• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2014

Numerical stability analysis of an unsaturated infinite slope under rainfall-induced infiltration conditions was performed using generalized effective stress to unify both saturated and unsaturated conditions The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) of sand with a relative density of 75% was initially measured for both drying and wetting processes. The hydraulic conductivity function (HCF) and suction stress characteristic curve (SSCC) were subsequently estimated. Under the rainfall-induced infiltration conditions, transient seepage analysis of an unsaturated infinite slope was performed using the finite element analysis program, SEEP/W. Based on these results, the stability of an unsaturated infinite slope under rainfall-induced infiltration conditions was examined in relation to suction stress. According to the results, the negative pore-water pressure and water content within the slope soil changed over time due to the infiltration. In addition, the variation of the negative pore-water pressure and water content led to a variation in suction stress and a subsequent change in the slope's factor of safety during the rainfall period.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.58 no.2
• /
• pp.31-44
• /
• 2016

This study analyzed pore water pressure, earth pressure and settlement through field monitoring on the project site in which raising embankments are being built through backside extension, and compared the behaviors of seepage analysis, slope stability analysis and stress-strain during flood water levels and rapid drawdown under steady state and transient condition. The variation of pore water pressure showed an increase during the later period in both upstream and downstream slope, with downstream slope more largely increased than upstream slope overall. The variation of earth pressure increased according to the increase of embankment heights, while the change largely showed in the upstream slope, it was slowly increased in the downstream slope. The settlements largely increased until 23 m as embankment heights increased, and showed very little settlement overall. Under a steady state and transient conditions, the seepage quantity per day and leakage quantity per 100 m of embankment against total storage were shown to be stable for piping. The hydraulic gradient at the core before and after raising embankments was greater than the limit hydraulic gradient, showing instability for piping. The safety factor of upstream and downstream slopes were shown to be very large at a steady state, while the upstream slopes greatly decreased at a transit conditions, downstream slopes did not show any significant changes. The horizontal settlements, the maximum shear strain and stress are especially distributed at the connecting portion of the existing reservoir and the new extension of backside. Accordingly, the backside extension method should be designed and reinforced differently from the cases of other types reservoirs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.243-252
• /
• 2013

This study was carried out to investigate safety evaluation of agricultural reservoirs due to raising the embankment. The seepage analysis and large-scale model test were performed to compare and analyze the pore water pressure(PWP), leakage quantity, settlement and piping phenomenon in the inclined core type and the vertical core type embankments. The PWP after raising the embankment showed smaller than before raising the embankment and the stability for piping after raising the embankment. The allowable seepage quantity and the allowable leakage for the steady state and transient conditions is within the range of safe management standard. After raising the embankment in the inclined core, there was no infiltration by leakage. For the vertical core, the PWP showed a large change by faster infiltration of pore water than in the inclined core. In a rapid drawdown, inclined core was remained stable but the vertical core showed a large change in PWP. Settlement after raising the embankment showed larger amounts of settlement than before raising the embankment. The leakage quantity before raising the embankment and the inclined core type showed no leakage. From the result, an instrument system that can accurately estimate a change of PWP shall be established for the rational maintenance and stabilization of raising the embankment for agricultural reservoirs.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.353-370
• /
• 2017

This paper presents a case study and numerical investigation to study the hydro-mechanical response of a shallow landslide in unsaturated slopes subjected to rainfall infiltration using a coupled model. The coupled model was interpreted in details by expressing the balance equations for soil mixture and the coupled constitutive equations. The coupled model was verified against experimental data from the shearing-infiltration triaxial tests. A real case of shallow landslide occurred on Mt. Umyeonsan, Seoul, Korea was employed to explore the influence of rainfall infiltration on the slope stability during heavy rainfall. Numerical results showed that the coupled model accurately predicted the poromechanical behavior of a rainfall-induced landslide by simultaneously linking seepage and stress-strain problems. It was also found that the coupled model properly described progress failure of a slope in a highly transient condition. Through the comparisons between the coupled and uncoupled models, the coupled model provided more realistic analysis results under rainfall. Consequently, the coupled model was found to be feasible for the stability and seepage analysis of practical engineering problems.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.427-439
• /
• 2012

