• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.491-505
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• 2023

The practical usage of underground space and demand for vehicular tunnels necessitate the construction of non-circular wide rectangular tunnels. However, constructing large tunnels in soft clayey soil conditions with no ground improvement can lead to excessive ground deformations and collapse. In recent years, in situ ground improvement techniques such as jet grouting and deep cement mixing are often utilized to perform cement-stabilisation around the tunnel boundary to prevent large deformations and failure. This paper discusses the stability characteristics and failure behaviour of a wide rectangular tunnel in cement-treated soft clays. First, the plane strain finite element model is developed and validated with the results of centrifuge model tests available in the past literature. The critical tunnel support pressures computed from the numerical study are found to be in good agreement with those of centrifuge model tests. The influence of varying strength and thickness of improved soil surround, and cover depth are studied on the stability and failure modes of a rectangular tunnel. It is observed that the failure behaviour of the tunnel in improved soil surround depends on the ratio of the strength of improved soil surround to the strength of surrounding soil, i.e., q_ui/q_us, rather than just q_ui. For low q_ui/q_us ratios,the stability increases with the cover; however, for the high strength improved soil surrounds with q_ui >> q_us, the stability decreases with the cover. The failure chart, modified stability equation, and stability chart are also proposed as preliminary design guidelines for constructing rectangular tunnels in the improved soil surrounded by soft clays.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.399-412
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• 2023

Previous studies have shown that the integrated transfer function (ITF) is independent of turbulence characteristics and can be effectively applied to predict the buffeting response of elongated structures, assuming that the strip hypothesis is valid. However, existing research has not effectively identified the ITF through segment model vibration tests, and the influence of the 3D effect on the accuracy of the strip hypothesis and the characteristics of the ITF in wind tunnel tests has not been quantitatively studied. A segment model vibration measurement device that can change a test model's span-width ratio was designed in this study. An airfoil section and a streamlined box girder section structure were taken as the background, and their ITFs were effectively identified under different L/B (L denotes the turbulent integral scale and B denotes the structural width) and model span-width ratios. The influence laws of the 3D effect on the accuracy of the strip hypothesis and ITF identification in wind tunnel tests were systematically investigated. The results showed that L/B and the structural span-width ratio are two significant controlling factors that affect the accuracy of the strip hypothesis and ITF identification. The research provides an effective experimental method for accurately predicting the buffeting response of elongated structures based on ITFs identified through segment model vibration tests.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.271-283
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• 2002

P-wave velocity of concrete is a crucial parameter in determining the thickness of concrete lining, the location of cracks or other defects in Impact-Echo(IE) method. This study introduces an IE-SASW method that may determine the P-wave velocity on a surface of each testing area using the Spectral Analysis of Surface Wave (SASW) method. In numerical studies(Part I), it was verified that P-wave velocities could be obtained from SASW. In this paper(Part II), experimental studies were made in slab type concrete model specimens in which voids and waterproof sheet were included at the known locations. Accordingly, the feasibility of the proposed method was evaluated. The IE-SASW method was also performed in the precast model tunnel on ground and open-cut tunnel in ground. SASW tests were performed to determine the P-wave velocity of the concrete and then IE tests were carried at regularly spaced points along the testing lines to determine the thickness of structures. The nondestructive testing method which combined SASW and IE tests showed the great potential in the field applications.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.355-369
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• 2022

Section model test, as the most commonly used method to evaluate the aerostatic and aeroelastic performances of long-span bridges, may be carried out under different conditions of incoming wind speed, geometric scale and wind tunnel facilities, which may lead to potential Reynolds number (Re) effect, model scaling effect and wind tunnel scale effect, respectively. The Re effect and scale effect on aerostatic force coefficients and aeroelastic characteristics of streamlined bridge decks were investigated via 1:100 and 1:60 scale section model tests. The influence of auxiliary facilities was further investigated by comparative tests between a bare deck section and the deck section with auxiliary facilities. The force measurement results over a Re region from about 1×10⁵ to 4×10⁵ indicate that the drag coefficients of both deck sections show obvious Re effect, while the pitching moment coefficients have weak Re dependence. The lift coefficients of the smaller scale models have more significant Re effect. Comparative tests of different scale models under the same Re number indicate that the static force coefficients have obvious scale effect, which is even more prominent than the Re effect. Additionally, the scale effect induced by lower model length to wind tunnel height ratio may produce static force coefficients with smaller absolute values, which may be less conservative for structural design. The results with respect to flutter stability indicate that the aerodynamic-damping-related flutter derivatives 𝘈^*₂ and 𝐴^*₁𝐻^*₃ have opposite scale effect, which makes the overall scale effect on critical flutter wind speed greatly weakened. The most significant scale effect on critical flutter wind speed occurs at +3° wind angle of attack, which makes the small-scale section models give conservative predictions.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.871-885
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• 2017

