• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.303-316
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• 2023

Rapid post-earthquake damage estimation of subway stations is particularly necessary to improve short-term crisis management and safety measures of urban subway systems after a destructive earthquake. The conventional Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering (PBEE) framework with constant earthquake occurrence rate is invalid to estimate the aftershock risk because of the time-varying rate of aftershocks and the uncertainty of mainshock-damaged state before the occurrence of aftershocks. This study presents a time-varying probabilistic seismic risk assessment framework for underground structures considering mainshock and aftershock hazards. A discrete non-omogeneous Markov process is adopted to quantify the time-varying nature of aftershock hazard and the uncertainties of structural damage states following mainshock. The time-varying seismic risk of a typical rectangular frame subway station is assessed under mainshock-only (MS) hazard and mainshock-aftershock (MSAS) hazard. The results show that the probabilities of exceeding same limit states over the service life under MSAS hazard are larger than the values under MS hazard. For the same probability of exceedance, the higher response demands are found when aftershocks are considered. As the severity of damage state for the station structure increases, the difference of the probability of exceedance increases when aftershocks are considered. PSDR=1.0% is used as the collapse prevention performance criteria for the subway station is reasonable for both the MS hazard and MSAS hazard. However, if the effect of aftershock hazard is neglected, it can significantly underestimate the response demands and the uncertainties of potential damage states for the subway station over the service life.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.69-81
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• 2006

The micropile, which is a kind of the in-situ manufactured pile with small diameter of $150\sim300mm$, is constructed by installing a steel bar or pipe and injecting grout into a borehole. The application fields of micropile are being gradually expanded in a limited space of down-town area, because the micropile has various advantages with low vibration and noise in method and compact size in machine, etc. Mostly, the micropile has been applied to secure the safety of structures, depending on the increment of bearing capacity and the restraint of displacement. The micropile is expected to be used in various fields due to its effectiveness and potentiality in the future. The model test, focused on the interaction between micropile and soil in this study, was carried out. The micropile is installed in a soil adjacent to footing (concept of 'soil reinforcement'). With the test results and soil deformation analysis, the reinforcement effect (relating to bearing capacity and settlement) was analysed in a qualitative and quantitative manner, respectively. Consequently, it is expected that we nay demonstrate the improvement of an efficiency and application in the design and construction of micropile.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.13-20
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• 2023

This paper is aimed to evaluate the mechanical properties and durability of high-flowable retaining wall material (RWM) with different levels of steel fiber (SF) content. To produce the specimens of RWM, some chemical agents such as superplasticizer (SP), air-entrained agent (AEA) and viscosity modifying agent (VMA) were added in the fresh RWM. The compressive and split tensile strength measurements were performed on the hardened RWM specimens at the predetermined periods. Additionally, surface electric resistivity and absorption tests according to ASTM standards were carried out to examine mechanical properties of RWM mixes. The durable performances such as chloride ions penetrability and freezing-thawing resistance of RWM mixes were experimentally investigated. As resutls, it was found that the performance of RWM mix with SF were much better than that without SF, especially at the 2% addition of SF. Thus, it is noted that the proper addition of SF in the RWM mix may have a beneficial effect to improve mechanical properties and durability of RWM mixes.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.19-27
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• 2024

Geotechnical structures such as dams, tunnels, and slopes require regular inspection and monitoring to ensure stability. Domestically, drones and accelerometers have become common tools for inspecting and monitoring various structures. However, drones have difficulty identifying internal changes in structures and the subsurface, and accelerometers generally serve for seismic design or strain measurement purposes. Therefore, this paper proposes to utilize accelerometers to monitor the internal information of the ground on a real-time or periodic basis. The proposed method utilizes a part of the analysis technique from the SASW test to monitor the stability and state changes of geotechnical structures. Cases where SASW was used to evaluate the safety of geotechnical structures, such as slopes, dams, and tunnels, were reviewed to verify the suitability of the technology. To make the proposed method more practical, the study considered using only the first-step analysis to derive the dispersion curve rather than the second-step analysis to determine the shear wave velocity profile, which requires complex analysis. The proposed technique is expected to enable the continuous monitoring and inspection of geotechnical structures by utilizing accelerometers.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.196-207
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• 2024

In this study, a comprehensive management plan was proposed to ensure the stability of the existing subway when constructing ground structures adjacent to the subway. In the first step, the measurement inspection cycle is selected through proximity evaluation, in the second step, the stability of existing subway and station structures such as displacement and stress is reviewed through 3D numerical analysis considering the construction stage and groundwater influence, and in the third stage, the safety of train operation was reviewed by examining the track stability, and based on the numerical analysis results in the fourth stage, the displacement concentration section was selected as an intensive management section and it was proposed that intensive measurement management be performed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.341-358
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• 2024

