• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.475-498
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• 2024

The prediction of the susceptibility of soil to liquefaction using a limited set of parameters, particularly when dealing with highly unbalanced databases is a challenging problem. The current study focuses on different ensemble learning classification algorithms using highly unbalanced databases of results from in-situ tests; standard penetration test (SPT), shear wave velocity (V_s) test, and cone penetration test (CPT). The input parameters for these datasets consist of earthquake intensity parameters, strong ground motion parameters, and in-situ soil testing parameters. liquefaction index serving as the binary output parameter. After a rigorous comparison with existing literature, extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), bagging, and random forest (RF) emerge as the most efficient models for liquefaction instance classification across different datasets. Notably, for SPT and V_s-based models, XGBoost exhibits superior performance, followed by Light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) and Bagging, while for CPT-based models, Bagging ranks highest, followed by Gradient boosting and random forest, with CPT-based models demonstrating lower G_mean(error), rendering them preferable for soil liquefaction susceptibility prediction. Key parameters influencing model performance include internal friction angle of soil (ϕ) and percentage of fines less than 75 µ (F₇₅) for SPT and V_s data and normalized average cone tip resistance (q_c) and peak horizontal ground acceleration (a_max) for CPT data. It was also observed that the addition of V_s measurement to SPT data increased the efficiency of the prediction in comparison to only SPT data. Furthermore, to enhance usability, a graphical user interface (GUI) for seamless classification operations based on provided input parameters was proposed.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.5-16
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• 2020

Currently, the seismic design standards have been strengthened due to the occurrence of the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquake, and seismic performance evaluation of existing facilities is being conducted. It aims to secure a seismic performance effect during earthquakes by improving the micro-pile method, which can be constructed in limited confined places while minimizing damage to existing facilities. The improvement method is to construct all the piles in the square-tray-type plate on the top of the pile by constructing the slope pile in the form of an umbrella around the vertical pile, the main pillar. In this paper, the numerical analysis was performed to analyze the horizontal displacement behavior of an umbrella-type micropile for various real-measurement seismic waves in sandy soil. As a result of numerical analysis, the softer the ground, the better the effect of horizontal resistance of umbrella-type micropile. The horizontal displacement reduction effect was pronounced when the embedded depth was 15 m or more at the same ground strength, and it was found to be effective in earthquakes if it was settled on the ground with an N value of 30 or more. The embedded depth and horizontal displacement suppression effect of the micropile was proportional. Generally, the weaker the ground, the greater the displacement suppression effect. Umbrella-type micropile had a composite resistance effect in which the vertical pile resists the moment and inclined pile resists the axial force.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2010

This study is to consider applicability of spiral bolt strain gauge as an instrument measuring behavior of soft ground foundation and rock slope. When the instrument was installed on the ground, it can be useful to identify the state of ground behavior because it has the characteristics of flexibility, as well as to apply the ground reinforcement because it has higher pull-out resistance to the ground. From the measurement of behavior to soft ground foundation, the strain shows a stable state in the beginning, then was observed significant change in the upper and the middle of spiral bolt strain gauge after 400 days. This is analyzed that ground loosening, which is due to occurred frequent earthquake of magnitude 1~2 with increased rainfall, lead to the instability of the ground. From the measurement of behavior to rock slope, the strain shows a stable state with very little change in a period of 0~50 days and the biggest strain at 4.2 m (P6) in a period of 50~100 days, then other places except P6 was maintained at a stable state in a period of 100~160 days. The reason is analyzed because that blasting for excavated limestone surrounding was affected to the largest at P6. However, based on the size of strain change by behavior of the soft ground foundation and rock slope, it is considered that the present condition are not effected on stability of retaining structure and rock slope. In conclusion, the proposed spiral bolt strain gauge can be useful to measure behavior of soft ground foundation and rock slope, and also to be measured behavior as well as reinforcement of the target ground.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.295-303
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• 2023

