• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.83-92
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• 2011

The random and heterogeneous pore structure is a significant factor that dominates physical and mechanical behaviors of soils such as fluid flow and geomechanical responses driven by loading. The characterization method using non-destructive testing such as micro X-ray CT technique which has a high resolution with micrometer unit allows to observe internal structure of soils. However, the application has been limited to qualitatively observe 2D and 3D CT images and to obtain the void ratio at macro-scale although the CT images contain enormous information of materials of interests. In this study, we constructed the 3D particle and pore structures based on sequentially taken 2D images of glass beads and quantitatively defined complex pore structure with void cell and void channel. This approach was enabled by implementing image processing techniques that include coordinate transformation, binarization, Delaunay Triangulation, and Euclidean Distance Transform. It was confirmed that the suggested algorithm allows to quantitatively evaluate the distribution of void cells and their connectivity of heterogeneous pore structures for glass beads.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.143-157
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• 2021

Expansive soil is the most predominant geologic hazard which shows a large amount of shrinkage and swelling with changes in their moisture content. This study investigates the macro-mechanical and micro-structural behaviours of dredged natural expansive clay from coal mining treated with ordinary Portland cement or hydrated lime addition. The stabilised expansive soil aims for possible reuse as pavement materials. Mechanical testing determined geotechnical engineering properties, including free swelling potential, California bearing ratio, unconfined compressive strength, resilient modulus, and shear wave velocity. The microstructures of treated soils are observed by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and energy dispersive spectroscopy to understand the behaviour of the expansive clay blended with cement and lime. Test results confirmed that cement and lime are effective agents for improving the swelling behaviour and other engineering properties of natural expansive clay. In general, chemical treatments reduce the swelling and increase the strength and modulus of expansive clay, subjected to chemical content and curing time. Scanning electron microscopy analysis can observe the increase in formation of particle clusters with curing period, and x-ray diffraction patterns display hydration and pozzolanic products from chemical particles. The correlations of mechanical properties and microstructures for chemical stabilised expansive clay are recommended.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.116-127
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• 2021

Predicting carbon distribution of soil aggregates is difficult due to complexity in organo-mineral formation. This limits global warming mitigation through soil carbon sequestration. Therefore, knowledge of land use effect on carbon stabilization requires quantification of soil mineral cations. The study was conducted to quantify carbon and base cations on soil mineral fractions in Natural Forest, Plantation Forest and Farm Land. Five 0.09 ha were demarcated alternately along 500 m long transect with an interval of 50 m in Natural Forest (NF), Plantation Forest (PF) and Farm Land (FL). Soil samples were collected with soil cores at 0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 cm depths in each plot. Soil core samples were oven-dried at 105℃ and soil bulk densities were computed. Sample (100 g) of each soil core was separated into >2.0, 2.0-1.0, 1.0-0.5, 0.5-0.05 and <0.05 mm aggregates using dry sieve procedure and proportion determined. Carbon concentration of soil aggregates was determined using Loss-on-ignition method. Mineral fractions of soil depths were obtained using dispersion, sequential extraction and sedimentation methods of composite soil samples and sieved into <0.05 and >0.05 mm fractions. Cation exchange capacity of two mineral fractions was measured using spectrophotometry method. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and ANOVA at α_0.05. Silt and sand particle size decreased while clay increased with increase in soil depth in NF and PF. Subsoil depth contained highest carbon stock in the PF. Carbon concentration increased with decrease in aggregate size in soil depths of NF and FL. Micro- (1-0.5, 0.5-0.05 and <0.05 mm) and macro-aggregates (>2.0 and 2-1.0 mm) were saturated with soil carbon in NF and FL, respectively. Cation exchange capacity of <0.05 mm was higher than >0.05 mm in soil depths of PF and FL. Fine silt (<0.05 mm) determine the cation exchange capacity in soil depths. Land use and mineral size influence the carbon and cation exchange capacity of Gambari Forest Reserve.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.172-172
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• 2020

In recent years, soil erosion has come to be regarded as an essential environmental problem in human life. Soil erosion causes various on- and off-site problems such as ecosystem destruction, decreased agricultural productivity, increased riverbed deposition, and deterioration of water quality in streams. To solve these problems caused by soil erosion, it is necessary to quantify where, when, how much soil erosion occurs. Empirical erosion models such as the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) family models have been widely used to make spatially distributed soil erosion vulnerability maps. Even if the models detect vulnerable sites relatively well by utilizing big data related to climate, geography, geology, land use, etc. within study domains, they do not adequately describe the physical process of soil erosion on the ground surface caused by rainfall or overland flow. In other words, such models remain powerful tools to distinguish erosion-prone areas at the macro scale but physics-based models are necessary to better analyze soil erosion and deposition and eroded particle transport. In this study, the physics-based Surface Soil Erosion Model (SSEM) was upgraded based on field survey information to produce sediment yield at the watershed scale. The modified model (hereafter MoSE) adopted new algorithms on rainfall kinematic energy and surface flow transport capacity to simulate soil erosion more reliably. For model validation, we applied the model to the Doam dam watershed in Gangwon-do and compared the simulation results with the USLE outputs. The results showed that the revised physics-based soil erosion model provided more improved and reliable simulation results than the USLE in terms of the spatial distribution of soil erosion and deposition.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.111-122
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• 2009

