• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.6
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• pp.591-600
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• 2024

This study investigated the acceleration response and shape change characteristics of a gravity quay wall according to the magnitude of the applied acceleration. The quay wall was defined as a port facility damaged by the Kobe earthquake. Four experimental scenarios were established based on the inclination condition grades, considered to be a significant defect factor in the quay wall. Then, the shaking table test was conducted using scaled-down quay wall models constructed per each scenario. The ground acceleration was gradually increased from the peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.1 g to 0.7 g. After each ground acceleration test, acceleration installed on the wall and backfill ground and inclination on the top of the wall were measured to assess the amplification of peak response acceleration and maximum response amplitude and the change in the inclination of the quay wall. This study also analyzed the separation of the quay wall from the backfill and the crack pattern of the backfill ground according to PGA values and inclination condition grades. The result of this study shows that response acceleration could provide a reasonable prediction for the changes in the inclination of the quay wall and the crack generation and propagation on the backfill from a current inclination condition grade.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.82-89
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• 2005

The vibrohammer compaction methods had been applied more and more to the rubble mound lying under the gravity quay wall in Korea. 1g Shaking table tests were performed to evaluate on the dynamic behavior of gravity quay wall with different relative density of rubble mound. The settlements, relative displacements and accelerations of gravity quay wall were measured and analysed.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.148-156
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• 2003

Shaking table tests and pseudo-static analysis were performed, in this study, on newly-designed aseismatic L-type caisson quay walls, which were constructed by extending the bottom plate of gravity quay walls into the backfill soil. The L-type quay walls are expected to give economical benefits by reducing the cross-sectional area of the wall while maintaining its aseismatic efficiency as much as the classical caisson gravity quay wall. To confirm the effectiveness of the L-type structure, the geometry of L-type quay walls were varied for shaking table tests. And, to verify the influence of backfill soils on the seismic behavior of quay walls, additional shaking table tests were performed on the L-type quay wall after the backfill soils were replaced by gravels and light materials. As a result, it was found that L-type caisson quay walls are good earthquake resistant structures but increasing the length of bottom plate did not proportionally increase the effectiveness of the structure in its aseismatic performance. Replacing the backfill soils by the gravels and light materials, contrary to our expectation, was not an effective measure in improving the seismic performance of L-type caisson quay wall.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.447-463
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• 2021

Caisson-type structures are widely used as quay walls in coastal areas. In Korea, for a long time, many caisson-type quay walls have been constructed with a low front water depth. These facilities can no longer meet the requirements of current development. This study developed a new technology for deepening existing caisson-type quay walls using grouting and rubble mound excavation to economically reuse them. With this technology, quay walls could be renovated by injecting grout into the rubble mound beneath the front toe of the caisson to secure its structure. Subsequently, a portion of the rubble mound was excavated to increase the front water depth. This paper reports the results of an investigation of the seismic behavior of a renovated quay wall in comparison to that of an existing quay wall using centrifuge tests and numerical simulations. Two centrifuge model tests at a scale of 1/120 were conducted on the quay walls before and after renovation. During the experiments, the displacements, accelerations, and earth pressures were measured under five consecutive earthquake input motions with increasing magnitudes. In addition, systematic numerical analyses of the centrifuge model tests were also conducted with the PLAXIS 2D finite element (FE) program using a nonlinear elastoplastic constitutive model. The displacements of the caisson, response accelerations, deformed shape of the quay wall, and earth pressures were investigated in detail based on a comparison of the numerical and experimental results. The results demonstrated that the motion of the caisson changed after renovation, and its displacement decreased significantly. The comparison between the FE models and centrifuge test results showed good agreement. This indicated that renovation was technically feasible, and it could be considered to study further by testbed before applying in practice.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.123-131
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• 2005

In this research, shaking table tests for three types of gravity quay wall system were performed to analyze the influence of excess pore pressure in backfill soils on the natural frequency of gravity quay wall systems. The elastic modulus of backfill soils was also estimated from the back analyses using the results of the shaking table tests. From the test results, it was observed that as the magnitude of excess pore pressures increased, the natural frequency of the gravity quay wall system decreased and vice versa. The natural frequency was about 44Hz when no excess pore pressure was generated in backfill soils, and decreased to about 16Hz at the pore pressure ratio of 0.55. The elastic modulus of backfill soils reached the constant maximum value when the pore pressure ratio was less than 0.2, and abruptly decreased as the pore pressure ratio became larger than that. The elastic modulus of backfill soils decreased to $10\%$ of the maximum value when the pore pressure ratio was 0.55.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.39-47
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• 2010

