• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.419-429
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• 2020

To investigate the effect of spatial variability on hydraulic properties of unsaturated soils, a numerical model is set up which can simulate seepage process in an unsaturated heterogeneous soil. The unsaturated heterogeneous soil is composed of matrix sand embedded with a small proportion of clay for simulating the heterogeneity. Soil-water characteristic curve and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve of the unsaturated soil are expressed by Van Genuchten model. Hydraulic parameters of the matrix sand are considered as random fields. Different autocorrelation lengths (ACLs) of hydraulic parameter of the matrix sand and different proportions of clay are assumed to investigate the influence of spatial variability on the equivalent hydraulic properties of the heterogeneous soil. Four model sizes are used in the numerical experiments to investigate the influence of scale effects and to determine the sizes of representative volume element (RVE) in the numerical simulations. Through a number of Monte Carlo simulations of unsaturated seepage analysis, the means and the coefficients of variations (COVs) of the equivalent hydraulic parameters of the heterogeneous soil are calculated. Simulations show that the ACL and model size has little influence on the means of the equivalent hydraulic parameters, but they have a large influence on the COVs of the equivalent hydraulic parameters. The size of an RVE is mainly affected by the ACL and the proportion of heterogeneity. The influence of spatial variability on the hydraulic parameters of the heterogeneous unsaturated soil can be used as a guidance for geotechnical reliability analysis and design related to unsaturated soils.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.100-108
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• 2017

As a measure of the combined effect of fracture geometry, the fabric tensor parameters could quantify the status of the connected fluid flow paths in discrete fracture network (DFN). The correlation analysis between fabric tensor parameters and hydraulic properties of the 2-D DFN was performed in this study. It is found that there exists a strong nonlinear relationship between the directional conductivity and the fabric tensor component estimated in the direction normal to the direction of hydraulic conductivity. The circular radial plots without significant variation of the first invariant ($F_0$) of fabric tensor for different sized 2-D DFN block are a necessary condition for treating representative element volume (REV) of a fractured rock mass. The relative error (ER) between the numerically calculated directional hydraulic conductivity and the theoretical directional hydraulic conductivity decreases with the increase in $F_0$. A strong functional relation seems to exist between the $F_0$ and the average block hydraulic conductivity.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.154-161
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• 2023

This study explored the feasibility of replacing a metal link with a carbon fiber/epoxy composite link and assessed its capacity to withstand a given load condition using failure criteria. The micromechanics of failure (MMF) criterion was employed to predict the failure mode of the composite material, and mechanical tests were conducted to obtain reference strength parameters for MMF. The findings revealed that the stress distribution was concentrated near the hole, and weaknesses were found around the hole and at the end of the link under bending conditions. Based on the failure index, matrix tensile failure was predicted at the end of the link, and fiber compression failure occurred near the hole. The methods and results obtained from this study can provide valuable guidelines for assessing the safety of composite materials under specific load conditions when replacing metal parts with carbon fiber/epoxy composites to achieve weight reduction.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.5A
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• pp.425-431
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• 2010

The phase distribution in a multi-phase material strongly affects its material properties. Therefore, a proper method to describe the phase distribution of a material is needed. In this research, probability distribution functions, two-point correlation and lineal-path functions, are used to represent the probabilistic phase distributions of a material. The probability distribution function is calculated using a numerical method and is described as an analytical form via exponential curve fitting with three parameters. Application of analytical form of probability distribution function is investigated using two-phase polycrystalline solids and soil samples. It is confirmed that the probability distribution functions can be represented as an exponential form using curve fitting which helps identifying the applicability of a representative volume element(RVE).

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.583-595
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• 2014

Currently, Korean transportation policies are aiming for increase of safety and environment-friendly and efficient operation, by avoiding construction and expansion of roads, and upgrading road alignments and facilities. This is revealed by that there have been 22 road expansion projects (30%) and 50 road improvement projects (70%) under the 3rd Five-Year Plan for National Highways ('11~'15), while there were 53 road expansion projects (71%) and 22 road improvement projects (29%) under the 2nd Five-Year Plan for National Highways. For more effective road improvement projects, there is a need of choosing projects after an objective and scientific safety assessment of each road, and assessing safety improvement depending on projects. This study is intended to develop a model for this road safety analysis and assessment. The major objective of this study is creating a road safety analysis and assessment model appropriate for Korean society, based on the HSM (Highway Safety Manual) of the U.S. In order to build up data for model development, the sections thought to have identical geometrical structure factors in 5 lines, Cheonbuk province, were divided as homogeneous sections, and representative values of geometric structures, facilities, traffic volume, climate conditions and land usage were collected from the 1,452 sections divided. In order to build up data for model development, the sections thought to have identical geometrical structure factors in 5 lines, Cheonbuk province, were divided as homogeneous sections, and representative values of geometric structures, facilities, traffic volume, climate conditions and land usage were collected from the 1,452 sections divided. The collected data was processed correlation analysis of each road element was implemented to see which factor had a big effect on traffic accidents. On the basis of these results, then, an accident model was established as a negative binomial regression model.Using the developed model, an Crash Modification Factor (CMF) which determines accident frequency changes depending on safety performance function (SPF) predicting the number of accident occurrence through traffic volume and road section expansion, road geometric structure and traffic properties, was extracted.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.299-314
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• 2008

