• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.41-52
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• 2012

Suction drain method can directly apply vacuum pressure to the soft ground through vertical drains so it can make hardening zones around them. These hardening zones make steeply lower the discharge efficiency of the pore water with decreasing permeability. This paper considered a stepped vacuum pressure to minimize a hardening zone which is one of the important parameters that can decrease discharge efficiency. A series of laboratory tests were conducted in order to examine the effect of the hardening zones and to evaluate their effects to the ground improvements with varying durations which applied stepped vacuum pressures(-20kPa, -40kPa, -60kPa and -80kPa) with Busan marine clay. According to strength(CPT), water content test and theoretical investigation indicate a size of the hardening zone within 7cm and the decreasing ratio of permeability about 2.0~4.0. Also, the total settlements are larger for the stepped vacuum pressure than the instant vacuum loading. The application time with vacuum pressure is determined considering the geotechnical properties of the interested clays. Results of numerical analysis show that consolidation behavior is appropriate to measurement for considering hardening zones.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.1E
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• pp.33-38
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• 2007

Compressional wave velocity and shear wave velocity were measured for gassy sediments collected from Jinhae Bay, Korea. To distinguish inhomogeneities of gassy sediments, Computed Tomography (CT) was carried out for gassy sediment using CT Scanner. The cored sediments are composed of homogeneous and soft mud (greater than $8{\Phi}$ in mean grain size) containing clay content more than 50%. In depth interval of gassy sediments, compressional wave velocity is significantly decreased from 1480m/s to 1360m/s, indicating that the gas greatly affects compressional wave velocity due to a gas and/or degassing cracks. Shear wave velocity shows a slight increasing pattern from ${\sim}55\;m/s$ in the upper part of the core to ${\sim}58\;m/s$ at 320 cm depth, and then decreases to ${\sim}54\;m/s$ in the lower part of the core containing a small amount of gas. But shear wave velocity in the gassy sediments is slightly greater than that of non-gassy sediments in the upper part of the core. Thus, the Vp/Vs ratio is decreased (from 30 to 25) in gas charged zone. The Vp/Vs ratio is well correlated with shear wave velocity, but no correlation with compressional wave velocity. This suggests that low concentrations of gas have little affects on shear wave velocity. By CT images, the gas in the sediments is mostly concentrated around inner edge of core liner due to a long duration after sediment collection.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.27-35
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• 2008

Geotechnical characteristic values for reliability-based design were analyzed using domestic marine clays. Analysis results indicate that there were close to mean values in oder of Student/Ovesen, Schneider and EN 1990's approach. However, it was found that the EN 1990's approach is inappropriate far estimating geotechnical characteristic value due to low reliability of estimation results. Four approaches had a trend of evaluating characteristic value conservatively with increasing of soil variability. Also, stability and settlement of breakwater subjected to nominal stress with unimproved soft grounds were computed to investigate the effects of estimated characteristic values. In case of using the Schneider's approach, the ratio of allowable bearing capacity/acting loads suggested 65% of that obtained from using the arithmetic mean approach, and showed underestimated value of 13.6% of the settlement obtained from the latter. The comparison of case designs using a representative value from arithmetic mean approach with the proposed approaches, using characteristic value showed that the former was mostly overestimated.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.2C
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• pp.95-103
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• 2008

Seismic piezocone penetration tests (SCPTu) can be used to obtain dynamic properties of soils as well as cone resistance and penetration pore pressure. However, the SCPTu system can be hardly utilized in marine soils because it is difficult to install the source apparatus which generates the shear wave in offshore site. The authors developed an inhole type piezocone penetration test (CPTu) equipment which both source and receiver composed of bender elements were installed inside the rod located behind the cone. Therefore, it can be applicable to even an offshore site without any additional source apparatus. The objective of this paper is to investigate the practical application of inhole type CPTu by performing laboratory model tests using kaolinite as soft clay. The shear wave velocities of kaolinite soil were measured with time, and the effects of soil disturbance due to the installation of source and receiver were also examined for various distance between source and receiver.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.69-79
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• 2019

The coastal area forms various sedimentary layers according to the environmental conditions such as the topography and geological features of the upper region of the river, ocean currents, and river mouth. Therefore, identifying the characteristics of the marine clay deposited in the coastal area plays a key role in the investigation of the formation of soft ground. In general, alluvial grounds are formed by a variety of factors such as changes in topography and natural environment, they have very diverse qualities depending on the deposited region or sedimentation conditions. The most important thing for the construction of social infrastructures in soft ground areas is economical and efficient treatment of soft ground. In this study, the author collected data from diverse laboratory and field tests on five areas in western and southern offshore with relatively high reliability, and then statistically analyzed them, thereby presenting standard constants for construction design. Correlation between design parameters such as over consolidation ratio, preconsolidation pressure was analyzed using linear and non-linear regression analyses. Also, proposed distribution characteristics of design parameters in consideration of each region's uncertainty through statistical analyses such as normality verification, outlier removal.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.11-18
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• 2005

A pilot scale filed model test and 2-D numerical analysis was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of constructing a geogrid-reinforced and pile-supported embankment system over soft ground to reduce differential settlement, and the results are presented hearin. Three-by-three pile groups with varying the space between pile were driven into a layer of soft marine clay and a layer of geogrid was used as reinforcement over each pile group. 2-D numerical analysis has been conducted by using the FLAC-2D(Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) program for same condition of field model test. The settlement, vertical stress, and strain of geogrid due to the construction of embankment were measured at various locations. Based on the field model test and numerical analysis results, pile reinforcement generated the soil arching at the midspan of pile cap and the geogrid reinforcement helps reduce the differential settlement of the soft ground by tensile strength of geogrid. Also for $D/b{\geq}6.0$, the effectiveness of geogrid reinforcement in reducing settlement is negligible.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.25-35
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• 2010