In this paper, a total stress analysis method for gravity quay walls is suggested. The method can evaluate the displacement of the quay walls considering the effect of excess pore pressure developed in backfill soils. This method changes the stiffness of backfill soils according to the expected magnitude of the excess pore pressure. For practical application, evaluation methods are suggested for determining the excess pore pressure ratio developed in the backfill soils and the backfill stiffness that corresponds to the excess pore pressure ratio. This method is important in practical applications because the displacement of the quay walls can be evaluated by using only the basic input properties in the total stress analysis. The applicability of the suggested method was verified by comparing the results of the analysis with the results of 1-g shaking table tests. From the comparison, it was found that the calculated displacements from the suggested method showed good agreement with the measured displacements of the quay walls. It was also found that the excess pore pressure in backfill soils is a governing influence on the dynamic behavior of quay walls.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.129-139
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• 2000

The liquefaction of reclaimed land generally caused the harbor facilities to hazards. In Korea, the major harbor quay walls are gravity type and the gravity quay wall is not a good earthquake resistant structure. Recently, various earthquake resistant quay walls have been suggested, but the study on the efficiency of reinforced quay wall was not much performed. In this study, numerical analysis is carried out for performance evaluation of easily adoptable earthquake resistant quay walls. The results of numerical analysis are compared with shaking table test that is performed at the same cross-section.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.379-389
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• 2010

It is very important to determine a target probability of failure in reliability based design such as an allowable factor of safety in working stress design because they are indices to judge the stability of structures. We have carried out reliability analyses of nationwide gravity type quay walls and found that sliding and foundation failures of quay walls were dominant failure modes for every case of loads. And a target probability of failure for bearing capacity of foundation of quay wall was also determined in this study. Of several approaches which have been suggested until now, a couple of reasonable approaches were used. Firstly, in order to consider the safety margin of structures which have been executed so far, the reliability levels of existing structures were assessed. And then a mean probability of failure for the quay walls was estimated. In addition, life cycle cost(LCC) analyses for representative structures were performed. Probabilities of failure for several quay walls were calculated with changing the width of each quay wall section. LCC of quay wall which is requiring case by case during the service life was evaluated, and also the optimum probability of failure of quay wall which minimizes LCC was found. Finally, reasonable target probabilities of failure were suggested by comparing with mean probability of failure of existing structures.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2018

Pseudo-static approach has been conventionally applied for the design of gravity type quay walls. In this method, seismic coefficient ($k_h$), expressed in terms of acceleration due to gravity, is used to convert the real dynamic behavior to an equivalent pseudo-static inertial force for seismic analysis and design. Therefore, the calculation of an appropriate $k_h$ considering frequency characteristics of input earthquake is critical for representing the real dynamic behavior. However, the definitions of $k_h$, which is used for simplified analysis in Korea, focuses only on convenience that is easy to use, and the frequency characteristics of input earthquake are not reflected in the $k_h$ definitions. This paper evaluates the influences of the frequency characteristics of input earthquake on $k_h$ by initially reviewing the $k_h$ definitions in the existing codes of Japan for port structures and then by performing a series of dynamic centrifuge tests on caisson gravity quay walls of different earthquake input motions (Ofunato, Hachinohe). A review of the existing codes and guidelines has shown that the $k_h$ values are differently estimated according to the frequency characteristics of input earthquake. On the other hand, based on the centrifuge tests, it was found that the permanent displacements of wall are more induced when long-period-dominant earthquake is applied.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.141-150
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• 2004

Shaking table model tests were performed to reproduce the dynamic behavior of a gravity quay wall and a pile-supported wharf which were damaged during the Kobe earthquake in 1995. The results of the model tests were compared with field measurements and with the results of previous model tests. The displacements of the model quay wall were only one third of that of the prototype, whereas the deformation state of the model was similar to that of the prototype. The displacements of the model pile-supported wharf were about two thirds of that of the prototype and the locations of the maximum moments at the model pile were similar to the buckling locations of the prototype piles.