Nowadays, the construction of tunnels with a shallow depth drastically in urban areas increases. But the effect of sidewall displacement in shallow tunnel on its behavior is not well known yet. Most studies on the shallow tunnel have been limited to the stability and the failure of the tunnel and the adjacent ground in plane strain state. Therefore, the model tests were conducted in a model ground which was built with carbon rods, in order to investigate the impact of the tunnel sidewall displacement on the lateral load transfer to the adjacent ground. The lateral displacement of the tunnel sidewall and the load transfered to the adjacent ground were measured in model tests for various overburdens (0.50D, 0.75D, 1.00D, 1.25D). As results, if the cover depth of tunnel was over a constant depth (0.75D) in a shallow tunnel, the tunnel sidewall was failed with a constant shape not depending on the tunnel cover depth and also not affected by the opposite side of the wall. But, if the cover depth of tunnel was under a constant depth (0.75D), the failure of the tunnel sidewall could affect the opposite sidewall. In addition, if the displacement of tunnel sidewall with 50% of the critical displacement occurred, the tunnel failure was found to be at least 75%. However, additional studies are deemed necessary, since they may differ depending on the ground conditions.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.205-213
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• 2012

In this study, scaled model tests were performed to investigate the stability of twin tunnels constructed in anisotropic rocks with $30^{\circ}$ inclined bedding planes under the condition of lateral pressure ratio, 2. Five types of test models which had respectively different pillar widths and shapes of tunnel sections were experimented, where both crack initiating pressures and deformation behaviors around tunnels were investigated. The models with shallower pillar width showed shear failure of pillar according to the existing bedding planes and they were cracked under lower pressure than the models with thicker pillar width. In order to find the effect of tunnel sectional shape on stability, the models with four centered arch section, circular section and semi-circular arch section were experimented. As results of the comparison of the crack initiating pressures and the deformation behaviors around tunnels, the semi-circular arched tunnel model was the most unstable whereas the circular tunnel model was the most stable among them. Furthermore, the results of FLAC analysis were qualitatively coincident with the experimental results.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.455-476
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• 2016

In both structural and environmental wind engineering, the vertical variation of wind direction is important as it impacts both the torsional response of the high-rise building and the pedestrian level wind environment. In order to systematically investigate the vertical variation of wind directions (i.e., the so-called 'twist effect') induced by hills with idealized geometries, a series of wind-tunnel tests was conducted. The length-to-width aspect ratios of the hill models were 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2 and 3, and the measurements of both wind speeds and directions were taken on a three-dimensional grid system. From the wind-tunnel tests, it has been found that the direction changes and most prominent at the half height of the hill. On the other hand, the characteristic length of the direction change, has been found to increase when moving from the windward zone into the wake. Based on the wind-tunnel measurements, a descriptive model is proposed to calculate both the horizontal and vertical variations of wind directions. Preliminarily validated against the wind-tunnel measurements, the proposed model has been found to be acceptable to describe the direction changes induced by an idealized hill with an aspect ratio close to 1. For the hills with aspect ratios less than 1, while the description of the vertical variation is still valid, the horizontal description proposed by the model has been found unfit.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.719-737
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• 2015

Full scale measurement on the structural dynamic characteristics and Vortex-induced Vibrations (VIV) of a long-span suspension bridge with a central span of 1650 m were conducted. Different Finite Element (FE) modeling principles for the separated twin-box girder were compared and evaluated with the field vibration test results, and the double-spine model was determined to be the best simulation model, but certain modification still needs to be made which will affect the basic modeling parameters and the dynamic response prediction values of corresponding wind tunnel tests. Based on the FE modal analysis results, small-scaled and large-scaled sectional model tests were both carried out to investigate the VIV responses, and probable Reynolds Number effects or scale effect on VIV responses were presented. Based on the observed VIV modes in the field measurement, the VIV results obtained from sectional model tests were converted into those of the three-dimensional (3D) full-scale bridge and subsequently compared with field measurement results. It is indicated that the large-scaled sectional model test can probably provide a reasonable and effective prediction on VIV response.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.82-86
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• 2005

Numerical methods to estimate behaviors of jointed rock mass can be roughly divided into two methods : continuous and discontinuous model. Generally, distinct element method(DEM) is applied in discontinuous model, and finite element method(FDM) or finite difference method(FDM) is utilized in continuum model. To predict a behavior of discontinuous model by DEM, it is essential to understand characteristics of joints developed in rock mass through field tests. However, results of field tests can not provide full information about rock mass because field tests are conducted in limited area. In this paper, discontinuous analysis by UDEC and continuous analysis by FLAC are utilized to estimate a behavior of a tunnel in jointed rock mass. For including discontinuous analysis in continuous analysis, joints in rock mass is considered by reducing rock mass properties obtained by RMR and decreasing shear strength of rock mass. By comparing and revising two analysis results, analysis results similar with practical behavior of a tunnel can be induced and appropriate support system is decided.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.173-186
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• 2004

Flutter derivatives provide the basis of predicting the critical wind speed in flutter and buffeting analysis of long-span cable-supported bridges. In this paper, one popular stochastic system identification technique, covariance-driven Stochastic Subspace Identification(SSI in short), is firstly presented for estimation of the flutter derivatives of bridge decks from their random responses in turbulent flow. Secondly, wind tunnel tests of a streamlined thin plate model and a ${\Pi}$ type blunt bridge section model are conducted in turbulent flow and the flutter derivatives are determined by SSI. The flutter derivatives of the thin plate model identified by SSI are very comparable to those identified by the unifying least-square method and Theodorson's theoretical values. As to the ${\Pi}$ type section model, the effect of turbulence on aerodynamic damping seems to be somewhat notable, therefore perhaps the wind tunnel tests for flutter derivative estimation of those models with similar blunt sections should be conducted in turbulent flow.