• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.71-88
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• 2016

Metakaolin, a dehydroxylated product of the mineral kaolinite, is one of the most valuable admixtures for high-performance concrete applications, including constructing reinforced concrete bridges and impact- and fire-resistant structures. Concretes produced using metakaolin become more homogeneous and denser compared to normal-strength concrete. Yet, these changes cause a change of volume throughout hardening, and increase the brittleness of hardened concrete significantly. In order to examine how the use of metakaolin affects the fracture and mechanical behavior of high-performance concrete we produced concretes using a range of water to binder ratio (0.42, 0.35 and 0.28) at three different weight fractions of metakaolin replacement (8%, 16% and 24%). The results showed that the rigidity of concretes increased with using 8% and 16% metakaolin, while it decreased in all series with 24% of metakaolin replacement. Similar effect has also been observed for other mechanical properties. While the peak loads in load-displacement curves of concretes decreased significantly with increasing water to binder ratio, this effect have been found to be diminished by using metakaolin. Pore structure analysis through mercury intrusion porosimetry test showed that the addition of metakaolin decreased the critical pore size of paste phases of concrete, and increasing the amount of metakaolin reduced the total porosity for the specimens with low water to binder ratios in particular. To determine the optimal values of water to binder ratio and metakaolin content in producing high-strength and high-performance concrete we applied a multi-objective optimization, where several responses were simultaneously assessed to find the best solution for each parameter.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.187-192
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• 2013

This study was carried out to investigate the incorporation effect of green manure crops (GMC) such as the hairy vetch on improvement of soil environment in reclaimed land during silage corn cultivation over the past two years. Plots consisted of conventional fertilization (CF) and incorporation of GMC were divided by addition rate of nitrogen fertilizer (100 kg $ha^{-1}$) with 30 - 100% of non nitrogen fertilization (NNF). Soil physico-chemical properties and growth and yield potential of silage corn were examined. The tested soils showed strong alkali and saline properties with low contents of organic matter and available phosphate while contents of exchangeable sodium and magnesium were high. Soil salinity increased during cultivation of summer crop. However, corn was not affected by salt content. The fresh weight of GMC at incorporation time was 18,345 kg $ha^{-1}$. Content of total nitrogen was 3.09% and the C/N ratio was 12.8 at incorporation time. Fresh and dry matter yield of silage corn were higher in the order of N30% reduction, CF, N50% reduction, N70% reduction, N100% reduction and NNF. Fresh and dry matter yield potential of silage corn for N30% reduction were comparable to those of CF. Bulk density of the soil decreased with incorporation of GMC, while porosity was increased. The soil pH decreased while content of exchangeable calcium, available phosphate, and organic matter increased. Also contents of exchangeable sodium and potassium decreased with incorporation of GMC. The data indicate that incorporation of hairy vetch can improve soil physical and chemical properties and reduce nitrogen fertilizer application especially for alkali saline reclaimed soil such as Saemangeum reclaimed land.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.413-422
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• 2019

A ferrosilicon (FS) by-product was applied into a cementitious binder in concrete substituting the ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The original material characteristic of FS is very identical to silica fume (SF) regarding chemical composition and physical properties such as specific surface area and specific gravity. Therefore, the FS and SF concrete or mortal of which 10% of the material was replaced to total binder weight were fabricated to evaluate the feasibility of using F S as a binder, and the comparative information of OPC, FS and SF concrete was given. The hydration characteristic of FS concrete was analyzed using X-ray diffraction analysis. The FS concrete was beneficial in compressive strength, resistivity against chloride ingress and reducing porosity considering performance of OPC concrete but the advantage was less than using SF. A possibility of alkali-silica expansion was found out from the FS concrete due to the agglomerated size of the silica particles.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1310-1320
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• 2020