The NE-trending Honam shear zone is a broad, dextral strike-slip fault zone between the southern margin of the Okcheon Belt and the Precambrian Yeongnam Massif in South Korea and is parallel to the trend of Sinian deformation that is conspicuous in Far East Asia. In this paper, we report geochemical and isotopic(Sr and Nd) data of mylonitic quartz-muscovite Precambrian gneisses and surrounding foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids near the Myeongho area in the Yecheon Shear Zone, a representative segment of the Honam Shear Zone. Foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids commonly plot in the granodiorite field($SiO_2=61.9-67.1\;wt%$ and $Na_2O+K_2O=5.21-6.99\;wt%$) on $SiO_2$ vs. $Na_2O+K_2O$ discrimination diagram, whereas quartz-muscovite Precambrian orthogneisses plot in the granite field. The foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids are mostly calcic and calc-alkalic and are dominantly magnesian in a modified alkali-lime index(MALI) and Fe# [$=FeO_{total}(FeO_{total}+MgO)$] versus $SiO_2$ diagrams, which correspond with geochemical characteristics of Cordilleran Mesozoic batholiths. The foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids have molar ratios of $Al_2O_3/(CaO+Na_2O+K_2O)$ ranging from 0.89 to 1.10 and are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous, indicating I type. In contrast, Paleoproterozoic orthogneisses have peraluminous compositions, with molar ratios of $Al_2O_3/(CaO+Na_2O+K_2O)$ ranging from 1.11 to 1.22. On trace element spider diagrams normalized to the primitive mantle, the large ion lithophile element(LILE) enrichments(Rb, Ba, Th and U) and negative Ta-Nb-P-Ti anomalies of foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids and mylonitized quartz-muscovite gneisses in the Yecheon Shear Zone are features common to subduction-related granitoids and are also found in granitoids from a crustal source derived from the arc crust of active continental margin. ${\varepsilon}_{Nd}(T)$ and initial Sr-ratio ratios of foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids with suggest the involvement of upper crust-derived melts in granitoid petrogenesis. Foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids in the study area, together with the Yeongju Batholith, show not changing contents of specific elements(Ti, P, Zr, V and Y) from shear zone to the area near the shear zone. These results suggest that no volume changes and geochemical alterations in fluid-rich foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids may occur during deformation, which mass transfer by fluid flow into the shear zone is equal to the mass transfer out of the shear zone.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.52-63
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• 2003

Discontinuities such as faults, fractures and joints in rock mass play the dominant role in the mechanical and hydraulic properties of the rock mass. The key factors that influence on the flow of groundwater are hydraulic and geometric characteristics of discontinuities and their connectivity. In this study, a program that analyzes groundwater flow in the 3D discontinuity network was developed on the assumption that the discontinuity characteristics such as density, trace length, orientation and aperture have particular distribution functions. This program generates discontinuities in a three-dimensional space and analyzes their connectivity and groundwater flow. Due to the limited computing capacity In this study, REV was not exactly determined, but it was inferred to be greater than 25$\times$25$\times$25 ㎥. By calculating the extent of aperture that influences on the groundwater flow, it was found that the discontinuities with the aperture smaller than 30% of the mean aperture had little influence on the groundwater flow. In addition, there was little difference in the equivalent hydraulic conductivity for the the two cases when considering and not considering the boundary effect. It was because the groundwater flow was mostly influenced by the discontinuities with large aperture. Among the parameters considered in this study, the length, aperture, and orientation of discontinuities had the greatest influence on the equivalent hydraulic conductivity of rock mass in their order. In case of existence of a fault in rock mass, elements of the equivalent hydraulic conductivity tensor parallel to the fault fairly increased in their magnitude but those perpendicular to the fault were increased in a very small amount at the first stage and then converged.