• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.401-412
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• 2016

It is extremely difficult to apply conventional grouting methods to subsea tunnelling construction in the high water pressure condition. In such a condition, the rapid artificial freezing method can be an alternative to grouting to form a watertight zone around freezing pipes. For a proper design of the artificial freezing method, the influence of salinity on the freezing process has to be considered. However, there are few domestic tunnel construction that adopted the artificial freezing method, and influential factors on the freezing of the soil are not clearly identified. In this paper, a series of laboratory experiments were performed to identify the physical characteristics of frozen soil. Thermal conductivity of the frozen and unfrozen soil samples was measured through the thermal sensor adopting transient hot-wire method. Moreover, a lab-scale freezing chamber was devised to simulate freezing process of silica sand with consideration of the salinity of pore-water. The temperature in the silica sand sample was measured during the freezing process to evaluate the effect of pore-water salinity on the frozen rate that is one of the key parameters in designing the artificial freezing method in subsea tunnelling. In case of unfrozen soil, the soil samples saturated with fresh water (salinity of 0%) and brine water (salinity of 3.5%) showed a similar value of thermal conductivity. However, the frozen soil sample saturated with brine water led to the thermal conductivity notably higher than that of fresh water, which corresponds to the fact that the freezing rate of brine water was greater than that of fresh water in the freezing chamber test.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.188-197
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• 2020

Termites play an important role as decomposers of the forest ecosystem, while simultaneously causing enormous damage to wooden structures. Currently, two species of subterranean termites have been reported in Korea, and termite damage to historical wooden buildings is occurring nationwide due to climate change, forest fertility, and the locational characteristics of historical wooden buildings. Subterranean termites make their nests underground or inside timber. Termites move underground and access wooden structures through the lower parts of the buildings, adjacent to the ground. Once termites attack the wooden structures, it not only spoils the authenticity of cultural heritage structure, but also hampers structural stability due to the decrease in the strength of the material. Therefore, it is important to prevent termite damage before it occurs. Chemical treatments are mainly used in Korea to control and prevent the damage. In foreign countries, physical barriers are also used to prevent entry to wooden buildings, along with chemical treatments. Physical barriers involve installing nets or particles that termites cannot pass through in the lower part of the building, around the pipes, and between the edges of the building or exterior walls and interior materials. Advantages of a physical barrier are that it is an eco-friendly method, maintains long-term effect after installation, and does not require the use of chemical treatments. Prior to applying physical barriers, studies into the characteristics of termite species must be undertaken. In this study, we evaluated the minimum passage size that each caste of Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis can move through. We found that workers, soldiers, and secondary reproductive termites were able to pass through diameters of 0.7mm, 0.9mm, and 1.1mm respectively. Head height of termites was an important factor in determining the minimum passing size. Results from the current study will be used as a basis to design the mesh size for physical barriers to prevent damage by termites in historical wooden buildings in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.61-67
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• 2023

Heat pipes located underground in urban areas and operated under high temperature and pressure conditions can cause large-scale human and economic damage if damaged. In order to predict damage in advance, damage and construction information of heat pipe are analyzed to derive independent variables that have a correlation with frequency of damage, and a simple regression analysis modified model using each variable is applied to the field. However, as the correlation between independent variables applied to the model increases, the independence between variables is harmed and the reliability of the model decreases. In this study, the independence of the pipe diameter, burial depth, insulation level of monitoring system, and disconnection or short circuit of the detection line, which are judged to be interrelated, was tested to derive a method for combining variables and setting categories necessary to apply to the frequency of damage estimation model. For the test of independence, the continuous variables pipe diameter and burial depth were each converted into three categories, insulation level of monitoring system was converted into two categories, and the categorical variable disconnection or short circuit of the detection line status was kept as two categories. As a result of the test of independence, p-value between pipe diameter and burial depth, level of monitoring system and disconnection or short circuit of the detection line was lower than the significance level (α = 0.05), indicating a large correlation between them. Therefore, the pipe diameter and burial depth were combined into one variable, and the categories of the combined variable were set to 9 considering the previously set categories. The insulation level of monitoring system and the disconnection or short circuit of the detection line were also combined into one variable. Since the insulation level is unreliable when the detection line status is disconnection or short circuit, the categories of the combined variable were set to 3.