• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.263-274
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• 2018

In this study, the applicability and external/internal stability of a MSEW abutment with a slab were investigated. Structural analysis of slab bridges between 10 ~ 20.0 m and thicknesses of 0.7 ~ 0.9 m was carried out to calculate the reaction forces due to dead and live loads acting on the bridge supports. The slab bridge with a length of 20.0 m satisfied the allowable contact pressure of 200 kPa for the true MSEW abutment. Because the external stability of the true MSEW abutment was dominated by the geometry of the MSE wall, the change in the factor of safety due to the load of the super-structure is small. Because the stiffness of the foundations is fixed and the load of the super-structure is increased, the factor of safety of the bearing capacity was reduced. As the load of the super-structure was increased, the horizontal earth pressure of the true MSEW abutment increased greatly. As a result, the pullout and fracture of the uppermost reinforcement, which are the factors of safety, did not meet the design criteria. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the pullout resistance and the long-term allowable tensile force of the reinforcement placed on the top of the reinforced soils to ensure efficient design and performance of a true MSEW abutment.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.43-61
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• 2017

The inverted T-type abutments are generally used in highway bridges constructed in Korea. This type of abutment is used because it has greater stability, with more pile foundations embedded in the bedrock, while simultaneously providing support for lateral earth pressure and vertical loads of superstructures. However, the cross section of inverted T-type abutments is large compared with the piers, which makes them more expensive. In addition, a differential settlement between the abutment and embankment, as well as the expansion joints, causes driving discomfort. This study evaluated the driving comfort of several types of abutments to improve driving comfort on the abutment. To achieve this objective, a traditional T-type abutment and three types of candidate abutments, namely, mechanically stabilized earth wall (MSEW) abutment supported by a shallow foundation (called "true MSEW abutment"), MSEW abutment supported by piles (called "mixed MSEW abutment"), and pile bent and integral abutment with MSEW (called "MIP abutment"), were selected to consider their design and economic feasibility. Finite element analysis was performed using the design section of the candidate abutments. Subsequently, the settlements of each candidate abutment, approach slabs, and paved surfaces of the bridges were reviewed. Finally, the driving comfort on each candidate abutment was evaluated using a vehicle dynamic simulation. The true MSEW abutment demonstrated the most excellent driving comfort. However, this abutment can cause problems with respect to serviceability and maintenance due to excessive settlements. After our overall review, we determined that the mixed MSEW and the MIP abutments are the most appropriate abutment types to improve driving comfort by taking the highway conditions in Korea into consideration.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.101-107
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• 2013

Environmental-friendly and economical construction are the recent issues for civil structures and soilbag as facing wall is widely used for cut-slope remediation projects. However, the stability of structures is an important issue for the use of environmental-friendly and economical materials. In order to understand the stability of soilbag reinforced retaining wall, tensile resistance, rupture, tensile strength, and internal/external safety factor of the wall were analyzed with MSEW program and the results were compared to the safety factor of block-type reinforced walls. The stability of retaining wall was analyzed with reduction coefficients of connection strength to check the connection stability. Because it is possible to move between soilbag and geogrid connector for soilbag retaining wall, the safety factor of the wall was analyzed with different inclination angles of soilbag. The analysis result shows that the connection strength and internal/external stability of soilbag reinforced wall satisfy the stability criteria.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.594-601
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• 2019

A true MSEW abutment is an abutment type that directly supports the load of a superstructure. Metal strips, which are in-extensile reinforcements, should be used to minimize abutment deformation. A study to derive the application conditions of a True MSEW abutment was carried out by Zevogolis(2007). As a result, the pullout factor of safety of the uppermost reinforcement was estimated to be the smallest. Therefore, the pullout factor of safety of the uppermost reinforcement is the most important design factor. Parameter analysis was conducted with the abutment length, abutment heel, and abutment height as variables. The pullout factor of safety increased with increasing abutment length and abutment heel length. This is because the contact area increases and the superstructure is dispersed as the abutment length and abutment heel length increase. The pullout factor of safety converges at an abutment length of 1.2m and an abutment heel length of 0.9m. This is because the effective length of the reinforcement is reduced due to the increase in contact area. On the other hand, the extension of the superstructure will increase if the abutment length and abutment heel length are increased excessively. In addition, earth-volume is increased if the abutment height increases excessively. This acts as an upper load on the MSE wall. Therefore, it needs to be examined carefully.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.54-63
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• 2018

In this study, the stability and economic feasibility of a MSE (Mechanically stability earth) wall with a pre-cast concrete pacing panel was investigated for a standard section of highway. Based on the design criteria, the MSE walls of the panel type were designed considering the load conditions of the highway, such as the dead load of the concrete pavement, traffic load, and impact load of the barrier. The length of the ribbed metal strip was arranged at 0.9H according to the height of the MSE walls. Because the length of the reinforcement was set to 0.9H according to the height of the MSE wall, the external stability governed by the shape of the reinforced soil was not affected by the height increase. The factor of safety (FOS) for the bearing capacity was decreased drastically due to the increase in self-weight according to the height of the MSE wall. As a result of examining the internal stability according to the cohesive gravity method, the FOS of pullout was increased and the FOS of fracture was decreased. As the height of the MSEW wall increases, the horizontal earth pressure acting as an active force and the vertical earth pressure acting as a resistance force are increased together, so that the FOS of the pullout is increased. Because the long-term allowable tensile force of the ribbed metal strip is constant, the FOS of the fracture is decreased by only an increase in the horizontal earth pressure according to the height. The panel type MSE wall was more economical than the block type at all heights. Compared to the concrete retaining wall, it has excellent economic efficiency at a height of 5.0 m or more.