• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.4 s.173
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• pp.381-394
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• 2005

Mokpo city is a coastal city located at the south western coast of the Korean Peninsula. Large regions within Mokpo are subjected to significant subsidence because about $70\%$ of the city area is a reclaimed land from the sea. Although no confidential quantitative measurements are available up to the present, the subsidence rate is as much as several cm per year. In this study, we aimed to estimate the subsidence rate over Mokpo city by using twenty-six JERS-1 SAR dataset from September 1992 to October 1998. Several tens of differential interferograms were processed from JERS-1 dataset and STRM 3-arc DEM. The results indicate continuous subsidence in Dongmyung-dong, Hadang-dong and Wonsan-dong in city, and the subsidence velocity reach over 4 cm/yr in the most highly sinking area. For facilitating the analysis of time-varying surface change, we also carried out an interferometric SAR time series analysis using permanent scatterer and consequently determined space-time maps of surface deformation at each acquisition time of JERS- 1 SAR.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.601-618
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• 2024

The joint probability distribution of uncertain geomechanical parameters of geotechnical strata is a crucial aspect in constructing the reliability functional function for roof structures. However, due to the limited number of on-site exploration and test data samples, it is challenging to conduct a scientifically reliable analysis of roof geotechnical strata. This study proposes a Copula method based on small sample exploration and test data to construct the intensity characteristics of roof geotechnical strata. Firstly, the theory of multidimensional copula is systematically introduced, especially the construction of four-dimensional Gaussian copula. Secondly, data from measurements of 176 groups of geomechanical parameters of roof geotechnical strata in 31 coal mines in China are collected. The goodness of fit and simulation error of the four-dimensional Gaussian Copula constructed using the Pearson method, Kendall method, and Spearman methods are analyzed. Finally, the fitting effects of positive and negative correlation coefficients under different copula functions are discussed respectively. The results demonstrate that the established multidimensional Gaussian Copula joint distribution model can scientifically represent the uncertainty of geomechanical parameters in roof geotechnical strata. It provides an important theoretical basis for the study of reliability functional functions for roof structures. Different construction methods for multidimensional Gaussian Copula yield varying simulation effects. The Kendall method exhibits the best fit in constructing correlations of geotechnical parameters. For the bivariate Copula fitting ability of uncertain parameters in roof geotechnical strata, when the correlation is strong, Gaussian Copula demonstrates the best fit, and other Copula functions also show remarkable fitting ability in the region of fixed correlation parameters. The research results can offer valuable reference for the stability analysis of roof geotechnical engineering.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.401-406
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• 2020

Continuously monitoring of Horizontal and Vertical movements in vulnerable areas due to earthquakes and volcanic activities is vital. These geohazard activities are the result of a slow deformation rate at the tectonic plate boundaries. The recent development of GPS (Global Positioning System) technology has made it possible to attain a millimeter level changes in the Earth's crust. This study used continuously observed GPS data at the flank of Ol Doinyo Lengai volcanic Mountain to determine crustal motion caused by impinging volcano from mantle convention. We analyzed 8 GPS observed from June 2016 to Dec 2019 using a well-documented Global Kalman Filter GAMIT/GLOBK software. The resulting velocity from GAMIT/GLOBK analysis was then used to compute the relative motion of our study area with respect to Nubia plate. Our analysis discovered a minor motion of less than 5mm/year in both horizontal and vertical components.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.355-367
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• 2018

This paper studies the aerodynamic stability of a tensioned, geometrically nonlinear orthotropic membrane structure with hyperbolic paraboloid in sag direction. Considering flow separation, the wind field around membrane structure is simulated as the superposition of a uniform flow and a continuous vortex layer. By the potential flow theory in fluid mechanics and the thin airfoil theory in aerodynamics, aerodynamic pressure acting on membrane surface can be determined. And based on the large amplitude theory of membrane and D'Alembert's principle, interaction governing equations of wind-structure are established. Then, under the circumstance of single-mode response, the Bubnov-Galerkin approximate method is applied to transform the complicated interaction governing equations into a system of second-order nonlinear differential equation with constant coefficients. Through judging the frequency characteristic of the system characteristic equation, the critical velocity of divergence instability is determined. Different parameter analysis shows that the orthotropy, geometrical nonlinearity and scantling of structure is significant for preventing destructive aerodynamic instability in membrane structures. Compared to the model without considering flow separation, it's basically consistent about the divergence instability regularities in the flow separation model.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.517-525
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• 2020

The long-term stability of rock engineering is significantly affected by the time-dependent deformation behavior of rock, which is an important mechanical property of rock for engineering design. Although the hard rocks show small creep deformation, it cannot be ignored under high-stress condition during deep excavation. The inner mechanism of creep is complicated, therefore, it is necessary to investigate the relationship between microscopic creep mechanism and the macro creep behavior of rock. Microscopic numerical modeling of sandstone creep was performed in the investigation. A numerical sandstone sample was generated and Parallel Bond contact and Burger's contact model were assigned to the contacts between particles in DEM simulation. Sensitivity analysis of the microscopic creep parameters was conducted to explore how microscopic parameters affect the macroscopic creep deformation. The results show that the microscopic creep parameters have linear correlations with the corresponding macroscopic creep parameters, whereas the friction coefficient shows power function with peak strength and Young's modulus, respectively. Moreover, the microscopic parameters were calibrated. The creep modeling curve is in good agreement with the verification test result. Finally, the creep curves under one-step loading and multi-step loading were compared. This investigation can act as a helpful reference for modeling rock creep behavior from a microscopic mechanism perspective.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.277-292
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• 2014

