• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.33-39
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• 2020

A geological repository has been considered as an option for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). The HLW is disposed in a host rock at a depth of 500~1,000 meters below the ground surface based on the concept of engineered barrier system (EBS). The EBS is composed of a disposal canister, buffer material, backfill material, and gap-filling material. The compacted bentonite buffer is very important since it can restrain the release of radionuclide and protect the canister from the inflow of ground water. The saturation of the buffer decreases because high temperature in a disposal canister is released into the surrounding buffer material, but saturation of the buffer increases because of the inflow of ground water. The unsaturated properties of the buffer are critical input parameters for the entire safety assessment of the engineered barrier system. In Korea, Gyeongju bentonite can be considered as a candidate buffer material, but there are few test results of the unsaturated properties considering temperature variation. Therefore, this paper conducted experiment of soil-water characteristic curve for the Gyeongju compacted bentonite considering temperature variation under a constant water content condition. The relative error showed approximately 2% between test results and modified van-Genuchten model values.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.439-455
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• 2019

A buffer is the major component of a high level radioactive waste repository. Due to their thermal conductivity and low permeability, bentonites have been considered as a key component of a buffer system in most countries. The deep geological condition generates ground water inflow and results in swelling pressure in the buffer and backfill. Investigation of swelling pressure of bentonite buffer is an important task for the safe disposal system. The swelling pressure that can be critical is affected by mechanical and hydro properties of the system. Therefore, in this study, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the effect of hydro-mechanical (HM) behaviors in the MX-80 bentonite. Based on the results of the swelling pressure generation with HM model parameters, a coupled HM analysis of an unsaturated buffer and backfill in a deep geological repository was also carried out to investigate the major factor of the swelling pressure generation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.49-59
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• 2016

We develop liquefaction resistance curves, which represent the correlation between cyclic resistance ratio (CRR) and number of cycles (N) to estimate the build-up of residual excess pore pressure from simple shear tests performed for this study and also from published literature. The liquefaction curve is calculated from two models. The comparisons show that one of the models is not reliable because it underestimates CRR. The scatter of the data is shown to be significantly reduced when CRR is normalized to the resistance ratio at N = 15 ($CRR_{N=15}$). Use of the normalization is particularly useful because CRR can be easily estimated from field tests. From normalization, we propose mean, upper, and lower curves. The corresponding design equation and its parameters are also proposed. We believe that the proposed curves can be used for effective stress site response analyses and evaluation of the seismic performance of port structures.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2004

This study presents the evaluation of CSM(Capacity Spectrum Method, ATC-40) in developing fragility curves for a sample concrete bridge. The CSM is originally developed as one of the simplified procedures for building structures, while this study adopts the CSM to develop fragility curves of bridge structures. Four(4) different approaches are demonstrated and the fragility curves developed are compared those by the nonlinear time history analysis. Fragility curves in this study are represented by lognormal distribution functions with two parameters and developed as a function of PGA. The sixty(60) ground acceleration time histories for the Los Angeles area developed for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) SAC(SEAOC-ATC-CUREe) steel project are used for the bridge analysis. The comparison of fragility curves by the CSM with those by the time history analysis indicates that the agreement is excellent for one of the methods investigated in this study. In this respect. it is recommended that the demand spectrum might be improved according to the guidelines suggested in this study. However, this observation might not always apply, depending on the details of specific bridge characteristic

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.74-84
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• 2015

To yield physically meaningful images through elastic reverse-time migration, the wavefield separation which extracts P- and S-waves from reconstructed vector wavefields by using elastic wave equation is prerequisite. For expanding the application of the elastic reverse-time migration to anisotropic media, not only the anisotropic modelling algorithm but also the anisotropic wavefield separation is essential. The anisotropic wavefield separation which uses pseudo-derivative filters determined according to vertical velocities and anisotropic parameters of elastic media differs from the Helmholtz decomposition which is conventionally used for the isotropic wavefield separation. Since applying these pseudo-derivative filter consumes high computational costs, we have developed the efficient anisotropic wavefield separation algorithm which has capability of parallel computing by using GPUs (Graphic Processing Units). In addition, the highly efficient anisotropic elastic reverse-time migration algorithm using MPI (Message-Passing Interface) and incorporating the developed anisotropic wavefield separation algorithm with GPUs has been developed. To verify the efficiency and the validity of the developed anisotropic elastic reverse-time migration algorithm, a VTI elastic model based on Marmousi-II was built. A synthetic multicomponent seismic data set was created using this VTI elastic model. The computational speed of migration was dramatically enhanced by using GPUs and MPI and the accuracy of image was also improved because of the adoption of the anisotropic wavefield separation.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.203-212
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• 2008

