• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.2 s.48
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• pp.135-143
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• 2006

This study presents the results of a series of laboratory scale slope failure experiments aimed at clarifying the process and the condition leading to the initiation of rainfall-induced slope failures. For the evaluation of hydrologic response of the model slopes in relation the process of failure initiation, measurements were focused on the changes in volumetric water content during the initiation process. The process leading to failure initiation commences by the development of a seepage face. It appears reasonable to conclude that slope failures are a consequence of the instability of seepage area formed at the slope surface during rainfall period. Therefore, this demonstrates the importance of monitoring the development seepage area for useful prediction about the timing of a particular failure event. The hydrologic response of soil slopes leading to failure initiation is characterized by three phases (phase I, II and III) of significant increase in volumetric water content in association with the ingress of wetting front and the rise of groundwater level within the slope. The period of phase III increase in volumetric water content can be used to initiate advance warning towards a failure initiation event. Therefore, for the concept outlined above, direct and continuous monitoring of the change in volumetric water content is likely to provide the possibility for the development of a reliable and effective means of predicting the occurrence of rainfall-induced slope failures.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2011

This paper described that the failure causes of reinforced slope are analyzed based on the effect of geological and rainfall. The analysis result confirmed that the rainfall has effects on the stability of reinforced slope. Therefore, it was applied to the dewatering method using collector well for slope stabilized, and then the analysis of seepage and slope stability were conducted on slope with the applied method. The results of seepage analysis are corresponded with failure cause by rainfall and the results of slope stability, which is applied to dewatering method, are satisfied with safety factor criterion. Therefore, it confirmed that the dewatering method using collector could be possible to apply in field and reasonable method for slope stabilized during heavy rainfall.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2007.09a
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• pp.208-220
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• 2007

Sixteen percent of a total of 18,000 dam facilities in Korea are reported to suffer problems related to seepage. It has also been observed that the natural frequency of torrential rainfall has increased quite significantly in recent years. Seepage in man-made structures combined with natural phenomenon may make the risk of dam failure higher, and can even lead to disasters for the people residing in downstream area. Thus, the social demands for the technology to prevent these disasters are higher than ever. In this contribution, we provide a brief review of technologies that are used to evaluate the structural safety of dams. We also discuss the results of three case studies where geophysical exploration methods (e.g. resistivity survey) were employed to find possible seepage zones of dam structures.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.5-13
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• 2020

The relief wells have been studied to be effective in seepage control in small dams such as agricultural dams. However, quantitative studies on the effects of the relief well are rare and there is no design standard also. To quantitatively analyze the effects of the seepage control in small dams, the research of up-lift pressure influencing the toe of dam body was conducted by seepage analysis, which investigates the behavior characteristics, according to the conditions of dam and foundation. The effect of seepage control was studied by analyzing the reduction effect of up-lift pressure at foundation ground of the toe of downstream dam slope depending on the installation of the relief well. As a result, it was found that the relief wells are effective in reducing the pore water pressure in the foundation, which can cause piping and sliding failure.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.427-439
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• 2012

In this study, an experiment with large-scale model was performed according to raising embankment in order to investigate the behaviour of failure due to overtopping. The pore water pressure, earth pressure and settlement by high water level, a rapid drawdown and overtopping were compared and analyzed. Also, seepage analysis and slope stability analysis were performed for steady state and transient conditions. The pore water pressure and earth pressure for inclined core type showed high value at the base of the core, but they showed no infiltration by leakage. The pore water pressure and earth pressure by overtopping increased at the upstream slope and core, it is considered a useful data that can accurately estimate the possibility of failure of the reservoir. The behavior of failure due to overtopping was gradually enlarged towards the downstream slope from reservoir crest, and the inclined core after the raising embankment was influenced significantly to prevent the reservoir failure. The pore water pressure distribution for steady state and transient condition showed positive (+) pore water pressure on the upstream slope, it was gradually changed negative (-) pore water pressure on the downstream slope. The pore water pressure by overtopping showed a larger than the high water level at the downstream slope, it was likely to be the piping phenomenon because the hydraulic gradients showed largely at the inclined core and reservoir crest. The safety factor showed high at the steady state, and transient conditions did not show differences depending on the rapid drawdown.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.59-64
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• 2014

