• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.193-202
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• 2023

In this paper, a dynamic centrifuge model test was conducted on a 24.8-meter-deep excavation consisting of a 20 m sand layer and 4.8 m bedrock, classified as S3 by Korean seismic design code KDS 17 10 00. A braced excavation wall supports the hole. From the results, the mechanism of seismically induced earth pressure was investigated, and their distribution and loading points were analyzed. During earthquake loadings, active seismic earth pressure decreases from the at-rest earth pressure since the backfill laterally expands at the movement of the wall toward the active direction. Yet, the passive seismic earth pressure increases from the at-rest earth pressure since the backfill pushes to the wall and laterally compresses at it, moving toward a passive direction and returning to the initial position. The seismic earth pressure distribution shows a half-diamond distribution in the dense sand and a uniform distribution in loose sand. The loading point of dynamic thrust corresponding with seismic earth pressure is at the center of the soil backfill. The dynamic thrust increased differently depending on the backfill's relative density and input motion type. Still, in general, the dynamic thrust increased rapidly when the maximum horizontal displacement of the wall exceeded 0.05 H%.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.247-258
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• 2019

Soil strength and failure surface geometry directly influence magnitudes of passive earth thrust acting on geotechnical retaining structures. Accordingly, it is expected that as long as the shape of the failure surface geometry and strength parameters of the backfill are known, magnitudes of computed passive earth thrusts should be highly accurate. Building on this premise, this study adopts conventional method of slices for calculating passive earth thrust and combines it with equations for estimating failure surface geometries based on in-situ stress state and density. Accuracy of the proposed method is checked using the results obtained from small-scale physical retaining wall model tests. In these model tests, backfill was prepared using either air pluviation or compaction and different backfill relative densities were used in each test. When the calculated passive earth thrust magnitudes were compared with the measured values, it was noticed that the results were highly compatible for the tests with pluviated backfills. On the other hand, calculated thrust magnitudes significantly underestimated the measured thrust magnitudes for those tests with compacted backfills. Based on this observation, a new approach for the calculation of passive earth pressures is developed. The proposed approach calculates the magnitude and considers the influence of locked-in stresses that are the by-products of the backfill preparation method in the computation of lateral earth forces. Finally, recommendations are given for any geotechnical application involving the compaction of granular bodies that are equally applicable to physical modelling studies and field construction problems.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.45-56
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• 2021

As the utilization of the underground space is activated, deep excavation of ground has been conducted for the installation of underground structures, the earth retaining wall has widely used to minimize deformation of the excavated ground. In particular, as deep excavation is actively progressing in an urban area where structures are concentrated, methods to minimize the deformation of wall have been devised to prevent damage to the structure adjacent to the wall, and one of these methods is the pre-loading method. This method is a method of suppressing the deformation of wall by actively applying a load on the strut to be installed in wall, and research on this method has been conducted recently. However, although related studies have been actively conducted, the management standard for the pre-loading of bracing has not been clearly presented until now. In addition, since the working force in the strut may increase depending on the depth of excavation or the soil condition of the backfill, the magnitude of the pre-loading that can be applied to the brace may decrease. Nevertheless, the magnitude of the pre-loading (more than 50% of the working load) proposed by the previous research results has been uniformly applied to the strut. In this study, 3D finite element analysis was performed to evaluate the application range of the pre-loading of H-beam strut according to the soil conditions of backfill. As a result of the analysis, it was found that there is a very high possibility that a problem may occur in the stability of the structure of strut due to the earth pressure and the pre-loading when the soil condition is weak and deep excavation proceeds. And it was found that the application range of the pre-loading was 5%~70% of the working load in strut.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.63-71
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• 2009

The movement of in-situ walls has become very important as construction in large cities moves upward, instead of outward. Tall structures typically have deep excavations not on1y to provide extra space for parking, but also to reduce the potential settlement of the building. These large excavations require a robust bracing system to resist the lateral earth pressures as the depth increases. Methods to predict deflections of the retaining systems are of utmost importance because wall movements allow potentia1 settlement of adjacent structures. Case studies will be analyzed and measured waI1 def1ections will be compared with predictions from empirica1ly derived charts.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.983-1001
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• 2017

The extent by which economy and safety concerns can be addressed in earth retaining structure design depends on the accuracy of the assumed failure surface. Accordingly, this study attempts to investigate and quantify mechanical backfill properties that control failure surface geometry of cohesionless backfills at the active state for translational mode of wall movements. For this purpose, a small scale 1 g physical model study was conducted. The experimental setup simulated the conditions of a backfill behind a laterally translating vertical retaining wall in plane strain conditions. To monitor the influence of dilative behavior on failure surface geometry, model tests were conducted on backfills with different densities corresponding to different dilation angles. Failure surface geometries were identified using particle image velocimetry (PIV) method. Friction and dilation angles of the backfill are calculated as functions of failure stress state and relative density of the backfill using a well-known empirical equation, making it possible to quantify the influence of dilation angle on failure surface geometry. As a result, an empirical equation is proposed to predict active failure surface geometry for cohesionless backfills based on peak dilatancy angle. It is shown that the failure surface geometries calculated using the proposed equation are in good agreement with the identified failure surfaces.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.25-36
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• 2011