Low-quality soil for land reuse is a crucial problem in vegetation quality and especially to waste disposal sites in mining areas. It is necessary to find suitable materials to improve the soil quality and especially to increase soil microbial diversity and activity. In this study, pot experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of a mixed material of humic acid, super absorbent polymer and biochar on low-quality soil indexes and the microbial community response. The indexes included soil physicochemical properties and the corresponding plant growth. The results showed that the mixed material could improve chemical properties and physical structure of soil by increasing the bulk density, porosity, macro aggregate, and promote the mineralization of nutrient elements in soil. The best performance was achieved by adding 3 g·kg^-1 super absorbent polymer, 3 g·kg^-1 humic acid, and 10 g·kg^-1 biochar to soil with plant total nitrogen, dry weight and height increased by 85.18%, 266.41% and 74.06%, respectively. Physicochemical properties caused changes in soil microbial diversity. Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Nitrospirae, Planctomycetes, and Proteobacteria were significantly positively correlated with most of the physical, chemical and plant indicators. Actinobacteria and Armatimonadetes were significantly negatively correlated with most measurement factors. Therefore, this study can contribute to improving the understanding of low-quality soil and how it affects soil microbial functions and sustainability.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.603-609
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to clarify the effect of the monomer ratio on properties of the polymer-modified mortars using methyl methacrylate-butyl acrylate (MMA/BA) latexes, and to obtain basic data necessary to develop appropriate latexes for cement modifiers. From the test results, the total pore volume of polymer-modified mortars using MMA/BA latexes is linearly reduced with an increase in the bound MMA content and increased in the polymer-cement ratio. In general, the superior flexural and compressive strength of polymer-modified mortars using MMA/BA latexes is obtained at a bound MMA content of 70 or 80 percent and a polymer-cement ratio of 15%. And, the water absorption and chloride ion penetration depth are greatly affected by the polymer-cement ratio rather than the bound MMA content.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 2017

This study investigated effects of physical and chemical cleaning methods on the initial flux recovery of fouled membrane in membrane distillation process. A laboratory scale direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) experiment was performed to treat digested livestock wastewater with 3.89 mg/L suspended solids, 874.7 mg/L COD, 543.7 mg/L nitrogen, 15.6 mg/L total phosphorus, and pH of 8.6. A hydrophobic PVDF membrane with an average pore size of $0.22{\mu}m$ and a porosity of 75 % was installed inside a direct contact type membrane distillation module. The temperature difference between feed and permeate side was maintained at $40^{\circ}C$ with the feed and permeate stream velocity of 0.18 m/s. The results showed that the permeate flux decreased from $22.1L{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}hr^{-1}$ to $19.0L{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}hr^{-1}$ after 75 hours of distillation. The fouled membrane was cleaned first by physical flushing and consecutively by chemicals with NaOCl and citric acid. After the physical cleaning the flux was recovered to 92 % as compared with the initial clean water flux of the virgin membrane. Then 94 % of the flux was recovered after cleaning by 2,000 ppm NaOCl for 90 minutes and finally 97 % of flux recovered after 3 % citric acid for 90 minutes. SEM-EDS and FT-IR analysis results presented that the foulants on the membrane surface were removed effectively after each cleaning step. The contact angle measurement showed that the hydrophobicity of the membrane surface was also restored gradually after each cleaning step to reach nearly the same hydrophobicity level as the virgin membrane.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2021

A hydrophobic emulsion consisting of PMHS and PVA was mixed into a cement mortar to observe changes in cement hydrate and microstructure, and to experimentally evaluate compressive strength and flexural strength. The hydrophobic emulsion was added with metakaolin and PVA fibers, and the stirring speed and sequence were adjusted to prepare a shell-concept hydrophobic emulsion. It was then mixed when mixing mortar to enhance filling of the internal pores and change of the hydrates. It was observed that the mortar mixed with a hydrophobic emulsion was filled with micropores and a coating film was formed on the surface of the hydrates by the emulsion. It was analyzed that the total pore area and porosity of the mortar mixed with the emulsion decreased from 30% to 60% compared to OPC, excluding the 50MK variable, which was extremely reduced and the median pore diameter decreased in some variables. It was also found that the compressive strength of the mortar mixed with emulsion 1% was increased up to 20%, but the strength of the mortar specimen mixed with 2% decreased to 50%.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2019