In this study, the large scale test was performed to investigate the behavior of failure for the embankment and spillway transitional zone by overtopping. The pore water pressure, earth pressure, settlement and failure pattern of covering embankment with geotextile were compared and analyzed. The pore water pressure showed a small change in the spillway transition zone and core, indicating that the geotextile efficiently reinforced the embankment. The earth pressure decreased the infiltration of the pore water only in inclined cores type to secure local stability. The behavior of failure started from the bottom and gradually progressed upwards. After the intermediate overtopping period (100 min), width and depth of the seepage erosion were very small due to the effect of geotextile which delayed failure. Therefore, the reinforced method by geotxtile was a very effective method to respond to the emergency due to overtopping.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.553-564
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• 2020

In this study, a simple numerical approach for a circular tunnel opening in strain-softening surrounding rock is proposed considering out-of-plane stress and seepage force based on Biot's effective stress principle. The plastic region of strain-softening surrounding rock was divided into a finite number of concentric rings, of which the thickness was determined by the internal equilibrium equation. The increments of stress and strain for each ring, starting from the elastic-plastic interface, were obtained by successively incorporating the effect of out-of-plane stress and Biot's effective stress principle. The initial value of the outmost ring was determined using equilibrium and compatibility equations. Based on the Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) and generalized Hoek-Brown (H-B) failure criteria, the stress-increment approach for solving stress, displacement, and plastic radius was improved by considering the effects of Biot's effective stress principle and the nonlinear degradation of strength and deformation parameters in plastic zone incorporating out-of-plane stress. The correctness of the proposed approach is validated by numerical simulation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.5-18
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• 2014

Many regions around the world are vulnerable to rainfall-induced slope failures. A variety of methods have been proposed for revealing the mechanism of slope failure initiation. Current analysis methods, however, do not consider the effects of non-homogeneous soil profiles and variable hydraulic responses on rainfall-induced slope failures. In this study, probabilistic stability analyses were conducted for weathered residual soil slopes with different soil thickness overlying impermeable bedrock to study the rainfall-induced failure mechanisms depending on the soil thickness. A series of seepage and stability analyses of an infinite slope based on one-dimensional random fields were performed to consider the effects of uncertainty due to the spatial heterogeneity of hydraulic conductivity on the failure of unsaturated slopes due to rainfall infiltration. The results showed that a probabilistic framework can be used to efficiently consider various failure patterns caused by spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity in rainfall infiltration assessment for a infinite slope.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.353-370
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• 2017

This paper presents a case study and numerical investigation to study the hydro-mechanical response of a shallow landslide in unsaturated slopes subjected to rainfall infiltration using a coupled model. The coupled model was interpreted in details by expressing the balance equations for soil mixture and the coupled constitutive equations. The coupled model was verified against experimental data from the shearing-infiltration triaxial tests. A real case of shallow landslide occurred on Mt. Umyeonsan, Seoul, Korea was employed to explore the influence of rainfall infiltration on the slope stability during heavy rainfall. Numerical results showed that the coupled model accurately predicted the poromechanical behavior of a rainfall-induced landslide by simultaneously linking seepage and stress-strain problems. It was also found that the coupled model properly described progress failure of a slope in a highly transient condition. Through the comparisons between the coupled and uncoupled models, the coupled model provided more realistic analysis results under rainfall. Consequently, the coupled model was found to be feasible for the stability and seepage analysis of practical engineering problems.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.322-329
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• 2006

On the way of construction in harbor area, scourin problems took place slowly failure of embankment in the beginning of construction in sites. For studying on the scouring properties during revetment construction in silty sand soil layers, this paper is carried out on lessons of case studies of numerical seepage analysis, scouring countermeasures in dredged landfill area.