• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.75-84
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• 2011

There are some kinds of microorganisms within soils which can precipitate some minerals such as calcite under suitable conditions. Such precipitated calcites within pores of soil may reduce permeability and also cement soil particles. In this study, whether such microorganisms can fill pores within soil and increase the strength is investigated. Basillus pasteurii was repeatedly injected into weakly cemented sand with 3% cement ratio up to 10 times for 20 days. Then, cemented sand injected with microorganisms was tested for an unconfined compressive strength and evaluated for filling voids between soil particles. The unconfined compressive strength of one time injected specimen showed a 5% increase compared to untreated specimen. However, for more than two times the strength of injected specimens gradually decreased up to 50% of the untreated specimen by microorganisms. As the number of microorganism injection increased, the amount of calcite precipitation slightly increased within voids. However, over-precipitated calcites may result in strength decrease of slightly cemented soils.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.599-611
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• 2022

Tendon reinforced cemented soil is applied extensively in foundation stabilisation and improvement, especially in areas with soft clay. To solve the deterioration problem led by steel corrosion, the glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) tendon is introduced to substitute the traditional steel tendon. The interface bond strength between the cemented soil matrix and GFRP tendon demonstrates the outstanding mechanical property of this composite. However, the lack of research between the influence factors and bond strength hinders the application. To evaluate these factors, back propagation neural network (BPNN) is applied to predict the relationship between them and bond strength. Since adjusting BPNN parameters is time-consuming and laborious, the particle swarm optimisation (PSO) algorithm is proposed. This study evaluated the influence of water content, cement content, curing time, and slip distance on the bond performance of GFRP tendon-reinforced cemented soils (GTRCS). The results showed that the ultimate and residual bond strengths were both in positive proportion to cement content and negative to water content. The sample cured for 28 days with 30% water content and 50% cement content had the largest ultimate strength (3879.40 kPa). The PSO-BPNN model was tuned with 3 neurons in the input layer, 10 in the hidden layer, and 1 in the output layer. It showed outstanding performance on a large database comprising 405 testing results. Its higher correlation coefficient (0.908) and lower root-mean-square error (239.11 kPa) were obtained compared to multiple linear regression (MLR) and logistic regression (LR). In addition, a sensitivity analysis was applied to acquire the ranking of the input variables. The results illustrated that the cement content performed the strongest influence on bond strength, followed by the water content and slip displacement.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.577-583
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• 2010

In this study, the effect of void formation resulting from gas hydrate dissociation or loss of some particles within soil structure on the strength of soil is examined. Beag-ma river sands with uniform gradation were used to simulate a gas hydrate bearing or washable soil structure. Empty capsules for medicine are used to mimic large voids, which are bigger than soil particle. Beag-ma river sand was miced with 8% cement ratio and 14% water content and compacted into a shear box. The number and direction embedded into a specimen. After 4 hours curing, a series of direct shear test is performed on the capsule embedded cemented sands. Shear strength of cemented sands with capsules depends on the volume and direction. The volume and direction formed by voids are most important factors in strength. A shear strength of a specimen with large voids decreases up to 39% of a specimen without void. The results of this study can be used to predict the strength degradation of gas hydrate bearing sediments after dissociation and loss of fine particles within soil structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2004.03b
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• pp.20-27
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• 2004

Reinforced twice than width of foundation with SIC under steel piles drived in cohesion soil and in the coal-limestone which heavily fractured. To analyze behaviour characteristic of steel piles, load transfer test was performed to steel piles attached with strain gauges to axial direction. After it passed 49days, dynamic load test was performed to set-up effect of steel piles bearing capacity. The results of test were compared to each other. According to the results, as the skin friction of steel pile was on the same condition, end bearing capacity of steel piles established on SIC solid of cemented milk in cohesion soil was three times than steel piles established on SIG solid of cemented milk in heavily fractured coal- limestone. After piles were driven and passes 49days, in case of piles on SIG solid of comented milk in cohesion soil the increaes of allowable bearing capacity was 442.9% and allowable bearing capacity of piles on SIG solid of cemented milk in heavily fractured coal-limestone increased 22.4%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.584-594
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• 2010

