• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.33-45
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• 2009

The conventional single-core PBDs have been widely used in order to accelerate consolidation settlement of soft grounds. When using the single-core PBD in a thick clay deposit, a delay of consolidation may occur due to high confining pressure in the thick deposit and necking of drains. This study is to compare the performances of soil improvement by the single-core and double-core PBD installed at a site in Busan New Port which exhibits approximately a 40m-thick clay layer. An in-situ test program was performed at the test site where a set of the double-core PBDs and single-core PBDs were installed to compare the efficiency of each drain. In addition, the discharge capacity of each PBD has been measured using the modified Delft Test. A series of laboratory tests for estimating in-situ soil properties have also been performed in order to obtain input parameters for a numerical program ILLICON. The discharge capacity of the double-core PBD is higher than that of the single-core PBD in the modified Delft Test. However it is observed from the comparative in-situ test and numerical analysis that there is no difference in the performance of ground improvement between the two drain systems. This discrepancy comes from the fact that the amount of water released during consolidation in most common field conditions is much smaller than the capacity of even the single core PBD. And thus, considering actual field conditions, it can be concluded that the single-core PBD has enough discharge capacity even in the thick clay deposit such as this test site.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2024

PHC piles demonstrate superior resistance to compression and bending moments, and their factory-based production enhances quality assurance and management processes. Despite these advantages that have resulted in widespread use in civil engineering and construction projects, the design process frequently relies on empirical formulas or N-values to estimate the soil-pile friction, which is crucial for bearing capacity, and this reliance underscores a significant lack of experimental validation. In addition, environmental factors, e.g., the pH levels in groundwater and the effects of seawater, are commonly not considered. Thus, this study investigates the influence of vibrating machine foundations on PHC pile models in consideration of the effects of varying pH conditions. Concrete model piles were subjected to a one-month conditioning period in different pH environments (acidic, neutral, and alkaline) and under the influence of seawater. Subsequent repeated direct shear tests were performed on the pile-soil interface, and the disturbed state concept was employed to derive parameters that effectively quantify the dynamic behavior of this interface. The results revealed a descending order of shear stress in neutral, acidic, and alkaline conditions, with the pH-influenced samples exhibiting a more pronounced reduction in shear stress than those affected by seawater.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.309-323
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• 2005

Dynamic stiffness of subsurface materials is one of the most important geotechnical parameters in predicting deformational behavior of structures as well as practicing seismic design and performance evaluation. In an effort to measure the parameter efficiently and accurately, various borehole seismic testing techniques have been, thus, developed and used during past several decades. Moreover, recent rush of underground-space projects and increasing size of structures put more stress on reliable site investigation techniques in estimating stiffness of rock mass. In this paper, a new technique called 'in-hole seismic test' has been implemented to measure the dynamic stiffness of rock masses at subsurface foundations and tunnel-faces. The reliance of in-hole seismic test was evaluated by comparing the testing results at several rock sites with those of other borehole techniques and the technique tunnls out to be an efficient and accurate in-situ testing technique.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.467-477
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• 2018

Estimation of hydraulic parameters is a critical step during design of foundation dewatering works. When many piles are installed in an aquifer, estimation of the hydraulic conductivity should consider the blocking of groundwater seepage by the piles. Based on field observations during a dewatering project in Shanghai, hydraulic conductivities are back-calculated using a numerical model considering the actual position of each pile. However, it is difficult to apply the aforementioned model directly in field due to requirement to input each pile geometry into the model. To develop a simple numerical model and find the optimal hydraulic conductivity, three scenarios are examined, in which the soil mass containing the piles is considered to be a uniform porous media. In these three scenarios, different sub-regions with different hydraulic conductivities, based on either automatic inverted calculation, or on effective medium theory (EMT), are established. The results indicate that the error, in the case which determines the hydraulic conductivity based on EMT, is less than that determined in the automatic inversion case. With the application of EMT, only the hydraulic conductivity of the soil outside the pit should be inverted. The soil inside the pit with its piles is divided into sub-regions with different hydraulic conductivities, and the hydraulic conductivity is calculated according to the volume ratio of the piles. Thus, the use of EMT in numerical modelling makes it easier to consider the effect of piles installed in an aquifer.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.185-193
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• 2008

We have carried out Pearson-type chi-square tests on the orientation data of joints from different depths in order to estimate the homogeneity of joint orientations obtained from a borehole. The orientation data of joints were collected from two non-foliated massive rocks of granitic gneisses in South Korea since orientations of joints in folded metamorphic rocks, for example, are controlled by foliation and also changes as the orientations of foliation change by folding. Borehole images were used for the analysis of the orientations of individual joints. The orientation data were subdivided into the upper level data and lower level data. The data from these two levels are plotted on the patch net consisting of 21 orientation patches. Then, the two patterns on the patch net were analyzed using a contingency table. From the chi-square test on the data collected from two sites, we found that some data sets show statistically meaningful differences in orientations of joints. Since joints are one of the important parameters in determining the physical properties of rock masses, in situ investigation of joints are desirable in the geotechnical investigation and also in design of subsurface structures (e.g. tunnels and underground storages).