Settlement at reclamation area caused by secondary compression should be considered using spatial evaluating method because the thickness of consolidation layer varies at every location. Probabilistic method can be implemented to evaluate uncertainty of spatial distribution of secondary compression. This study spatially evaluated mean and standard deviation of secondary compression in the overall analyzing region using spatial distribution of consolidation thickness estimated by ordinary kriging method and statistical values of soil properties. And then, the area where secondary compression exceeds a design criterion at the specific time was evaluated using probabilistic method. It was observed that the area exceeding the design criterion increased as the variability of $C_{\alpha}/(1+e_o)$ increased or the probabilistic design criterion 0: decreased. It is considered that the probabilistic method can be used for the geotechnical design of soft ground when a probabilistic design criterion is established in the specification.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.330-342
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• 1998

Benthic environmental parameters were analysed at 40 stations during the period from April 1995 to February 1996. such as water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen (DO)-concentration in the surface and bottom water layers, grain size, chemical oxygen demand (COD), ignition loss, particulate organic carbon (POC) in the sediment of Youngsan River estuary. The water temperature ranged from 4.1 to $29.8^{\circ}C$ in the surface and 4.0 to $20.7^{\circ}C$ in the bottom layers. Salinity ranged from 15.1 to $33.6\%_{\circ}$ in the surface and 31.5 to $33.2\%_{\circ}$ in the bottom layer. The salinity in the outer pan of the study area was higher than that of inner area from autumn to spring, whereas they remained lower in summer. Dissolved oxygen concentration ranged from 5,1 to 11.2 $mg/\ell$ in the surface, and 0.79 to 10,2 $mg/{\ell}$ in the bottom layers. Hypoxic condition ($\le2.0mg/\ell$) was developed in the bottom water layer from Youngsan dike to Mokpo Harhour in summer due to the summer stratification. The surface sediment type was silty clay with a mean grain size of $9.12{\pm}0.45\phi$. The range of COD was from 6.15 to $15.49mgO_2/g$ with a mean of $10.59{\pm}12.64mgO_2/g$. The COD in the inner stations was relatively higher than that of outer stations, and decreased toward the outer part of the study area. Ignition loss (IL) ranged from 3.35 to $15.45\%$ with a mean of $5.96{\pm}1.91\%$. Principal component analysis was carried out from the following five environmental parameters: water temperature, dissolved oxygen in the bottom layer and mean grain size, clay content and COD in the sediment. The forty stations in the study area were classified into three stational groups. Group I was located in the inner part of the estuary characterised by relatively low surface salinity and bottom water temperature, fine sedimemt texture, high organic matter and low dissolved oxygen concentration during the summer. Meanwhile, Group III showing relatively high bottom salinity and water temperature was located in the outer part of the estuary characterising coarse sediment and low organic content in sediment. Group II was between Group I and Group III. The division of the areal groups had high correlations to the DO in the bottom layer and clay content in the sediment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.127-134
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• 2024

With the growth of offshore wind power generation market, the corresponding installation vessel market is also growing. It is anticipated that approximately 100 installation vessels will be required in the of shore wind power generation market by 2030. With a price range of 300 to 400 billion Korean won per vessel, this represents a high-value market compared to merchant vessels. Particularly, the demand for large installation vessels with a capacity of 11 MW or more is increasing. The rapid growth of the offshore wind power generation market in the Asia-Pacific region, centered around China, has led to several discussions on orders for operational installation vessels in this region. The seabed geology in the Asia-Pacific region is dominated by clay layers with low bearing capacity. Owing to these characteristics, during vessel operations, significant spudcan and leg penetration depths occur as the installation vessel rises and descends above the water surface. In this study, using penetration variables ranging from 3 to 21 m, the unique vibration period, structural safety of the legs, and conductivity safety index were assessed based on penetration depths. As the penetration depth increases, the natural vibration period and the moment length of the leg become shorter, increasing the margin of structural strength. It is safe against overturning moment at all angles of incidence, and the maximum value occurs at 270 degrees. The conditions reviewed through this study can be used as crucial data to determine the operation of the legs according to the penetration depth when developing operating procedures for WTIV in soft soil. In conclusion, accurately determining the safety of the leg structure according to the penetration depth is directly related to the safety of the WTIV.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.46-53
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• 2005

This paper describes the mean grain size and shear strength properties related to subsidence characteristics using sediment samples and acoustic images obtained from artificial reef areas in Tongyoung and Jangsungpo offshore. The acoustic images collected from chirp sonar and side scan sonar show well the attitude/orientation, the distribution pattern, and the degree of subsidence of artificial reefs, suggesting the possibility of suitable site investigation and the management of the reefs using acoustic sonar. The sediments were largely composed of clayey silt and silty clay. The mean grain sizes in Tongyoung and Jangsungpo offshore show the ranges of 5${\sim}$9${\Phi}$ and 8${\sim}$9${\Phi}$, respectively. The shear strength was significantly increased at the depths of 20cm in Tongyoung offshore and 80cm in Jangsungpo offshore, corresponding to the subsidence depth of artificial reefs. The relationship between mean grain size and shear strength did not show a correlation, suggesting the shear strength does not totally depend on mean grain size. Provided subsidence characteristics with respect to various artificial reefs and seabed condition are investigated in more details, the constructing area of the reef can be more extended.