In this study, an experiment with large-scale model was performed according to raising embankment in order to investigate the behaviour of failure due to overtopping. The pore water pressure, earth pressure and settlement by high water level, a rapid drawdown and overtopping were compared and analyzed. Also, seepage analysis and slope stability analysis were performed for steady state and transient conditions. The pore water pressure and earth pressure for inclined core type showed high value at the base of the core, but they showed no infiltration by leakage. The pore water pressure and earth pressure by overtopping increased at the upstream slope and core, it is considered a useful data that can accurately estimate the possibility of failure of the reservoir. The behavior of failure due to overtopping was gradually enlarged towards the downstream slope from reservoir crest, and the inclined core after the raising embankment was influenced significantly to prevent the reservoir failure. The pore water pressure distribution for steady state and transient condition showed positive (+) pore water pressure on the upstream slope, it was gradually changed negative (-) pore water pressure on the downstream slope. The pore water pressure by overtopping showed a larger than the high water level at the downstream slope, it was likely to be the piping phenomenon because the hydraulic gradients showed largely at the inclined core and reservoir crest. The safety factor showed high at the steady state, and transient conditions did not show differences depending on the rapid drawdown.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2020

This study analyzes contaminant movement under transient flow in a rubble mound revetment offshore waste landfill barrier system that prevents contaminant runoff. The barrier system consists of bottom layer and side barrier. For the bottom layer system, impermeable clay layer is used. For the side barrier system, the HDPE barrier sheet (primary element) plays the main role, and the intermediate protection layer (supplementary element) is responsible for the barrier. Seepage, advection, dispersion numerical analysis was carried out using SEEP / W and CTRAN / W programs. As a result, under abnormal conditions considering the fluctuation in tidal range, the volume and direction of the flow velocity vector of the pore water change with time and the dispersion concentration of the contaminant changes. When comparing the case of 2 m tidal range and 8 m tidal range, the larger the tide value, the higher the concentration of contaminant under abnormal conditions. It was found that the rate of change of the concentration of the contaminant changed depending on the change in the tidal range, and as a result, the outflow of the pollutant was smaller than that in the steady flow state.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.24 no.12
• /
• pp.23-32
• /
• 2008

This paper presents the results of numerical investigation on the stability of reinforced earth wall during rainfall. A series of limit-equilibrium based slope stability analyses within the framework of unsaturated shear strength, coupled with transient seepage analyses, were conducted with due consideration of rainfall characteristics in Korea. It is shown that the factor of safety of the reinforced wall during rainfall decreases with time due to decreases in the suction in the reinforced as well as retained zones. Also revealed is that the decrease in the factor of safety depends not only on the backfill soil type but also on the rainfall characteristics. Practical implications of the findings were discussed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.77-87
• /
• 2022

Many geotechnical analyses require the investigation of water flow within partially saturated soil zone to incorporate the effect of climatic conditions. It is widely understood that the hydraulic properties of the partially saturated soil should be included in the transient seepage analyses. However, the characteristics of dual porosity soils with dual-mode water retention curve are normally modelled using single-mode mathematical equation for simplification of the analysis. In reality, the rainwater flow can be affected significantly by the dual-mode hydraulic properties of the soil. This paper presents the variations of safety factor for dual porosity soil slope with dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability. This paper includes the development of the new dual-mode unsaturated permeability to represent the characteristics of soil with the dual-mode water retention curve. The finite element analyses were conducted to examine the role of dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability on the variations of safety factor under rainfall loading. The results indicate that the safety factor variations of dual porosity soil slope modelled using the dual-mode water retention curve and the unsaturated permeability equation are lower than those of dual porosity slope modelled using single-mode water retention curve and unsaturated permeability equations.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2006.03a
• /
• pp.28-33
• /
• 2006

Shallow failures of slopes in weathered soils are caused by infiltration due to prolonged rainfall. These failures are mainly triggered by the deepening of the wetting band accompanied by a decrease in suction induced by the water infiltration. In this paper, hysteresis on soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC) of granite and gneiss weathered soils are investigated using transient flow analysis respectively. Each case was subjected to artificial rainfall intensities and time duration depending on the laboratory-based drying and wetting processes. The results show that the unsaturated seepage on weathered slopes are very much affected by the initial suction of soils and unsaturated permeability of the soils. In addition, a granite weathered soil has a lower air-entry value, residual matric suction, and wetting front suction and less hysteresis loop than a gneiss weathered soil.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.109-120
• /
• 2017

Groundwater seepage into a tunnel is one of the main causes triggering tunnel collapse and the consequent ground subsidence. Thus, it is important to estimate adequately the groundwater inflow rate and porewater pressure change during tunneling with time elapse. In current practice, Goodman's analytical solution (or image tunnel method) assuming homogeneous ground condition around a tunnel is commonly used for estimating groundwater inflow rate. However, the generally-used analytical solution for estimating groundwater inflow rate does not consider groundwater level drawdown and permeability change with depth, and the inflow rate can be overestimated in design phase. In this study, parametric study was performed in order to investigate the effect of groundwater level drawdown and permeability reduction with depth, and transient flow analysis was carried out for studying the inflow rate change as well as groundwater level and porewater pressure change around a tunnel with time elapse.