Soil nailing, as an effective stabilizing method for slopes and excavations, has been widely used worldwide. However, the interaction mechanism of a soil nail and the surrounding soil and its influential factors are not well understood. A pullout model using a hyperbolic shear stress-shear strain relationship is proposed to describe the load-deformation behavior of a cement grouted soil nail. Numerical analysis has been conducted to solve the governing equation and the distribution of tensile force along the nail length is investigated through a parametric study. The simulation results are highly consistent with laboratory soil nail pullout test results in the literature, indicating that the proposed model is efficient and accurate. Furthermore, the effects of key parameters, including normal stress, degree of saturation of soil, and surface roughness of soil nail, on the model parameters are studied in detail.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.117-139
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• 2016

Previous studies for soil movements induced by tunneling have primarily focused on the free soil displacements. However, the stiffness of existing structures is expected to alter tunneling-induced ground movements, the sheltering influences for underground structures should be included. Furthermore, minimal attention has been given to the settings for the shield machine's operation parameters during the process of tunnels crossing above and below existing tunnels. Based on the Shanghai railway project, the soil movements induced by an earth pressure balance (EPB) shield considering the sheltering effects of existing tunnels are presented by the simplified theoretical method, the three-dimensional finite element (3D FE) simulation method, and the in-situ monitoring method. The deformation prediction of existing tunnels during complex traversing process is also presented. In addition, the deformation controlling safety measurements are carried out simultaneously to obtain the settings for the shield propulsion parameters, including earth pressure for cutting open, synchronized grouting, propulsion speed, and cutter head torque. It appears that the sheltering effects of underground structures have a great influence on ground movements caused by tunneling. The error obtained by the previous simplified methods based on the free soil displacements cannot be dismissed when encountering many existing structures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.639-652
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• 2023

Stepped earth slopes incorporated with anti-slide piles are widely utilized in landslide disaster preventions. Explicit consideration of the three-dimensional (3D) effect in the slope design warrants producing more realistic solutions. A 3D limit analysis of the stability of pile stabilized stepped slopes is performed in light of the kinematic limit analysis theorem. The influences of seismic excitation and surcharge load are both considered from a kinematic perspective. The upper bound solution to the factor of safety is optimized and compared with published solutions, demonstrating the capability and applicability of the proposed method. Comparative studies are performed with respect to the roles of 3D effect, pile location, pile spacing, seismic and surcharge loads in the safety assessments of stepped slopes. The results demonstrate that the stability of pile reinforced stepped slopes differ with that of single stage slopes dramatically. The optimum pile location lies in the upper portion of the slope around L_x/L = 0.9, but may also lies in the shoulder of the bench. The pile reinforcement reaches 10% universally for a looser pile spacing D_c/d_p = 5.0, and approaches 70% when the pile spacing reaches D_c/d_p = 2.0.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.441-453
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• 2024

Sinkhole subsidence and collapse is a common geohazard often formed in karst areas such as the state of Florida, United States of America. To predict the sinkhole occurrence, we need to understand the formation mechanism of sinkhole and its karst hydrogeology. For this purpose, investigating the factors affecting sinkholes is an essential and important step. The main objectives of the presenting study are (1) the development of a machine learning (ML)-based model, namely C5.0 decision tree (C5.0 DT), for the prediction of sinkhole susceptibility, which accounts for sinkhole/subsidence inventory and sinkhole contributing factors (e.g., geological/hydrogeological) and (2) the construction of a regional-scale sinkhole susceptibility map. The study area is east central Florida (ECF) where a cover-collapse type is commonly reported. The C5.0 DT algorithm was used to account for twelve (12) identified hydrogeological factors. In this study, a total of 1,113 sinkholes in ECF were identified and the dataset was then randomly divided into 70% and 30% subsets for training and testing, respectively. The performance of the sinkhole susceptibility model was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, particularly the area under the curve (AUC). The C5.0 model showed a high prediction accuracy of 83.52%. It is concluded that a decision tree is a promising tool and classifier for spatial prediction of karst sinkholes and subsidence in the ECF area.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.263-277
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• 2014

In the conventional design of retaining structures in a seismic zone, seismic inertia forces are commonly assumed to act upwards and towards the wall facing to cause a maximum active thrust or act upwards and towards the backfill to cause a minimum passive resistance. However, under certain circumstances this design approach might underestimate the dynamic active thrust or overestimate the dynamic passive resistance acting on a rigid retaining structure. In this study, a new analytical method for dynamic active and passive forces in c-${\phi}$ soils with an infinite slope was proposed based on the Rankine earth pressure theory and the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion, to investigate the influence of seismic inertia force directions on the total active and passive forces. Four combinations of seismic acceleration with both vertical (upwards or downwards) and horizontal (towards the wall or backfill) directions, were considered. A series of dimensionless dynamic active and passive force charts were developed to evaluate the key influence factors, such as backfill inclination ${\beta}$, dimensionless cohesion $c/{\gamma}H$, friction angle ${\phi}$, horizontal and vertical seismic coefficients, $k _h$ and $k_v$. A comparative study shows that a combination of downward and towards-the-wall seismic inertia forces causes a maximum active thrust while a combination of upward and towards-the-wall seismic inertia forces causes a minimum passive resistance. This finding is recommended for use in the design of retaining structures in a seismic zone.