• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.165-171
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• 2020

Laboratory determination of strength and deformation behavior of clean sands and gravels has always been challenging due to the difficulty in obtaining their undisturbed samples. An alternative solution to this problem is to develop correlations between mechanical properties of cohesionless soils and their gradation characteristics. This study presents database of 3 natural sands with 11 varying particle size gradation curves to allow investigating relationships between mean particle size, maximum and minimum void ratio, relative density and shear strength of the test soils. Direct shear tests were performed at relative densities of 50, 75 and 95% to explore the effects of gradation and density on the angle of internal friction of the modeled sand samples. It is found that the mean grain size D₅₀ bears good correlations with void ratio range (e_max - e_min) and peak angle of internal friction 𝜙'_peak. The generated regression models are in good agreement with published literature and can be considered as reliable for natural sands in Pakistan. These empirical correlations can save considerable time and efforts involved in laboratory and field testing.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.197-207
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• 2005

Design analysis for underground spaces requires evaluating stability related to heading collapses. A failure mode is one of the critical factors in the conventional methods of stability evaluation. Identification of failure modes is, therefore, essential in securing safe construction. In this study failure modes at the tunnel heading in cohesionless soils are investigated using physical model tests for various tunnel depths and ground surface inclinations. Test results showed that the effect of depth and the inclination of ground surface on a failure mode are of significance. It is identified that, with an increase in depth, failure modes become localized in a region close to tunnel face. It is also known that an increase in the inclination of ground surface results in inclined an d wide failure modes. Numerical simulation of laboratory tests was performed, and shown that the numerical analysis is useful in identifying the heading failure modes, particularly for large underground spaces.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.75-88
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• 2004

It is known that the earth pressure acting on the cylindrical retaining wall in cohesionless soils is small than that acting on the retaining wall in plane strain condition due to three dimensional arching effect. In this study, the earth pressure equation considering the earth pressure decrease by horizontal and vertical arching effects, overburden, wall friction, and failure surface slope is proposed. For the purpose of verifying the applicability of proposed equation, model test is performed with apparatuses that can control wall displacement, wall friction, and wall shape ratio. Influence of each factor on the active earth pressure acting on the cylindrical retaining wall is analyzed according to the model test in constant wall displacement condition. The comparison of calculated results with measured values shows that the proposed equations satisfactorily predict the earth pressure distribution on the cylindrical retaining wall.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.81-98
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• 1992

Deep excavation increases utility of underground spaces for high buildings. subways etc. To excavate vertically the underground, safe earth retaining walls and supporting systems should be prepared. Recently anchors have been used to support the excavation wall. The anchored excavation has some advantages toprovide working space for underground construction. In this paper the prestressed anchor loads were measured by load cells which attacted to the anchors to support the excavation walls at eight construction fields. where under-ground deep excavation was performed on cohesionless soils. The lateral pressures on the retaining walls, which are estimated from the measured anchor forces, shows a trapezoidal distribution that the pressure increases linearly with depth from the ground surface to 30% of the excavation depth and then keeps constant value regardless of the stiffness of the walls. The maximum lateral pressure was same to 63% of the Ranking active earth pressure or 17% of the vertical overburden pressure at the final depth The investigation of the measured lateral pressure on the anchored excavation walls shows that empirical earth pressure diagram presented by Terzaghi-Peck and Tschebotarioff could be applied with some modifications to determine anchor loads for the anchored excavation in cohesionless soils.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.5-14
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• 2017

In recent years, world has witnessed many man-made activities related to both above and underground blasts. Details on behaviour of shallow foundations subjected to blast loads and induced liquefaction is scarce in literature. In this paper, typical shallow strip foundation in saturated cohesionless soils subjected to both above and underground blasting have been simulated by using finite difference based numerical model FLAC3D. Peak particle velocity (PPV) has been obtained to propose critical values for which bearing capacity failure for shallow foundations with soil liquefaction can occur. Typical results for pore pressure ratio (PPR) for various scaled distances are compared to PPR values obtained by using empirical equation available in literature which shows good agreement. Critical design values obtained in the present study for PPV and PPR to estimate the scaled distance, bearing capacity failure and liquefaction susceptibility can be used effectively for design of shallow strip foundation in cohesionless soil subjected to both above and under ground blast loads.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.987-995
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• 2018