South Korea has recently witnessed an increasing number of seismic events, leading to a surge in studies focusing on seismic earth pressures, as well as the attributes of geological layers and ground where foundations are established. Consequently, earthquake-resistant design has become imperative to ensure the safety of subterranean structures. The slurry wall method, due to its superior wall rigidity, excellent water resistance, and minimal noise and vibration, is often employed in constructing high-rise buildings in urban areas. However, given the separation between panels that constitute the wall, slurry walls possess limited resistance to seismic loads in the longitudinal direction. As a solution, several studies have probed into the possibility of interconnecting slurry wall panels to augment their seismic performance. In this research, we developed and evaluated a method for linking slurry wall panels using mechanical joints, including concrete-confined steel pipes and headed bars, through mock-up tests. We also assessed the constructability of the suggested method and compared it with other analogous methods. Any challenges identified during the mock-up test were discussed to guide future research in resolving them. The results of this study aid in enhancing the seismic performance of slurry walls through the development of an interconnected panel method. Further research can build on these findings to address the identified issues and improve the efficacy and reliability of the proposed method.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.347-355
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• 2021

During the earthquake, for multi-story structure, if the first floor is soft, the deformation will concentrate on that floor causing a serious damage to the column members which might leads to the collapse of the whole structure like Piloti structure during the Pohang earthquake in Korea. According to the 2016 National Disaster Management Research Institute's "Investigation of Seismic Reinforcement and Cost Analysis of Domestic Non-seismic Buildings", the rate of seismic resistance of private reinforced concrete buildings was 38.3 %. Among them, it was reported that the seismic-resistance ratio of the two to five-story structures was less than 50 %. Accordingly, the government is trying to improve the seismic rate through support projects, but the conventional seismic reinforcement methods are still expensive, and emergency construction is difficult. Therefore, in this study, the field applicability was evaluated by improving the reinforcement method using Velcro, which was developed through the research project of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs in 2014. In order to improve the performance of the Velcro reinforcement method, introducing the initial tension of Velcro using high foaming rigid urethane filling between the Velcro and concrete of the columns was applied. Additionally, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the ductility of Velcro specimen from the concrete confinement effect. As a result, the ductility of the Velcro specimen was improved compare to Normal specimen. However, the energy dissipation capacity of VELCRO2 is better than VELCRO1, yet the maximum ductility of those two specimens did not show a significant difference. Therefore, the improvement of the internal filler material is still needed to have a better maximum ductility.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.125-153
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• 2005

It has been widely known that the seismic piezo-cone penetration test (SCPTU) is one of the most useful techniques for investigating the geotechnical characteristics including dynamic soil properties. As the practical applications in Korea, SCPTU was carried out at two sites in Busan and four sites in Incheon, which are mainly composed of alluvial or marine soil deposits. From the SCPTU waveform data obtained from the testing sites, the first arrival times of shear waves were and the corresponding time differences with depth were determined using the cross-over method, and the shear wave velocity profiles (VS) were derived based on the refracted ray path method based on Snell's law and similar to the trend of cone tip resistance (qt) profiles. In Incheon area, the testing depths of SCPTU were deeper than those of conventional down-hole seismic tests. Moreover, for the application of the conventional CPTU to earthquake engineering practices, the correlations between VS and CPTU data were deduced based on the SCPTU results. For the empirical evaluation of VS for all soils together with clays and sands which are classified unambiguously in this study by the soil behavior type classification Index (IC), the authors suggested the VS-CPTU data correlations expressed as a function of four parameters, qt, fs, $\sigma$, v0 and Bq, determined by multiple statistical regression modeling. Despite the incompatible strain levels of the down-hole seismic test during SCPTU and the conventional CPTU, it is shown that the VS-CPTU data correlations for all soils clays and sands suggested in this study is applicable to the preliminary estimation of VS for the Korean deposits and is more reliable than the previous correlations proposed by other researchers.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.207-224
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• 2006