Self-compacting concretes (SCC) are highly fluid concrete which can flow without any vibration. Their composition requires a large quantity of fines to limit the risk of bleeding and segregation. The use of crushed sand rich in limestone fines could be an adequate solution for both economic and environmental reasons. This paper investigates the influence of quarry limestone fines from manufactured crushed sand on rheological, mechanical and durability properties of SCC. For this purpose, five mixtures of SCC with different limestone fines content as substitution of crushed sand (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) were prepared at constant water-to-cement ratio of 0.40 and $490kg/m^3$ of cement content. Fresh SCC mixtures were tested by slump flow test, V-funnel flow time test, L-box height ratio, segregation resistance and rheological test using a rheometer. Compressive and flexural strengths of SCC mixtures were evaluated at 28 days. Regarding durability properties, total porosity, capillary water absorption and chloride-ion migration were studied at 180 days. For the two test modes in fresh state, the results indicated compatibility between slump flow/yield stress (${\tau}_0$) and V-funnel flow time/plastic viscosity (${\mu}$). Increasing the substitution level of limestone fines in SCC mixtures, contributes to the decrease of the slump flow and the yield stress. All SCC mixtures investigated achieved adequate filling, adequate passing ability and exhibit no segregation. Moreover, the inclusion of limestone fines as crushed sand substitution reduces the capillary water absorption, chloride-ion migration and consequently enhances the durability performance.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2024

This study aimed to determine the most suitable coir substrate mixing ratio for optimizing the growth and yield of the "lpduelkkae 1" cultivar. We comprehensively analyzed the physicochemical properties, growth, and yields of four different substrate combinations: perlite (coir with mixing ratios of 70:30 (PC30), 50:50 (PC50), and 30:70 (PC70)) and 100% coir (C100). The results revealed substantial differences in substrate properties. C100 exhibited the highest total porosity and the lowest solid phase, indicating excellent air permeability. The pH levels and electrical conductivity (EC) values ranged from 5.4-6.8 and 1.2-3.1 dS·m^-1, respectively. Leaf growth parameters, including length, width, and dry weight, showed positive correlations with high coir ratios, except for PC30. PC70 and C100 outperformed other substrates in stem growth, exhibiting superior stem diameter and fresh and dry weights. The quantity of marketable leaves was the highest in the C100 substrate. Furthermore, C100 comprised integrated levels of essential nutrients, such as Ca and Mg, owing to its high coir content. In conclusion, a coir ratio of approximately 70% (v/v) should be maintained in the substrate for creating an optimal cultivation environment. Furthermore, the selection of humidity-resistant varieties as well as precise nutrient and moisture management for different seasons and growth stages are crucial for a successful perilla leaf hydroponic cultivation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.465-474
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• 2024

Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) is a critical geomechanical parameter that plays a significant role in the evaluation of rocks. The practice of indirectly estimating said characteristics is widespread due to the challenges associated with obtaining high-quality core samples. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of utilizing the gene expression programming (GEP) technique for the purpose of forecasting the UCS for various rock categories, including Schist, Granite, Claystone, Travertine, Sandstone, Slate, Limestone, Marl, and Dolomite, which were sourced from a wide range of quarry sites. The present study utilized a total of 170 datasets, comprising Schmidt hammer (SH), porosity (n), point load index (Is(50)), and P-wave velocity (Vp), as the effective parameters in the model to determine their impact on the UCS. The UCS parameter was computed through the utilization of the GEP model, resulting in the generation of an equation. Subsequently, the efficacy of the GEP model and the resultant equation were assessed using various statistical evaluation metrics to determine their predictive capabilities. The outcomes indicate the prospective capacity of the GEP model and the resultant equation in forecasting the unconfined compressive strength (UCS). The significance of this study lies in its ability to enable geotechnical engineers to make estimations of the UCS of rocks, without the requirement of conducting expensive and time-consuming experimental tests. In particular, a user-friendly program was developed based on the GEP model to enable rapid and very accurate calculation of rock's UCS, doing away with the necessity for costly and time-consuming laboratory experiments.