• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.523-531
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• 2019

In the applications of rock mechanics or rock engineering including drill and blast, drilling and mechanical excavation, the fracture toughness is an important factor. Several methods have been proposed to measure the fracture toughness of rocks. In this study, wedge splitting test specimen which is prepared with ease and tested under compression loading was used to obtain mode I fracture toughness of rocks. The equation of stress intensity factor through numerical analysis is proposed from the stress state of crack tip considering both vertical and horizontal loads due to the vertical load acting on the wedge. The validity of the wedge splitting test method was confirmed by comparing the mode I fracture toughness values obtained by the GD and SENB test specimens.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.142-147
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• 1992

The wind pressure distributions were analyzed to provide fundamental criteria for the structural design on the two-span arched house according to the wind directions through the wind tunnel experiment. In order to investigate the wind force distributions, the variation of the wind force coefficients, the mean wind force coefficients, the drag force coefficients and the lift force coefficients were estimated using the experimental data. The results obtained are as follows : 1. The variation of the wind force with wind directions on the side walls was the greatest at the upwind edge of the walls. 2. The maximum negative wind force along the length of the roof appeared at the upwind edge at the wind direction of 60$^{\circ}$. 3. The maximum negative wind force along the width of the roof appeared at the width ratio and wind direction of 0$^{\circ}$ and 0.4 in the first house and 0.6 and 30$^{\circ}$ in the second house, respectively. 4. The mean negative wind force on the side walls of the first house at the wind direction of 0$^{\circ}$ was far greater than that of the second house, and the maximum negative wind force on the roof occurred at the wind direction of 30$^{\circ}$. 5. The maximum lift force appeared on the second house at the wind direction of 30$^{\circ}$, but the lift force on the first house was far greater than that on the second house at the wind direction of 0$^{\circ}$. 6. The parts to be considered for the local wind forces were the edges of the walls, and the edges of the x-direction and the width ratio, 0.4 of the y-direction in the roofs.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.49-56
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• 2010

In this study, the control performance of a smart top-story isolation system for tall buildings subjected to wind excitation was investigated. To this end, a 77-story tall building structure was employed and wind loads obtained from wind tunnel test were used for numerical simulations. The top-story of an example structure is separated from the main structure by a smart base isolation system composed of friction pendulum systems (FPS) and MR dampers. The primary purpose of the smart top-story isolation system is to mitigate the dynamic responses of the main structure, but the excessive movement of the isolated top story may cause the unstableness of the building structure. Therefore, the skyhook control algorithm was used to effectively reduce both responses of the isolated top story and the main structure. The control performance of the proposed smart top-story isolation system was investigated in comparison with that of the passive top-story isolation system. It has been shown from numerical simulation results that the smart top-story isolation system can effectively reduce wind-induced responses of the example building structure compared to the passive top-story isolation system with reduction of the top-story movement.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.357-361
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• 2012

Anemometer is a meteorological instrument that measures wind direction and wind speed in real time, and is mounted to the cranes that are used at ports, shipbuilding yards, off-shore structure, or construction sites that are influenced by wind, and it is used in conjunction with the safety system. Load cell-type anemometer measures the wind direction through the ratio of load between 4 positions by mounting the thin plate to 4 load cells, and measures wind velocity through the summation of loads. In this study, we compared and analyzed the results in the theoretic approach, analytic approach and experimental approach to derive the correlation between load ratio and wind direction. Wind direction was selected as the design variable, and selected 9 wind direction conditions from $0^{\circ}{\sim}90^{\circ}$ with $11.25^{\circ}$ space for analysis, and 10 wind direction conditions with $10^{\circ}$ space for experiment.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.233-259
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• 2017

Investigations on simulated near-surface atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in an open-jet facility are carried out by conducting experimental tests on small-scale models of low-rise buildings. The objectives of the current study are: (1) to determine the optimal location of test buildings from the exit of the open-jet facility, and (2) to investigate the scale effect on the aerodynamic pressure characteristics. Based on the results, the newly built open-jet facility is well capable of producing mean wind speed and turbulence profiles representing open-terrain conditions. The results show that the proximity of the test model to the open-jet governs the length of the separation bubble as well as the peak roof pressures. However, test models placed at a horizontal distance of 2.5H (H is height of the wind field) from the exit of the open-jet, with a width that is half the width of the wind field and a length of 1H, have consistent mean and peak pressure coefficients when compared with available results from wind tunnel testing. In addition, testing models with as large as 16% blockage ratio is feasible within the open-jet facility. This reveals the importance of open-jet facilities as a robust tool to alleviate the scale restrictions involved in physical investigations of flow pattern around civil engineering structures. The results and findings of this study are useful for putting forward recommendations and guidelines for testing protocols at open-jet facilities, eventually helping the progress of enhanced standard provisions on the design of low-rise buildings for wind.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.335-346
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• 2022

Buckling failure is a typical slope instability mode that should be paid more attention to. It is difficult to provide systematic guidance for the monitoring and management of such slopes due to unclear mechanism. Here we examine buckling failure as the potential instability mode for a slope above a railway tunnel in southwest China. A comprehensive model test system was developed that can be used to conduct buckling failure experiments. The displacement, stress, and strain of the slope were monitored to document the evolution of buckling failure during the experiment. Monitoring data reveal the deformation and stress characteristics of the slope with different slipping mass thicknesses and under different top loads. The test results show that the slipping mass is the main subject of the top load and is the key object of monitoring. Displacement and stress precede buckling failure, so maybe useful predictors of impending failure. However, the response of the stress variation is earlier than displacement variation during the failure process. It is also necessary to monitor the bedrock near the slip face because its stress evolution plays an important role in the early prediction of instability. The position near the slope foot is most prone to buckling failure, so it should be closely monitored.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.229-243
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• 2023

