• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.146-157
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• 2009

An experimental study of accelerated weathering on mudstone sample specimens from Haman, Gyeongnam was performed to investigate the variations of physico-mechanical properties of deteriorated rocks due to freeze-thaw weathering. Each complete cycle of freeze and thaw lasted 24 hours, comprising 2 hours of saturating in vacuum chamber, 8 hours of freezing at $-16{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ and 14 hours of thawing at room temperature. Total of 55 cycles of freeze-thaw were completed with measuring the index properties as well as geometries of microfractures. The measured specific gravity and P-wave velocity found to decrease with increasing freeze-thaw cycles. On the other hand, absorption ratio and effective porosity were continuously increased with increasing freeze-thaw cycles. It was found that the index properties of deteriorated sample specimen depend on its initial properties and flaws in rock. The size and density of the traces of the microfracture on slab specimen exhibited abrupt changes after 30 cycles of freeze-thaw weathering. The results obtained in this study show that the box fractal dimension($D_B$) given in this paper has the strong capability of quantifying the size and density of the microfracture.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.375-384
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• 2022

The glacial tills and shales in Midwestern states of the USA often show strength degradation after construction. They are often in need of applying soil modification techniques to remediate their strength degradation with weathering process. This study investigated the weathering durability of these natural soils and biopolymer treated soils by comparing direct shear test results for wet-dry and wet-freeze-thaw-dry cycled specimens. The tests showed that untreated glacial tills maintained only 62% and 50% initial shear strength after eight wet-dry cycles and eight wet-freeze-thaw-dry cycles, respectively. These untreated soils could not withstand by themselves after 16 weathering cycles. The same soils treated with 1.5% (by dry weight) food-grade Xanthan gum maintained 140% and 88% initial shear strength of untreated soils after 16 weathering cycles for wet-dry cycles and wet-freeze-thaw-dry cycles, respectively. The same soils treated with 1.5% (by dry weight) Gellan gum maintained 82% and 60% initial shear strength of untreated ones after 16 weathering cycles, respectively. Similar results were obtained for crushed shales, manifesting that the biopolymerization method may be adopted as a new eco-friendly method to enhance the weathering durability of these problematic soils of glacial tills and shales.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.144-156
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• 1996

The deformation behaviors under uniaxial compressive cyclic loading were investigated for fresh rocks and freeze-thaw cycled samples. The Pocheon granite which is one of the most popular building stone in Korea was selected for tests. 0.5 Hz and 50% of dynamic strength were used as test conditions for frequency and fatigue span, respectively. For freezethaw procedure, sample were frozen for 3 hours under the temperature of -2$0^{\circ}C$ and then followed 3 hours thawing under the temperature of +2$0^{\circ}C$. Twenty seven samples were used as untreated and seventy three for freeze-thaw samples. No failure occurred up to 15000 cycles at the stress level of 60% of dynamic strength, indicating that the lowest strees level for fatigue failure may be around 60% of dynamic strength. Permanent strain and damping capacity curves show that there were three stages when rock behaves like under creep. Young's moduli were increased and Possion's ratios were decreased with the increase of the number of cycles. Possion's ratios varied more rapidly than Young's moduli did with the increase of the number of cycles. This may represent that most microcracks developed by fatigue stress are parallel to the axis of loading. The deformation behavior of freeze-thaw cycled samples were almost the same as that of untreated samples. However, the result of freeze-thaw cycled samples showed lower regression constant, indicating that the physical durability of rock is much lowered because of cyclic temperature variation.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.109-121
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• 2012

Rock-surface temperatures were observed at a trachytic lava dome, called as Baeknokdam Northwest Face, in the summit area of Mt. Halla, Jeju Island, to examine the frequency and occurrence season of freeze-thaw cycles and the rate of temperature changes during a freezing period. Long-term measurements were recorded over 18 months from November 2006 to April 2008, at a 1-hour logging interval and rock depth of 1.5 cm. Both diurnal freeze-thaw cycles and effective freeze-thaw cycles appear in larger numbers on a south-facing rock face than a north-facing rock face. The diurnal cycles were dominantly observed on February and March for the south face and on November and April for the north face, respectively. The annual freeze-thaw cycles were confirmed in terms of the presence of seasonal freezing periods lasting from mid-November to mid-April for the south face and from early-November to late-April for the north face, respectively. The rate of decreasing temperatures during the seasonal freezing periods is larger on the north face than the south face. Notwithstanding the lower numbers of freeze-thaw events, the north face experiences a higher frost intensity since the number of hours below $-3^{\circ}C$ is larger on the north face than the south face. The number of freeze-thaw events and the duration of days with continuous sub-zero rock temperatures largely depend on the solar radiation controlled by the aspect of the monitored rock surfaces, and thus the high-frequency short-term frost cycle dominantly appears on the south face and the annual frost cycle on the north face, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.725-730
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• 2002

The durability of concrete involves resistance to freeze-thaw action, corrosion, permeation, carbonation, chemical attack and so on. Generally, properties of concrete have been well understood under the separate action of these deterioration mechanisms. However, in practice, the degradation of concrete usually is the result of combined action of physical and chemical attack and can be accelerated by the combined action of several deterioration mechanisms. In the present study, to evaluate the combined deterioration by freeze-thaw action and seawater attack, ground granulated blast-furnace slag or silica fume concrete with water or seawater as mixing water was exposed to 210 cycles of freeze-thaw action. Tests were conducted to determined the relative dynamic modulus of elasticity and compressive strength. Furthermore, The XRD, SEM and EDS analysis were performed on the deteriorated part of concrete due to freeze-thaw action and seawater attack.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.917-925
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• 1991

