• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.31-41
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• 2021

A dozer is a construction machinery used to move soil mass along large open tracts of land. Soil thrust generated on the soil-track interface determines the performance of the dozer; to improve the tractive performance of the dozer, the outer surface of the continuous-track is designed to protrude with grousers. In this study, we calculated soil thrust of the dozer equipped with grousers with various shape ratios, and evaluated the optimal grouser shape ratio considering ground conditions. Grouser generated additional soil thrust on the side of the continuous-track (e.g., side soil thrust) and converted the shearing surface (e.g., from soil-track interface to soil-soil interface), increasing the soil thrust of dozer by about 1.3 to 1.6 times. The effect of grouser's shape ratio on the soil thrust of dozer differed with the relative density of the ground. As the shape ratios of grouser increased, soil thrust of dozer decreased at the relative density of 40% and increased at the relative density of 80%. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the shape ratio of grouser severely affects the dozer's performance; thus, careful consideration of the optimal shape ratio of grouser is of great importance in the mechanical design, evaluation, and optimization of the undercarriage of dozers.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.33-42
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• 2018

When an off-road tracked vehicle travels, an engine thrust that is transmitted to the continuous track induces a shearing action on the soil-track interface. Consequently, the relative displacement known as slip displacement takes place on the soil-track interface, which develops an associated soil thrust acting as a traction force. For the loose or soft ground conditions, an excessively large slip displacement can be required for the development of the desired soil thrust which will make the tracked vehicle mobile and therefore the outer surface of the continuous track is generally designed to protrude with grousers. This paper fundamentally studied the effect of grousers on the soil thrust of off-road tracked vehicles. Based on the soil-track interaction theory, a new soil thrust assessment method that properly takes into account the effect of grousers was developed. Also, the soil thrust of off-road tracked vehicles equipped with a number of grousers was evaluated using the developed assessment method. The results showed that grousers increased the soil thrust of the continuous track, enhancing the overall tractive performance of off-road tracked vehicles. These effects were more obvious as the height of grouser increased and the spacing of grouser decreased; thus, it is concluded that the grouser which has smaller shape ratio (span of the grouser to a grouser height) significantly enhances off-road tracked vehicle's performance.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.255-264
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• 2017

Dynamic numerical simulation of pile-supported slab track system embedded in a soft soil and embankment was performed. 3D model was formulated in a time domain to consider the non-linearity of soil by utilizing FLAC 3D, which is a finite difference method program. Soil non-linearity was simulated by adopting the hysteric damping model and liner elements, which could consider soil-pile interface. The long period seismic loads, Hachinohe type strong motions, were applied for estimating seismic respose of the system, Parametric study was carried out by changing subsoil layer profile, embankment height and seismic loading conditions. The most of horizontal permanent displacement was initiated by slope failure. Increase of the embedded height and thickness of the soft soil layer leads increase of member forces of PHC piles; bending moment, and axial force. Finally, basic guidelines for designing pile-supported slab track system under seismic loading are recommended based on the analysis results.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.43-54
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• 2018

Underwater tracked vehicle is employed to perform underwater heavy works on saturated seafloor. When an underwater tracked vehicle travels on the seafloor, shearing action and ground settlement take place on the soil-track interface, which develops the soil thrust and soil resistance, respectively, and they restrict the tractive performance of an underwater tracked vehicle. Thus, unlike the paved road, underwater tracked vehicle performance does not solely rely on its engine thrust, but also on the soil-track interaction. This paper aimed at evaluating the tractive performance of an underwater tracked vehicle with respect to ground conditions (soil type, and relative density or consistency) and vehicle conditions (weight of vehicle, and geometry of track system), based on the soil-track interaction theory. The results showed that sandy ground and silty sandy ground generally provide sufficient tractions for an underwater tracked vehicle whereas tractive performance is very much restricted on clayey ground, especially for a heavy-weighted underwater tracked vehicle. Thus, it is concluded that an underwater tracked vehicle needs additional equipment to enhance the tractive performance on the clayey ground.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.40-48
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• 2014

A number of attempts has been made to reinforce ballasted track substructure to meet the requirement of high-speed operation and effective rehabilitation of existing railroads. For the purpose of this, the use of geogrid has been applied, and the benefit of its use has been recognized via previous studies. In this study, an experimental pullout test was carried out to investigate the influence of normal stress on pullout strength of geogrid using different types of soil and geogrid. The results revealed that the pullout resistance generally tends to increase proportional to normal stress while the pullout coefficient interaction decreases, which is a function of material interface properties, such as the friction angle of soil, and interlocking condition between soil and geogrid. In addition, a methodology based on work-energy concept was proposed to evaluate effectiveness of geogrid and limitedly verified using test results.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.49-59
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• 2018

When a tracked vehicle travels off-road, shearing action and ground sinkage occur on the soil-track interface and severely affect tractive performance of the tracked vehicle. Especially, the ground sinkage, which is induced by vehicle's weight (hereinafter referred to as static sinkage) and longitudinal forces in the direction of travel producing slip (hereinafter referred to as slip sinkage), develops soil resistance, directly restricting the tractive performance of an off-road tracked vehicle. Thus, to assess the tractive performance of an off-road tracked vehicle, it is imperative to take both of static sinkage and slip sinkage into consideration. In this research, a series of model track experiments was conducted to investigate the slip sinkage which has not been clarified. Experiment results showed that the slip sinkage increased with increasing the slip ratio, but the increasing rate gradually decreased. Also, the slip sinkage was found to increase as relative density of soil decreased and imposed vertical load increased. From the experiment results, the normalized slip sinkage defined as slip sinkage to static sinkage calculated in the identical condition was investigated, and an empirical equation for the slip sinkage was developed in terms of slip ratio, which allows vehicle operators to predict the slip sinkage in a given soil and operating conditions.