This study analyzes the response of a tall building with an H-shaped cross-section when subjected to wind loading generated by the same H-shape. As normative standards usually adopt regular geometries for determining the wind loading, this paper shows unpublished results which compares results of the dynamic response of H-shaped buildings with the response of simplified section buildings. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is employed to determine the steady wind load on the H-shaped building. The CFD models are validated by comparison with wind tunnel test data for the k-ε and k-ω models of turbulence. Transient wind loading is determined using the Synthetic Wind Method. A new methodology is presented that combines Stochastic and CFD methods. In addition, time-history dynamic structural analysis is performed using the HHT method for a period of 60 seconds on finite element models. First, the along-wind response is studied for wind speed variations. The wind speeds of 28, 36, 42, and 50 m/s at 0° case are considered. Subsequently, the dynamic response of the building is studied for wind loads at 0°, 45°, and 90° with a wind speed of 42 m/s, which approximates the point of resonance between gusts of wind and the structure. The response values associated with the first two directions for the H-shaped building are smaller than those for the R-shaped (Equivalent Rectangular Shape) one. However, the displacements of the H-shaped building associated with the latter wind load are larger.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.197-207
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• 2022

The seismic holding behaviors of plate anchor embedded into submerged coarse-grained soils were investigated considering different anchor inclinations. The limit equilibrium method and the Pseudo-Dynamic Approach (PDA) were employed to calculate the inertia force of the soils within the failure rupture. In addition, assuming the permeability of coarse-grained soils was sufficiently large, the coefficient of hydrodynamic force applied on the inclined plate anchor is obtained through adopting the exact potential flow theory. Therefore, the seismic holding resistance was calculated as the combination of the inertia force and the hydrodynamic force within the failure rupture. The failure rupture can be developed due to the uplift loads, which was assumed to be an arc of a circle perpendicular to the anchor and inclines at (π/4 - φ/2). Then, the derived analytical solutions were evaluated by comparing the static breakout factor N_γ to the published experimental and analytical results. The influences of soil and wave properties on the plate anchor holding behavior are reported. Finally, the dynamic anchor holding coefficients N_γd, were reported to illustrate the anchor holding behaviors. Results show that the soil accelerations in x and z directions were both nonlinear. The amplifications of soil accelerations were more severe at lower normalized frequencies (ωH/V) compared to higher normalized frequencies. The coefficient of hydrodynamic force, C, of the plate anchor was found to be almost constant with anchor inclinations. Finally, the seismic anchor holding coefficient oscillated with the oscillation of the inertia force on the plate anchor.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.103-113
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• 2023

This study focused on understanding the relationship between the design of a tunnel boring machine disc cutter ring and its rock-breaking efficiency, as well as the applicable conditions of different cutter ring types. The discrete element method was used to establish a numerical model of the rock-breaking process using disc cutters with different ring types to reveal the development of rock damage cracks and variation in cutter penetration load. The calculation results indicate that a sharp-edged (V-shaped) disc cutter penetrates a rock mass to a given depth with the lowest load, resulting in more intermediate cracks and few lateral cracks, which leads to difficulty in crack combination. Furthermore, the poor wear resistance of a conventional V-shaped cutter can lead to an exponential increase in the penetration load after cutter ring wear. In contrast, constant-cross-section (CCS) disc cutters have the highest quantity of crack extensions after penetrating rock, but also require the highest penetration loads. An arch-edged (U-shaped) disc cutter is more moderate than the aforementioned types with sufficient intermediate and lateral crack propagation after cutting into rock under a suitable penetration load. Additionally, we found that the cutter ring wedge angle and edge width heavily influence cutter rock-breaking efficiency and that a disc cutter with a 16 to 22 mm edge width and 20° to 30° wedge angle exhibits high performance. Compared to V-shaped and U-shaped cutters, the CCS cutter is more suitable for soft or medium-strength rocks, where the penetration load is relatively small. Additionally, two typical case studies were selected to verify that replacing a CCS cutter with a U-shaped or optimized V-shaped disc cutter can increase cutting efficiency when encountering hard rocks.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.23-31
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• 2023

The escalating settlements observed in concrete slab tracks pose a significant challenge in Korea, raising concerns about their adverse impact on the safe operation of high-speed railways and the substantial costs involved in restoration. A primary contributor to these settlements is identified as the utilization of rock materials sourced from tunnel construction, incorporated into the lower subgrade without the requisite soil mixing to achieve an appropriate particle size distribution. This study employs numerical analysis to evaluate the efficacy of partial reinforcement in reducing settlements in rock-filled lower subgrades. Column-shaped reinforcement areas strategically positioned at regular intervals in the lower subgrade induce soil arching in the upper subgrade, leading to a concentration of soil loads on the reinforced areas and consequent settlement reduction. The analysis employs finite element methods to investigate the influence of the size, stiffness, and spacing of the reinforced areas on settlement reduction in the lower subgrade. The numerical results guide the formulation of an optimal design approach, proposing a method to determine the minimum spacing required for reinforcements to effectively limit settlements within acceptable bounds. This research contributes valuable insights into addressing the challenges associated with settlement in concrete slab tracks, offering a basis for informed decision-making in railway infrastructure management.