For the present experiment five Portland cement mortars are in order: mortars with two different water/ cement ratios (W/C=0.45 and 0.50, each having no chemical additive), and those with an additive such as superplasticizer, air-entraining agent or water-repelling agent. We fix the W/C ratio of mortars having additive so that their pastes can yield the same workability as that of the cement mortar of W/C=0.50 with no additive. It is shown that the freeze-thaw resistivity depends heavily on the characteristic of wide pores. Despite a good deal of wide pores, the air-entrained specimen shows a good freeze-thaw resistivity due to appropriate air-pores. And also the specimen with water-repelling agent, which proves to cause the microstructure to become hydrophobic, make good resistance to freeze-thaw cycles in spite of its high wide-porosity. Our suggestion is that the freeze-thaw durability of Portland cement mortar/concrete can be more effectively enhanced by using air-entraining agent or water-repelling agent, and simutaneously by taking proper measures against foaming and/or the increased tendency of wide-pore building due to additive.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.589-592
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• 2006

The durability of concrete involves resistance to freeze-thaw action, corrosion, permeation, carbonation, chemical attack and so on. Generally, properties of concrete have been well understood under the separate action of these deterioration mechanisms. However, in practice, the degradation of concrete usually is the result of combined action of physical and chemical attack and can be accelerated by the combined action of several deterioration mechanisms. In the present study, to evaluate the combined deterioration by freeze-thaw action and seawater attack, ground granulated blast-furnace slag or silica fume concrete with water or seawater as mixing water was exposed to 300 cycles of freeze-thaw action. Tests were conducted to determined the relative dynamic modulus of elasticity and compressive strength. Furthermore, The MIP analysis were performed on the deteriorated part of concrete due to freeze-thaw action and seawater attack.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.261-272
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• 2009

An experimental study of the accelerated weathering was performed to investigate the variations of physicomechanical properties of deteriorated rocks due to freeze-thaw weathering for the Jurassic granite specimens from Wonju, Gangwon-do. Each complete cycle of freeze and thaw was lasted 24 hours, comprising 2 hours saturating in vacuum chamber, 8 hours freezing at -20$\pm1^{\circ}C$ and 14 hours thawing at room temperature. Freeze-thaw cycles were implemented with measuring the index physical properties as well as geometries of microfractures. The seismic velocity was found to decrease with increasing freeze-thaw cycles. On the other hand, absorption tends to increase with freeze-thaw cycles. In the end, it was concluded that variations of the index properties of deteriorated specimen depend on its initial properties and flaws in rock. The size and density of the traces of the microfracture on slab specimen were changed continuously with increasing freeze-thaw weathering. The results obtained in this study show that the box fractal dimension($D_B$) has the strong capability of quantifying the combined effect of size and density of the microfractures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.187-199
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• 2022

The usability of waste materials as raw materials is necessary for sustainable production. This study investigates the effects of different powder materials used to replace cement (0%, 5% and 10%) and standard sand (0%, 20% and 30%) (basalt, limestone, and dolomite) on the compressive strength (f_c), flexural strength (f_r), and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of mortars exposed to freeze-thaw cycles (56, 86, 126, 186 and 226 cycles). Furthermore, the usability of artificial intelligence models is compared, and the prediction accuracy of the outputs is examined according to the inputs (powder type, replacement ratio, and the number of cycles). The results show that the variability of the outputs was significantly high under the freeze-thaw effect in mortars produced with waste powder instead of those produced with cement and with standard sand. The highest prediction accuracy for all outputs was obtained using the adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system model. The significantly high prediction accuracy was obtained for the UPV, f_c, and f_r of mortars produced using waste powders instead of standard sand (R² of UPV, f_c and f_f is 0.931, 0.759 and 0.825 respectively), when under the freeze-thaw effect. However, for the mortars produced using waste powders instead of cement, the prediction accuracy of UPV was significantly high (R²=0.889) but the prediction accuracy of f_c and f_r was low (R²f_c=0.612 and R²f_f=0.334).

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.85-95
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• 2024

This study investigates the influence of nano-silica and basalt fiber content, curing duration, and freeze-thaw cycles on the static and dynamic properties of soil specimens. A comprehensive series of tests, including Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), static triaxial, and dynamic triaxial tests, were conducted. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis was employed to examine the microstructure of treated specimens. Results indicate that a combination of 1% fiber and 10% nano-silica yields optimal soil enhancement. The failure patterns of specimens varied significantly depending on the type of additive. Static triaxial tests revealed a notable reduction in the brittleness index (IB) with the inclusion of basalt fibers. Specimens containing 10% nano-silica and 1% fiber exhibited superior shear strength parameters and UCS. The highest cohesion and friction angle were obtained for treated specimens with 10% nano-silica and 1% fiber, 90 kPa and 37.8°, respectively. Furthermore, an increase in curing time led to a significant increase in UCS values for specimens containing nano-silica. Additionally, the addition of fiber resulted in a decrease in IB, while the addition of nano-silica led to an increase in IB. Increasing nano-silica content in stabilized specimens enhanced shear modulus while decreasing the damping ratio. Freeze-thaw cycles were found to decrease the cohesion of treated specimens based on the results of static triaxial tests. Specimens treated with 10% nano-silica and 1% fiber experienced a reduction in shear modulus and an increase in the damping ratio under freeze-thaw conditions. SEM analysis reveals dense microstructure in nano-silica stabilized specimens, enhanced adhesion of soil particles and fibers, and increased roughness on fiber surfaces.