-scale CB (SSCB) model test under the lateral no-flow condition has been established. In this study, to validate the experimental methodology of the SSCB model test, a series of seepage analyses on the SSCB model test and engineered slopes in the same and additional test conditions was performed. First, the seepage behavior and diversion length (L_D) of the CB system were investigated under three rainfall conditions. In the seepage analysis for the engineered slopes with different slope angles and sand layer thicknesses, the L_D increased with the increase in the slope angle and sand layer thickness, although the increase rate of the L_D with the sand layer thickness exhibited an upper limit. The L_D values from the seepage analysis agreed well with the results estimated from the laboratory SSCB mode test. Therefore, it can be concluded that the experimental methodology of the SSCB model test is one of the promising alternatives to efficiently evaluate the water-shielding performance of the CB system for an engineered slope.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.515-524
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• 2015

The number of occurrence of differential settlement and track irregularity at track transition zone recently comes to increase, which leads to frequent maintenance activities that have an impact on train operation. Such track transition zone damages are attributed to the change of mechanical properties of fill materials due to environmental factors such as rainfall and freeze, and thaw. Consequently, this study attempts to establish the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) of fill materials, and conduct seepage analysis to assess the distribution of degree of saturation (DOS) for track transition zone in case of rainfall. The SWCC of fill materials was successfully obtained using filter paper test method. The results of seepage analysis revealed that rainfall intensity, the slope of backfill, backfill condition (fill or cut), and SWCC are significantly influential in controlling the distribution of DOS.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2001

In this study, the seepage behavior and the stability of the extension embankment were estimated for three cases the permeability coefficient of an extension part and the rising velocity due to the rainfall of flood period. In parallel flow condition, the unstability of the slope due to embankment erosion was examined by analyzing the variation of seepage line by the seepage modeling tests and FEM analysis, and the stability of the embankment slope accompanied by the sudden rise of the water level after the flood. The seepage behavior of extension embankment indicates that the larger permeability of the extension part the longer initial seepage distance, and the exit point from embankment slope is gradually increased, and then shows unstable seepage behavior that occurs a partial collapse as safety factor decreases with time. It is because of the increment of exit points due to variation of seepage line and rising velocities of water level. Also, the collapse aspect of embankment slope shows that the increment rising velocities of water level causes the increment collapse height and depth.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.5-18
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• 2014

Many regions around the world are vulnerable to rainfall-induced slope failures. A variety of methods have been proposed for revealing the mechanism of slope failure initiation. Current analysis methods, however, do not consider the effects of non-homogeneous soil profiles and variable hydraulic responses on rainfall-induced slope failures. In this study, probabilistic stability analyses were conducted for weathered residual soil slopes with different soil thickness overlying impermeable bedrock to study the rainfall-induced failure mechanisms depending on the soil thickness. A series of seepage and stability analyses of an infinite slope based on one-dimensional random fields were performed to consider the effects of uncertainty due to the spatial heterogeneity of hydraulic conductivity on the failure of unsaturated slopes due to rainfall infiltration. The results showed that a probabilistic framework can be used to efficiently consider various failure patterns caused by spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity in rainfall infiltration assessment for a infinite slope.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.69-78
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• 2012

Conventional numerical analysis for rainfall-induced slope stability has been estimated by separating seepage and stress-strain behavior, respectively. Many researchers' models from commercial softwares and literatures define that partially saturated permeability is the only function of degree of saturation (or matrix suction) and then they do not consider hydraulic-mechanical characteristics for the analysis. However, in practice, 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 stress and to deformation of a soil. The relationship between seepage and soil behavior causes a change of partially saturated permeability as well as saturated permeability with the lapse of time. Instability of partially saturated soil slopes due to infiltration would be analyzed from reduction of negative pore water pressure calculating the process of water flow based on predicted partially saturated permeability. Therefore, partially saturated permeability should be defined by the function of degree of saturation (or matric suction) and porosity. The paper presents the comparison between staggered and monolithic coupled analysis regarding seepage and stress deformation problems. As a result, the decrease in matric suction on soil slope from monolithic analysis is slower than that from staggered analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.55-66
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• 2009

At the mudstone slope located on the roadside of the Seokri area in Donghae-myeon, Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, this study was performed to analyze the effects of rainfall on the stability of slope through seepage analysis according to the precipitation type of the mudstone slope, referring to the actual case of slope failure. For this, precise geological survey, geophysical exploration and drilling survey for the slope where the failure occurred were performed and followed by analysis of detailed soil layer. For the section where failure surface located, the durability reduction of rocks was measured through slaking/swelling tests and the permeability was measured through in-situ permeability tests for each soil layer. In addition, the change of strength parameter and process of instability were analyzed by back analysis, using Talren 97 and Slope/W programs, in the slope. By applying different precipitation conditions to the geographical conditions of the slope that had actual failure records, the slope stability was analyzed by seepage analysis according to duration of rainfall and rise of groundwater level resulting from the flow of rainfall caused by development of geological structures and the slope surface condition.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2015

This study has obtained Soil Water Retention Curve (SWRC) of the unsaturated soil from the volumetric pressure plate extractor test and the triaxial compression tests was also conducted. By using the rainfall data measured in the site the seepage analysis of unsteady flow was performed with the program of SEEP/W in Geostudio 2007 and stability of the slope was analyzed with SLOPE/W program. Results of analyses show that shear strength of the unsaturated soil increases with the increase of matric suction. And it was also found that the net volumetric stress and the apparent cohesion increased with the matric suction. The seepage analysis of rainfall represents that the increasing rate of negative pore pressure at the zone of large negative pore pressure is appeared to be high even though lower rainfall intensity, but this tendency declines with ground depth. The stability analysis of slope was carried out for the actual plane of failure with the data representing the field condition. The factor of safety thus calculated was about unity (1.0) or just below, which means that the adopted method of analysis is in good agreement with the field condition.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2021

The influence of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) fitting parameters for an unsaturated natural slope was evaluated through seepage and slope stability analysis as a function of rainfall. Soil samples were collected from the study area in Jirisan National Park and the physical and mechanical characteristics of unsaturated soil layers were measured in laboratory tests. The saturation depth was calculated via seepage analysis by changing fitting parameters α, the parameter related to the Air Entry Value (AEV) and n, the parameter related to the slope of the SWCC in the range of natural conditions. Slope stability analysis using the limit equilibrium method considered the calculated depth of saturation. Results from seepage analysis for various rainfall conditions indicate the saturation depth in the soil layer suddenly increased as the fitting parameter α decreased; the saturation time for the entire soil layer also decreased. Slope stability analysis considering the calculated depth of saturation shows that the slope safety factor rapidly decreased as the fitting parameter α decreased, whereas the variation in slope safety factor was very small when n increased. Hence, fitting parameter α has a large effect on saturation depth during rainfall and therefore on slope stability, whereas slope stability is relatively unaffected by the fitting parameter n.