The behavior of the dry-stone masonry retaining structure has been investigated via physical model test and numerical simulation. In the model test, the digital image analysis using PIV technique was employed to measure horizontal displacements in the backfill soils and retaining blocks. For finite element numerical analyses, the commercial code, ABAQUS, was used. The horizontal displacements observed in the model test showed that the development of the failure surface is progressive. Numerical results showed that in most cases horizontal earth pressure is distributed similarly to a conventional Rankine’s distribution. However, lower values of the internal friction angle of the backfill soils and interface friction angle in the front blocks produce irregularly nonlinear distribution of the horizontal earth pressure.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.21-29
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• 2005

This paper presents the results of a numerical investigation on the behavior of a geosynthetic reinforced two-tier segmental retaining wall (GR-SRW) on a yielding foundation. A hypothetical 10 m high two tier GR-SRW to be constructed on an incompetent foundation containing a layer of relative soft soil deposit was considered. A verified finite-element procedure was employed to get insights into the effect of foundation yielding on the wall behavior including the wall deformation and the reinforcement load. It is shown that the effect of foundation yielding is to increase the wall deformation as well as the reinforcement load, thus influencing both the internal as well as the external stability of the wall. Practical implications of the findings obtained from this study are highlighted in this paper.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.757-774
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• 2016

Soils are usually weak in tension therefore different materials such as geosynthetics are used to address this inadequacy. Worldwide annual consumption of geosynthetics is close to $1000million\;m^2$, and the value of these materials is probably close to US$1500 million. Since the total cost of the construction is at least four or five times the cost of the geosynthetic itself, the impact of these materials on civil engineering construction is very large indeed. Nevertheless, there are several significant problems associated with geosynthetics, such as creep, low modulus of elasticity, and susceptibility to aggressive environment. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) was introduced over two decades ago in the field of structural engineering that can also be used in geotechnical engineering. CFRP has all the benefits associated with geosynthetics and it boasts higher strength, higher modulus, no significant creep and reliability in aggressive environments. In this paper, the performance of a CFRP reinforced retaining wall is investigated using the finite element method. Since the characterization of behavior of soils and interfaces are vital for reliable prediction from the numerical model, soil and interface properties are obtained from comprehensive laboratory tests. Based on the laboratory results for CFRP, backfill soil, and interface data, the finite element model is used to study the behavior of a CFRP reinforced wall. The finite element model was verified based on the results of filed measurements for a reference wall. Then the reference wall simulated by CFRP reinforcements and the results. The results of this investigations showed that the safety factor of CFRP reinforced wall is more and its deformations is less than those for a retaining wall reinforced with ordinary geosynthetics while their construction costs are in similar range.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.29-39
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• 2016

This paper presents the results of 2D and 3D finite element simulations conducted to analyze the effects of excavation depth (H), excavation width (L), and ground condition on the behavior of anchored earth retaining wall in inclined ground layers. The results of numerical analyses are compared with those of the site instrumentation analyses. Based on the results obtained, it appeared that 2D numerical analysis tends to overestimate the horizontal displacement of retaining wall compared to the 3D numerical analysis. When the excavation depth is deeper than 20m, it is found that 2D and 3D numerical analysis results of excavation work in soil ground condition are more different from the results in rock ground condition. For an accurate 3D numerical analysis, applying 3D mesh which has an excavation width twice longer than excavation depth is recommended. Consequently, 3D numerical analysis may be able to offer significantly better predictions of movement than 2D analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.119-128
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• 2018

Limit state design has been implemented in Korea since 2015; however, there exists no specification of lateral load determination on retaining wall due to the Korean standard traffic load on retaining wall's backfill surface. The lateral load from traffic depends on lane number, standard truck's axle loads and locations, loading distance from the inner wall. The concept of equivalent height of soil accounting for traffic loadings is typically used for design of retaining walls to quantify the traffic loads transmitted to the inner wall faces. Due to the different characteristics of the standard design trucks between Korea and US (AASHTO), the direct use of the guidelines from AASHTO LRFD leads to incorrect estimation of traffic load effects on retaining walls. This paper presents the results of evaluation of equivalent height of soil to reflect the Korean standard truck, based on the findings from analytical solutions using Bounessq's theory and numerical assessment using 2D finite element method. Consequently, it was found that the equivalent heights of soil from the Korean standard truck load were lower for lower retaining wall height.