This paper reports several plane-strain trapdoor tests conducted to investigate the effects of reinforcement on soil arching development under localized surface loading with a loading plate width three times the trapdoor width. An analogical soil composed of aluminum rods with three different diameters was used as the backfill and Kraft paper with two different stiffness values was used as the reinforcement material. Four reinforcement arrangements were investigated: (1) no reinforcement, (2) one low stiffness reinforcement R1, (3) one high stiffness reinforcement R2, and (4) two low stiffness reinforcements R1 with a backfill layer in between. The stiffness of R2 was approximately twice that of R1; therefore, two R1 had approximately the same total stiffness as one R2. Test results indicate that the use of reinforcement minimized soil arching degradation under localized surface loading. Soil arching with reinforcement degraded more at unloading stages as compared to that at loading stages. The use of stiffer reinforcement had the advantages of more effectively minimizing soil arching degradation. As compared to one high stiffness reinforcement layer, two low stiffness reinforcement layers with a backfill layer of certain thickness in between promoted soil arching under localized surface loading. Due to different states of soil arching development with and without reinforcement, an analytical multi-stage soil arching model available in the literature was selected in this study to calculate the average vertical pressures acting on the trapdoor or on the deflected reinforcement section under both the backfill self-weight and localized surface loading.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.527-543
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• 2024

In the implementation of most civil structures, especially underground, deep excavations with a vertical slope are required. Using flexible retaining walls is applied as one of the ways to stabilize vertical holes. Therefore, it is necessary to know the parameters affecting the performance of such walls in reducing their horizontal movement. In this research, by building a suitable laboratory model, the parameters of the amount of flexibility, the embedment depth of the wall, the type and number of tieback in the wall were investigated for 42 static laboratory models. The purpose of this research is to study the flexible retaining wall with helical tieback compared to simple tieback at different heights, which shows the best performance in terms of reducing horizontal displacement in proportion to increasing or decreasing flexibility. On the other hand, one of the parameters affecting the flexibility of the wall, which is its bending stiffness, was extracted by numerical software outputs and studied on the results such as relative flexibility, stiffness, safety and numerical stability of the wall.The results of this study show that among the parameters, in the first place, the effect of the type of tieback is inhibited and in the second place, the ratio of thickness to wall height is known as the most important parameter. the best performance for walls with the helical tiebacks in reducing their horizontal displacement can be economically, flexibly and stability assigned to a wall that tiebacks is in the range of H2/t to H4/t and its flexibility ratio is 2/3.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2024

The construction adit plays a pivotal role in enhancing the working face during the excavation of long-distance and deep hydraulic tunnels. However, the intersection zone between the main tunnel and the construction adit exhibits more intricate deformation patterns in surrounding rock, posing a significant threat to stability during excavation. Taking the Xianglushan tunnel in Yunnan Province, China, as a case study, the FLAC3D software is employed to simulate the excavation process at the intersection. The simulation results are verified combined with the field deformation monitoring results, and the spatial distribution of tunnel rock deformation in the intersection area are analyzed. Five excavation conditions with different intersection angles are simulated, and the surrounding rock deformation of the tunnel intersection area with different intersection angles is analyzed, and its influence range is discussed. The results show that: (1) The surrounding rock deformation in the intersection area increases rapidly during the tunnel excavation. With the increase of construction distance, the deformation of intersection area is gradually stable. (2) The deformation distribution of the tunnel rock is uneven, and the deformation of main tunnel near the intersection area is larger than that far away from the intersection area. (3) With the increase of the intersection angle, the surrounding rock deformation of the tunnel intersection and its influence range decreases gradually. The research results have certain guiding significance for the construction safety of the tunnel intersection area.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.63-75
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• 2012

This paper gives some basic requirements and preferences of various geological environmental conditions for the final deep geological repository of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). This study also indicates how the requirements and preferences are to be considered prior to the selection of sites for a site investigation as well as the final disposal in Korea. The results of the study are based on the knowledge and experience from the IAEA and NEA/OECD as well as the advanced countries in SNF disposal project. This study discusses and suggests preliminary guideline of the disposal requirements including geological, mechanical, thermal, hydrogeological, chemical and transport properties of host rock with long term geological stabilities which influence the functions of a multi-barrier disposal system. To apply and determine whether requirements and preferences for a given parameter are satisfied at different stages during a site selection and suitability assessment of a final disposal site, the quantitative criteria in each area should be formulated with credibility through relevant research and development efforts for the deep geological environment during the site screening and selection processes as well as specific studies such as productions of safety cases and validation studies using a generic underground research laboratory (URL) in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.637-652
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• 2015

In the present work, a number of three-dimensional (3D) parametric numerical analyses have been carried out to study the influence of tunnelling on the behaviour of adjacent piles considering the transverse distance of the pile tip from the tunnel. Single piles and $5{\times}5$ piles inside a group with a spacing of 2.5d were considered, where d is the pile diameter. In the numerical modelling, several key issues, such as the tunnelling-induced pile settlements, the interface shear stresses, the relative shear displacements, the axial pile forces, the apparent factors of safety and zone of influence have been rigorously analysed. It has been found that when the piles are inside the influence zone, the pile head settlements are increased up to about 111% compared to those computed from the Greenfield condition. Larger pile settlements and smaller axial pile forces are induced on the piles inside the pile groups than those computed from the single piles since the piles responded as a block with the surrounding ground. Also tensile pile forces are induced associated with the upward resisting skin friction at the upper part of pile and the downward acting skin friction at the lower part of pile. On the contrary, when the piles were outside the influence zone, tunnelling-induced compressive pile forces developed. Based on computed load and displacement relation of the pile, the apparent factor of safety of the piles was reduced up to about 45%. Therefore the serviceability of the piles may be substantially reduced. The pile behaviour, when considering the single piles and the pile groups with regards to the influence zone, has been analysed by considering the key features in great details.