It has been widely known that the seismic piezo-cone penetration test (SCPTu) is one of the most useful techniques for investigating the geotechnical characteristics such as static and dynamic soil properties. As practical applications in Korea, SCPTu was carried out at two sites in Busan and four sites in Incheon, which are mainly composed of alluvial or marine soil deposits. From the SCPTu waveform data obtained from the testing sites, the first arrival times of shear waves and the corresponding time differences with depth were determined using the cross-over method, and the shear wave velocity $(V_S)$ profiles with depth were derived based on the refracted ray path method based on Snell's law. Comparing the determined $V_S$ profile with the cone tip resistance $(q_t)$ profile, both trends of profiles with depth were similar. For the application of the conventional CPTu to earthquake engineering practices, the correlations between $V_S$ and CPTu data were deduced based on the SCPTu results. For the empirical evaluation of $V_S$ for all soils together with clays and sands which are classified unambiguously in this study by the soil behavior type classification index $(I_C)$, the authors suggested the $V_S-CPTu$ data correlations expressed as a function of four parameters, $q_t,\;f_s,\;\sigma'_{v0}$ and $B_q$, determined by multiple statistical regression modeling. Despite the incompatible strain levels of the downhole seismic test during SCPTu and the conventional CPTu, it is shown that the $V_S-CPTu$ data correlations for all soils, clays and sands suggested in this study is applicable to the preliminary estimation of $V_S$ for the soil deposits at a part in Korea and is more reliable than the previous correlations proposed by other researchers.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.451-458
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• 2015

The infill-wall strengthening method has been widely used for the seismic performance enhancement of the conventional reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures with non-seismic detail, which is one of the promising techniques to secure the high resisting capacity against lateral forces induced by earthquake. During the application of the infill-wall strengthening method, however, it often restricts the use of the structure. In addition, it is difficult to cast the connection part between the wall and the frame, and also difficult to ensure the shear resistance performances along the connection. In this study, an advanced strengthening method using the externally-anchored precast wall-panel (EPCW) was proposed to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional infill-wall strengthening method. The one-third scaled four RC frame specimens were fabricated, and the cyclic loading tests were conducted to verify the EPCW strengthening method. The test results showed that the strength, lateral stiffness, energy dissipation capacity of the RC frame structures strengthened by the proposed EPCW method were significantly improved compared to the control test specimen.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.498-509
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• 2008

Reliability analyses of Level I, II and III for bearing capacity, overturning and sliding of quaywall are carried out to investigate their safety levels depending upon its failure modes, and sensitivity analyses of each design variable are performed to find their effects on safety levels of quaywall. Reliability indices was 1.416 for both level II and III for case study I, and with 2.201 and 1.880, respectively, for the case study II at the critical loading conditions. Thus we were able to know that Level II (FORM) approach is good enough to use in practical design. Generally, it was found that probabilities of failure of quaywall were higher for sliding and bearing capacity failure modes and lower for overturning failure mode. From sensitivity analyses, the most influential design variables to reliability index of quaywall were coefficient of friction, residual water pressure and resistance moment for the sliding, overturning and bearing capacity failure modes, respectively. Especially, the sensitivity of reliability index due to inertial force and dynamic water pressures, which include a large COV when earthquake occurs, did not change greatly.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.19 no.2 s.72
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• pp.171-185
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• 2006

A sophisticated reliability analysis method is proposed to evaluate the reliability of real nonlinear complicated dynamic structural systems excited by short duration dynamic loadings like earthquake motions by intelligently integrating the response surface method, the finite element method, the first-order reliability method, and the iterative linear interpolation scheme. The method explicitly considers all major sources of nonlinearity and uncertainty in the load and resistance-related random variables. The unique feature of the technique is that the seismic loading is applied in the time domain, providing an alternative to the classical random vibration approach. The four-parameter Richard model is used to represent the flexibility of connections of real steel frames. Uncertainties in the Richard parameters are also incorporated in the algorithm. The laterally flexible steel frame is then reinforced with reinforced concrete shear walls. The stiffness degradation of shear walls after cracking is also considered. The applicability of the method to estimate the reliability of real structures is demonstrated by considering three examples; a laterally flexible steel frame with fully restrained connections, the same steel frame with partially restrained connections with different rigidities, and a steel frame reinforced with concrete shear walls.