• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.43-71
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• 1999

This research is an experimental work of developing a construction material using municipal wastewater sludge as liner and cover materials for waste disposal landfill. Weathered granite soil and flyash, produced as a by-product in the power plant, were used as the primary additives to improve geotechnical engineering properties of sludge. For secondary additives, bentonite and cement were mixed with sludge to decrease the permeability and to increase the shear strength, respectively. Various laboratory test required to evaluate the design criteria for liner and cover materials, were carried out by changing the mixing ratio of sludge with the additives. Basic soil properties such as specific gravity, grain size distribution, liquid and plastic limits were measured to analyze their effects on permeability, compaction, compressibility and shear strength properties of mixtures. Laboratory compaction tests were conducted to find the maximum dry densities and the optimum moisture contents of mixtures, and their effectiveness of compaction in field was consequently evaluated. Permeability tests of variable heads with compacted samples, and the stress-controlled consolidation tests with measuring permeabilities of samples during consolidation process were performed to obtain permeability, and to find the compressibility as well as consolidational coefficients of mixtures, respectively. To evaluate the long term stability of sludges, creep tests were also conducted in parallel with permeability tests of variable heads. On the other hand, for the compacted sludge decomposed for a month, permeability tests were carried out to investigate the effect of decomposition of organic matters in sludges on its permeability. Direct shear tests were performed to evaluate the shear strength parameters of mixed sludge with weathered granite, flyash and bentonite. For the mixture of sludge with cement, unconfined compression tests were carried out to find their strength with varying mixing ratio and curing time. On the other hand, CBR tests for compacted specimen were also conducted to evaluate the trafficability of mixtures. Various test results with mixtures were assessed to evaluate whether their properties meet the requirements as liner and cover materials in waste disposal landfill.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.115-130
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• 2013

In this study, lateral-torsional buckling (LTB) strength of high-strength H-beams built up from 800MPa tensile-strength steel was experimentally and analytically evaluated according to current lateral stability provisions (KBC 2009, AISC-LRFD 2010). The motivation was to evaluate whether or not current LTB provisions, which were originally developed for ordinary steel with different stress-strain characteristics, are still applicable to high-strength steel. Two sets of compact-section specimens with relatively low (Set A) or high (Set B) warping stiffness were prepared and tested under uniform moment loading. Laterally unbraced lengths of the test specimens were controlled such that inelastic LTB could be induced. All specimens exhibited LTB strength exceeding the minimum limit required by current provisions by a sufficient margin. Moreover, some specimen in Set A reached a rotation capacity required for plastic design, although its laterally unbraced length belonged to the inelastic LTB range. All the test results indicated that extrapolation of current provisions to high-strength steel is conservative. In order to further analyze the test results, the relationship between inelastic moment and laterally unbraced length was also derived in explicit form for both ordinary- and high-strength steel based on the effective tangent modulus of inelastic section. The analytical relationship derived again showed that extrapolation of current laterally unbraced length limit leads to a conservative design in the case of high-strength steel and that the laterally unbraced length to control the inelastic LTB behavior of high-strength steel beam should be specified by including its unique post-yield strain-hardening characteristics.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.261-283
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• 2023

This study aimed to review the performance stability of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) fiber reinforcing materials among the synthetic fiber types for which the application of performance reinforcing materials to fiber-reinforced concrete is being reviewed by examining short-term and long-term performance changes. To this end, the residual performance was analyzed after exposing the PET fiber to an acid/alkali environment, and the flexural strength and equivalent flexural strength of the PET fiber-reinforced concrete mixture by age were analyzed, and the surface of the PET fiber collected from the concrete specimen was examined using a scanning microscope (SEM). The changes in were analyzed. As a result of the acid/alkali environment exposure test of PET fiber, the strength retention rate was 83.4~96.4% in acidic environment and 42.4~97.9% in alkaline environment. It was confirmed that the strength retention rate of the fiber itself significantly decreased when exposed to high-temperature strong alkali conditions, and the strength retention rate increased in the finished yarn coated with epoxy. In the test results of the flexural strength and equivalent flexural strength of the PET fiber-reinforced concrete mixture, no reduction in flexural strength was found, and the equivalent flexural strength result also did not show any degradation in performance as a fiber reinforcement. Even in the SEM analysis results, no surface damage or cross-sectional change of the PET reinforcing fibers was observed. These results mean that no damage or cross-section reduction of PET reinforcing fibers occurs in cement concrete environments even when fiber-reinforced concrete is exposed to high temperatures in the early stage or depending on age, and the strength of PET fibers decreases in cement concrete environments. The impact is judged to be of no concern. As the flexural strength and equivalent flexural strength according to age were also stably expressed, it could be seen that performance degradation due to hydrolysis, which is a concern due to the use of PET fiber reinforcing materials, did not occur, and it was confirmed that stable residual strength retention characteristics were exhibited.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.53-68
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• 1981

Most clays under sustained load exhibit time-dependent deformation because of creep movement of soil particles and many investigators have attempted to relate their findings to the creep behavior of natural ground and to the long-term stability of slopes. Since the creep behavior of clays may assume a variety of forms depending on such factors as soil plasticity, activity and water content, it is difficult and complicated to analyse the creep behavior of clays. Rheological models composed of linear springs in combination with linear or nonlinear dashpots and sliders, are generally used for the mathematical description of the time-dependent behavior of soils. Most rheological models, however, have been proposed to simulate the behavior of secondary compression for saturated clays and few definitive data exist that can evaluate the behavior of non-saturated clays under the action of sustained stress. The clays change gradually from a solid state through plastic state to a liquid state with increasing water content, therefore, the rheological models also change. On the other hand, creep is time-dependent, and also the effect of thixotropy is time-function. Consequently, there may be certain correlations between creep behavior and the effects of thixotropy in compacted clays. In addition, the states of clay depend on water content and hence the height of the specimen under drained conditions. Futhermore, based on present and past studies, because immediate elastic deformation occurs instantly after the pressure increment without time-delayed behavior, the factor representing immediate elastic deformations in the rheological model is necessary. The investigation described in this paper, based on rheological model, is designed to identify the immediate elastic deformations and the effects of thixotropy and height of clay specimens with varing water content and stress level on creep deformations. For these purposes, the uniaxial drain-type creep tests were performed. Test results and data for three compacted clays have shown that a linear top spring is needed to account for immediate elastic deformations in the rheological model, and at lower water content below the visco-plastic limit, the effects of thixotropy and height of clay specimens can be represented by the proposed rheological model not considering the effects. Therefore, the rheological model does not necessitate the other factors representing these effects. On the other hand, at water content higher than the visco-plastic limit, although the state behavior of clays is visco-plastic or viscous flow at the beginning of the test, the state behavior, in the case of the lower height sample, does not represent the same behavior during the process of the test, because of rapid drainage. In these cases, the rheological model does not coincide with the model in the case of the higher specimens.