It is difficult to prepare a specimen for directly testing a tensile strength of soils. Therefore, a tensile strength of soils has been measured indirectly. In this study, a mold and sample preparation tool for directly testing a tensile strength of soils has been developed and a tensile strength of weakly cemented sand was measured by using such device. A compressive strength of the cemented sand was also measured and its value was 30 times greater than its tensile strength.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.827-836
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• 2016

The rate of softening is an important factor to determine whether the failure occurs along localized shear band or in a more diffused manner. In this paper, strength loss and softening rate effect depending on sensitivity are investigated for weakly cemented clays, for both artificially cemented high plasticity San Francisco Bay Mud and low plasticity Yolo Loam. Destructuration and softening behavior for weakly cemented sensitive clays are demonstrated and discussed through multiple vane shear tests. Artificial sensitive clays are prepared in the laboratory for physical modeling or constitutive modeling using a small amount of cement (2 to 5%) with controlled initial water content and curing period. Through test results, shear band thickness is theoretically computed and the rate of softening is represented as a newly introduced parameter, ${\omega}_{80%}$. Consequently, it is found that the softening rate increases with sensitivity for weakly cemented sensitive clays. Increased softening rate represents faster strength loss to residual state and faster minimizing of shear band thickness. Uncemented clay has very low softening rate to 80% strength drop. Also, it is found that higher brittleness index ($I_b$) relatively shows faster softening rate. The result would be beneficial to study of physical modeling for sensitive clays in that artificially constructed high sensitivity (up to $S_t=23$) clay exhibits faster strain softening, which results in localized shear band failure once it is remolded.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.448-456
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• 2010

The mechanical behavior of granular soils is affected by particle bonding including natural cementation. This study addresses a simple model of small strain stiffness and salt concentration based on wave measurements of salt-cemented particulate media. Published models of artificially cemented soils with different curing methods and several types of cementation agents are reviewed. Glass beads with the median diameter of D50 = 0.5mm are prepared in rectangular cells using the water-pluviated method in salt water with different concentrations. Piezo disk elements and bender elements embedded in the cell are used for the measurements of compressional and shear waves. The relationships between elastic wave velocities and salt concentration show an exponential function. The measured small strain stiffness matches well the predicted small strain stiffness based on micromechanics for simple cubic monosized sphere particles. This study demonstrates that the salt concentration in salt-cemented specimen may be evaluated by using elastic wave velocities.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-46
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• 2015

In this study, a blast furnace slag with the alkaliphilic microorganism (Bacillus halodurans) alkaline activator was used to cement natural soils in the field. A low-cost and massive microbial solution for cementation of field soils was produced and compared with existing microbial culture in terms of efficiency. A field soil was prepared for three different cementation areas: a cemented ground with microbial alkaline activator (Microbially-treated soil), a cemented ground with ordinary Portland cement (Cement-treated soil), and untreated ground (Non-treated soil). The testing ground was prepared at a size of 2.6 m in width, 4 m in length, and 0.2 m in depth. After 28 days, a series of unconfined compression tests on the cement-treated and microbially-treated soils were carried out. On the other hand, a torvane test was carried out for non-treated soil. The strength of field soils treated with microorganism was 1/5 times lower than those of cement-treated soil but is 6 times higher than non-treated soil. The pH measured from microbially-treated soil was about 10, which is lower than that of cement-treated soil (pH = 11). Therefore, it is more eco-friendly than Portland cemented soils. The C-S-H hydrates were found in both cement- and microbially-treated soils through SEM-EDS analyses and cement hydrates were also found around soil particles through SEM analysis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.787-788
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• 2009

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.423-432
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• 2020

Hydraulic conductivity is one of the engineering properties of soil. This study focusses on the influence of cement content on the hydraulic conductivity of cemented sand, which is investigated based on the results from numerical analysis and laboratory testing. For numerical analysis the cemented samples were scanned using X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) while laboratory testing was carried out using a triaxial setup. Numerical analysis enables us to simulate flow through the sample and provides insight to the microstructure. It quantifies the pore volume, proportion of interconnected voids and pore size distribution in both cemented and uncemented samples, which could be computed only through empirical equations in case of laboratory testing. With reduction in global voids, the interconnecting voids within the samples also reduce with cement content. Gamma cumulative distribution function is used to predict the percentage of voids lesser than a given pore volume. Finally, the results obtained from both numerical analysis and laboratory testing are compared.