Dissolution of some of geo-materials may yield the loss of the soil strength and the settlement of earth structures. The goal of this study is to monitor the several physical behaviors of soluble mixtures during dissolution. Sand-salt mixtures are used to monitor the meso to macro response including the settlements and shear waves. The mixtures of photoelastic and ice disks are used to monitor micro to meso behavior of soluble mixture including the void ratio, force chain, coordination number and horizontal force changes. In the sand-salt mixtures, shear waves are measured by using bender elements in conventional oedometer cells. In the photoelastic disk - ice disk mixtures, micro to meso response are measured by digital images and load cells. The shear wave velocity decreases at the initial stage of the dissolution, and then increases and approaches to asymptotic value. The larger dissoluble particle and the more random packing produces the severe horizontal fore change. After dissolution, the void increases and the coordination number decreases. This study demonstrates that the particle level behavior such as the changes of the force chain, void ratio, and coordination number affects the global behavior such as the change of the shear wave velocity and horizontal force of the system.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.103-111
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• 2008

Soils naturally contain grains of different minerals which may be dissolved under chemical or physical processes. The dissolution leads changes in microstructure of particulate media, such as an increase in local void or permeability, which affects the strength and deformation of soils. This study focuses on the small strain stiffness characteristics of vanishing mixtures, which consist of sand and salt particles at different volume fractions. Experiments are carried out in a conventional oedometer cell (Ko-loading) integrated with bender elements for the measurement of shear waves. Dissolutions of particles are implemented by saturating the mixtures at various confining stresses. Axial deformation and shear waves are recorded after each loading stage and during dissolution process. Experimental results show that after dissolution, the vertical strain and the void ratio increase, while the shear wave velocity and small strain shear modulus decrease. The decrease of the velocity results from the void ratio increase and particle contact decrease. The process monitoring during dissolution of the particles shows that the vertical strain dramatically increases at the beginning of the saturation process and converges after vanishing process finishes, and that the shear wave velocity decreases at the beginning and increases due to the particle reorientation. Specimens prepared by sand and salt particles are proved to be able to provide a valuable insight in macro structural behaviors of the vanishings mixtures.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.74-81
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• 2007

Using the new experimental method named "filtration-permeation", the average specific resistances which plays an important role in designing cake filtration apparatus and the development of cake filtration theory were measured in this study. By this new experimental method, two kinds of average specific resistances are measured. The one from the filtration is named 'filtration average specific resistance $\alpha_{avf}$, and the other from the permeation of particle eliminated water through the pre-formed cake is named 'permeation average specific resistance $\alpha_{avf}$. The "filtration-permeation" method is applied to three different kind of suspensions(i.e. particulate suspension, pre-flocculated suspension and macro-molecule suspension) to obtain filtration and permeation average specific resistances. A theoretical procedure of cake filtration is studied based on the values of permeation average specific resistance. With the study it was concluded that the influence of the sedimentation during particlulate filtration operation could not be ignored as commonly used. And the solid content of suspension, S, which also regarded usually as constant, changes during filtration of particles. It is also verified that the exact value of solid content of cake for floe filtration could not be obtained. These significant problems are all solved by our new "filtration-permeation" experimental method.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.143-157
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• 2023

This study confirmed the characteristics of macrobenthic community due to anthropogenic environmental changes in the Boryeong Jugyo tidal flat, where the habitat of manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) and mud shrimp (Upogebia major) is separated. The total number of occurring species was 55 during the study period with an average habitat density of 338 ind./m² and a biomass of 212.2 gWWt/m². The number of occuring species increased from 27 species at the upper flat to 37 species at the lower flat, and the dominant species differed by tide levels (Upper: Leonnates persica, Middle: Heteromastus filiformis, Lower: R. philippinarum). The macro-benthic community sturctures of the top 10 species using cluster analysis and nMDS were divided into two groups, focusing on Manila clam culture farm of lower flats and middle flats with high habitat density, reflecting the influence of specific species. The sediment composition of the U. major habitat space fluctuated highly, but it was maintained annually, and the sorting coefficient was 2.1 𝜑, and the proportion of the same particle size was increased. In particular, because the middle flat has a dense anthropogenic impact, a dominant species, H. filiformis dominated and revealed a relationship with the density of burrow holes of U. major, which is considered to be a biological interaction between these two macrofauna in this tidal flat.