In this study, a relationship between small-strain shear modulus ($G_{max}$) and overconsolidation ratio (OCR) based on shear wave velocity ($V_S$) measurement was established to identify the stress history of centrifuge model ground. A centrifuge test was conducted in various centrifugal acceleration levels including loading and unloading sequences to cause various stress histories on centrifuge model ground. The $V_S$ and vertical effective stress were measured at each level of acceleration. Then, a sensitivity analysis was conducted using testing data to ensure the suitability of OCR function for the tested cohesionless soils and found that OCR can be estimated based on $V_S$ measurements irrespective of normally-consolidated or overconsolidated loading conditions. Finally, the developed $G_{max}$-OCR relationship was applied to centrifuge models constructed and tested under various induced stress-history conditions. Through a series of tests, it was concluded that the induced stress history on centrifuge model by compaction, g-level variation, and past overburden load can be analysed quantitatively, and it is convinced that the OCR evaluation technique will contribute to better interpret the centrifuge test results.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.543-552
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• 2023

The design of foundations based on a deterministic approach may not be safe and reliable occasionally, since soils sometimes show considerable spatial variability, and thus, significant uncertainties in turn affect the estimation of footing bearing capacity. The design of footing on cohesionless stratums on the basis of reliability analysis has not received much attention. This paper performs two-dimensional random finite difference analyses of shallow strip footings on a spatially variable frictional soil considering correlation structure. Friction angle (ϕ) is considered as a log-normally distributed random variable and Monte Carlo Simulation is then performed to determine the statistical response based on the random fields. A new approach reliability-based safety factor is defined based on various reliability levels by considering the coefficient of variation of ϕ and correlation length in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The comparison of the probabilistic safety factor and the conventional one illustrates the limitations of the deterministic safety factor and provides insight into how the heterogeneity of soils properties affects the required safety factor. Results show that the conventional safety factor of 3 can be conservative in some cases, especially for soil with low values of mean ϕ and COV_ϕ.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.49-62
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• 2007

A new earth pressure equation acting on the vertical shafts in cohesionless soils has been proposed by modifying the equations proposed by others. In order to verify the modified equation, model tests which can control uniform wall displacement with depth to radial direction were conducted. Model tests were performed with three different wall friction angles and two different relative densities. The measured values were larger than estimated values when assuming $\lambda=1$ ; smaller than those when assuming $\lambda=1-sin\phi$. The parameter, $\lambda$ is the ratio of tangential stress to vertical stress and is the most critical value in proposed equation. A method which can estimate the earth pressure on vertical shafts in layered soils is also proposed by reasonably assuming the failure surface of layered soils and using the modified equation. In order to verify the proposed method, in-situ measurement data have been collected from the three in-situ vertical shafts installed in layered soils. Most of earth pressures converted from measured data match reasonably well with estimated values using proposed method.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.127-139
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• 2019

Available methods to determine the ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations may not be accurate enough owing to the complicated failure mechanism and diversity of the underlying soils. Accordingly, applying new methods of artificial intelligence can improve the prediction of the ultimate bearing capacity. The M5' model tree and the genetic programming are two robust artificial intelligence methods used for prediction purposes. The model tree is able to categorize the data and present linear models while genetic programming can give nonlinear models. In this study, a combination of these methods, called the M5'-GP approach, is employed to predict the ultimate bearing capacity of the shallow foundations, so that the advantages of both methods are exploited, simultaneously. Factors governing the bearing capacity of the shallow foundations, including width of the foundation (B), embedment depth of the foundation (D), length of the foundation (L), effective unit weight of the soil (${\gamma}$) and internal friction angle of the soil (${\varphi}$) are considered for modeling. To develop the new model, experimental data of large and small-scale tests were collected from the literature. Evaluation of the new model by statistical indices reveals its better performance in contrast to both traditional and recent approaches. Moreover, sensitivity analysis of the proposed model indicates the significance of various predictors. Additionally, it is inferred that the new model compares favorably with different models presented by various researchers based on a comprehensive ranking system.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.51-66
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• 2022

The article presents the results of finite element analyses carried out on skirted footings. The bearing capacity increases with the provision of the flexible and rigid skirt, but the effectiveness varies with various other factors. The skirts are more efficient in the case of cohesionless soils than cohesive and c-ϕ soils. Efficiency reduces with an increase in the soil strength and footing depth. The rigid skirt is relatively more efficient compared to the flexible skirt. In contrast, to the flexible skirt, the efficiency of the rigid skirt increases continuously with skirt length. The difference in the effectiveness of both skirts becomes more noticeable with an increase in the strength parameters, skirt length, and footing depth. The failure mechanism also changes significantly with the inclusion of a rigid skirt. The rigid skirt behaves as a solid embedded footing, and the failure mechanism becomes confined with an increase in the skirt length. Few small-scale laboratory tests were carried out to study the flexible and rigid skirt and verify the numerical study results. The numerical analysis results are further used to develop nonlinear equations to predict the enhancement in bearing capacity with the provision of the rigid and flexible skirts.