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.404-411
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• 2009

The steel pipe of steel-concrete composite piles increases the pile strength and induces the ductile failure by constraining the deformation of the inner concrete. In this research, the load-movement relations and the reinforcement effect by the outer steel pipe in the steel-concrete composite pile were analyzed by performing three-dimensional numerical analyses, which can simulate the yielding behavior of the pile material and the elasto-plastic behavior of soils. The parameters analyzed in the study include three pile materials of steel, concrete and composite, pile diameter and loading direction. As the results, the axial capacity of the composite pile was 1.9 times larger than that of the steel pipe pile and similar with that of the concrete pile. At the allowable movement criteria, the horizontal capacity of the composite pile was 1.46 times larger than that of the steel pile and 1.25 times larger than that of the concrete pile. In addition, the horizontal movement at the pile head of the composite pile was about 78% of that of the steel pile and about 53% of that of the concrete pile, which showed that the movement reduction effect of the composite pile was significant and enables the economical design of drilled shafts.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.643-654
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• 2018

Tunnel excavation leads to a disturbance on the initial stress balance of surrounding soils, which causes convergences around the tunnel and settlements at the ground surface. Considering the effective impact of settlements on the structures at the surface, it is necessary to estimate them, especially in urban areas. In the present study, ground settlements due to the excavation of East-West Line 7 of the Tehran Metro (EWL7) and the Abuzar tunnels are evaluated and the effect of the lateral earth pressure coefficient ($K_0$) on their extension is investigated. The excavation of the tunnels was performed by TBMs (Tunnel Boring Machines). The coefficient of lateral earth pressure ($K_0$) is one of the most important geotechnical parameters for tunnel design and is greatly influenced by the geological characteristics of the surrounding soil mass along the tunnel route. The real (in-situ) settlements of the ground surface were measured experimentally using leveling methods along the studied tunnels and the results were compared with evaluated settlements obtained from both semi-empirical and numerical methods (using the finite difference software FLAC3D). The comparisons permitted to show that the adopted numerical models can effectively be used to predict settlements induced by a tunnel excavation. Then a numerical parametric study was conducted to show the influence of the $K_0$ values on the ground settlements. Numerical investigations also showed that the shapes of settlement trough of the studied tunnels, in a transverse section, are not similar because of their different diameters and depths of the tunnels.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.11-26
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• 2022

One of the most important issues in tunneling, is the squeezing phenomenon. Squeezing can occur during excavation or after the construction of tunnels, which in both cases could lead to significant damages. Therefore, it is important to predict the squeezing and consider it in the early design stage of tunnel construction. Different empirical, semi-empirical and theoretical-analytical methods have been presented to determine the squeezing. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the ability of each of these methods and identify the best method among them. In this study, squeezing in a part of the Alborz service tunnel in Iran was estimated through a number of empirical, semi- empirical and theoretical-analytical methods. Among these methods, the most robust model was used to obtain a database including 300 data for training and 33 data for testing in order to develop a machine learning (ML) method. To this end, three ML models of Gaussian process regression (GPR), artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector regression (SVR) were trained and tested to propose a robust model to predict the squeezing phenomenon. A comparative analysis between the conventional and the ML methods utilized in this study showed that, the GPR model is the most robust model in the prediction of squeezing phenomenon. The sensitivity analysis of the input parameters using the mutual information test (MIT) method showed that, the most sensitive parameter on the squeezing phenomenon is the tangential strain (ε_θ^α) parameter with a sensitivity score of 2.18. Finally, the GPR model was recommended to predict the squeezing phenomenon in tunneling projects. This work's significance is that it can provide a good estimation of the squeezing phenomenon in tunneling projects, based on which geotechnical engineers can take the necessary actions to deal with it in the pre-construction designs.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.151-167
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• 2023

This study compares the revised method in loose saturated sandy ground where the LNG storage tank will be installed with an evaluation method by one-dimensional effective stress analysis using the UBC3D-PLM model. Various laboratory and field tests were conducted to establish the parameters necessary for evaluation. The revised liquefaction evaluation method using the seismic response analysis result and N value from standard penetration testing evaluated the possibility of liquefaction as high, but assessment using effective stress analysis, which can consider various liquefaction resistance factors, found the site to be somewhat stable against liquefaction. One-dimensional finite element analysis using UBC3D-PLM modeling facilitated easier assessment of stability against liquefaction than the other methods and minimized the area required for reinforcement against liquefaction. In addition, it is expected that two-and three-dimensional numerical analysis considering the foundation of the LNG storage tank can identify the seismic design and behavior when liquefaction occurs.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.583-600
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• 2023

The resilient modulus (M_R) of various pavement materials plays a significant role in the pavement design by a mechanistic-empirical method. The M_R determination is done by experimental tests that need time and money, along with special experimental tools. The present paper suggested a novel hybridized extreme gradient boosting (XGB) structure for forecasting the M_R of modified base materials subject to wet-dry cycles. The models were created by various combinations of input variables called deep learning. Input variables consist of the number of W-D cycles (WDC), the ratio of free lime to SAF (CSAFR), the ratio of maximum dry density to the optimum moisture content (DMR), confining pressure (σ₃), and deviatoric stress (σ_d). Two XGB structures were produced for the estimation aims, where determinative variables were optimized by particle swarm optimization (PSO) and black widow optimization algorithm (BWOA). According to the results' description and outputs of Taylor diagram, M1 model with the combination of WDC, CSAFR, DMR, σ₃, and σ_d is recognized as the most suitable model, with R² and RMSE values of BWOA-XGB for model M1 equal to 0.9991 and 55.19 MPa, respectively. Interestingly, the lowest value of RMSE for literature was at 116.94 MPa, while this study could gain the extremely lower RMSE owned by BWOA-XGB model at 55.198 MPa. At last, the explanations indicate the BWO algorithm's capability in determining the optimal value of XGB determinative parameters in M_R prediction procedure.