The cyclic behavior and energy dissipation mechanism of short coupling beams with various reinforcement layouts were studied. For numerical analysis of coupling beams, nonlinear truss model was used. The results of numerical analysis showed that the coupling beams with conventional reinforcement layout showed pinched cyclic behavior without significant energy dissipation, whereas the coupling beams with diagonal reinforcement exhibited stable cyclic behavior without pinching. The energy dissipation of the coupling beams was developed mainly by diagonal reinforcing bars developing large plastic strains rather than concrete which is a brittle material Based on this result, simplified equations for evaluating the energy dissipation of coupling beams were developed. For verification, the predicted energy dissipation was compared with the test results. The results showed that the simplified equations can predict the energy dissipation of short coupling beams with shear span-to-depth ratio less than 1.25 with reasonable precision, addressing various design parameters such as reinforcement layout, shear span-to-depth ratio, and the magnitude of inelastic displacement. The proposed energy equations can be easily applied to performance-based seismic evaluation and design of reinforced concrete structures and members.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.523-531
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• 2008

In hole type CPTu equipment which combines the concepts of inhole test method and piezocone test method was newly developed in order to evaluate the dynamic properties of marine soils. It is possible to perform inhole type CPTu without any additional source device because the source and receiver are contained inside the cone rod, which is different from the conventional seismic cone system. In this study, laboratory tests using kaolinite as soft soil and numerical simulations using finite element method were carried out to investigate the effects of several parameters including test methods and soil conditions on the test results from inhole type CPTu and to find out the optimum test method. It was found that it is necessary to maintain the length of swing arm as well as the distance between source and receiver consistently to obtain the rigorous test results. The laboratory test and numerical results also reveal that contrary to the input wave frequency, the water content of soil layer and the disturbance due to the installation of swing arm apparently affect the shear wave velocity.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 2010

An earthquake with local magnitude $(M_L)$ 3.7 on December 9, 2000 occurred offshore Yeongdeok area, South Korea. In case of applying Chang and Baag (2006) crustal velocity model, the epicenter is $36.4462^{\circ}N\;and\;129.9789^{\circ}E$, which belongs to the inside of the Korean Peninsula Continental Shelf. Although we use the modified model reducing crustal thickness of Chang and Baag (2006) model by 5 km considering the transition from continental crust to oceanic crust in the East Sea, the epicenter was little changed. We carried out the waveform inversion analysis to estimate focal depth and focal mechanism of this event. The focal depth is estimated to be 11 ~ 12 km. The seismic moment is estimated to be $1.0{\times}10^{15}N{\cdot}m$, and this value corresponds to the moment magnitude $(M_W)$ 3.9. The offshore Yeongdeok event including May 29, 2004 offshore Uljin one show typical thrust faulting, and the direction of P-axis is ESE-WNW. The moment magnitude estimated by the spectral analysis is 4.0, which is similar to that by the waveform inversion analysis. Average stress drop is estimated to be 3.4 MPa.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.81-92
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• 2001

According to analyses of high-resolution seismic profiles (air gun, sparker, and SBP) and a deep-drill core(YSDP 105) in the mid-eastern Yellow Sea, stratigraphic and geoacoustic models have been established and seismo-acoustic modeling has been fulfilled using ray tracing of finite element method. Stratigraphic model reflects seismo-, litho-, and chrono-stratigraphic sequences formed under a significant influence of Quaternary glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations. Each sequence consists of terrestrial to very-shallow-marine coarse-grained lowstand systems tract and tidal fine-grained transgressive to highstand systems tract. Based on mean grain-size data (121 samples) of the drill core, bulk density and P-wave velocity of depositional units have been inferred and extrapolated down to a depth of the recovery using the Hamilton's regression equations. As goo-acoustic parameters, the 121 pairs of bulk density and P-wave velocity have been averaged on each unit of the stratigraphic model. As a result of computer ray-tracing simulation of the subsurface strata, we have found that there are complex ray paths and many acoustic-shadow zones owing to the presence of irregular layer boundaries and low-velocity layers.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.151-164
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• 2022

According to the records of historical and instrumental earthquakes, the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula is considered the highest seismic activity area. Owing to recent reports of numerous Quaternary faults along the Yangsan and Ulsan fault zones, paleoseismological studies are being actively conducted in these areas. The study area is located in the central part of the Ulsan fault zone, where the largest number of active faults have been reported. Based on lineament and geomorphic analysis using LiDAR images and aerial photographs, fault-related landforms showing topographic relief were observed and a trench survey was conducted. The trench length 20 m, width 5 m, depth 5 m is located approximately 300 m away to the northeast from the previously reported Malbang fault. From the trench section, we interpreted the geometric and kinematic characteristics of the fault based on the deformed features of the Quaternary sedimentary layers. The attitude of the reverse fault, N26°W/33°NE, is similar to those of the reported faults distributed along the Ulsan fault zone. Although a single apparent displacement of approximately 40 cm has been observed, the true displacement could not be calculated due to the absence of the slickenline on the fault plane. Based on the geochronological results of the cryogenic structure proposed in a previous study, the most recent faulting event has been estimated as being earlier than the late Wurm glaciation. We interpreted the thrust fault system of the study area as an imbrication structure based on the previous studies and the fault geometry obtained in this additional trench. Although several previous investigations including many trench surveys have been conducted, they found limited success in obtaining the information on fault parameters, which could be due to complex characteristics of the reverse fault system. Additional paleoseismic studies will contribute to solving the mentioned problems and the comprehensive fault evolution.