• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1-9
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• 2009

In this study, the properties of shear wave velocity of coarse gravel in filldams are analyzed. Shear wave velocity is derived using the surface wave analysis method, which can be used nondestructively on the surface of filldams. These values are acquired through the tests for the rock zone of six filldams by SASW and HWAW methods. These analytical results are compared with results obtained through the frequently-used empirical method of Sawada and Takahashi.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.79-87
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• 2008

Recently, a new seismic probe, called "MudFork", has been developed and can be utilized for accurate and easy measurements of shear wave velocities of cohesive soils. To expand its use to estimate undrained shear strength and density, a preliminary investigation to correlate these properties with shear wave velocity was attempted. Cone penetration tests and a seismic test, using MudFork, were performed at a silty soil site near Incheon, Korea. Also, undisturbed samples were obtained using thin-wall tube samplers, and the shear wave velocities and undrained shear strengths of the samples were measured in the laboratory. A simple linear relationship between shear strength and shear wave velocity was obtained, and a tentative relationship between density and shear wave velocity was also defined.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.449-460
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• 2022

Safe underground construction in a rock mass requires adequate ground investigation and effective determination of rock conditions. The estimation of rock mass behavior is difficult, because rock masses are innately anisotropic and heterogeneous at different scales and are affected by various environmental factors. Quantitative rock mass classification systems, such as the Q-system and rock mass rating, are widely used for characterization and engineering design. The measurement of rock classification parameters is subjective and can vary among observers, resulting in questionable accuracy. Geophysical investigation methods, such as seismic surveys, have also been used for ground characterization. Torsional shear wave propagation characteristics in cylindrical rods are equal to that in an infinite media. A probabilistic quantitative relationship between the Q-value and shear wave velocity is thus investigated considering long-wavelength wave propagation in equivalent continuum jointed rock masses. Individual Q-system parameters are correlated with stress-dependent shear wave velocities in jointed rocks using experimental and numerical methods. The relationship between the Q-value and the shear wave velocity is normalized using a defined reference condition. This relationship is further improved using probabilistic analysis to remove unrealistic data and to suggest a range of Q-values for a given wave velocity. The proposed probabilistic Q-value estimation is then compared with field measurements and cross-hole seismic test data to verify its applicability.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.1E
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• pp.33-38
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• 2007

Compressional wave velocity and shear wave velocity were measured for gassy sediments collected from Jinhae Bay, Korea. To distinguish inhomogeneities of gassy sediments, Computed Tomography (CT) was carried out for gassy sediment using CT Scanner. The cored sediments are composed of homogeneous and soft mud (greater than $8{\Phi}$ in mean grain size) containing clay content more than 50%. In depth interval of gassy sediments, compressional wave velocity is significantly decreased from 1480m/s to 1360m/s, indicating that the gas greatly affects compressional wave velocity due to a gas and/or degassing cracks. Shear wave velocity shows a slight increasing pattern from ${\sim}55\;m/s$ in the upper part of the core to ${\sim}58\;m/s$ at 320 cm depth, and then decreases to ${\sim}54\;m/s$ in the lower part of the core containing a small amount of gas. But shear wave velocity in the gassy sediments is slightly greater than that of non-gassy sediments in the upper part of the core. Thus, the Vp/Vs ratio is decreased (from 30 to 25) in gas charged zone. The Vp/Vs ratio is well correlated with shear wave velocity, but no correlation with compressional wave velocity. This suggests that low concentrations of gas have little affects on shear wave velocity. By CT images, the gas in the sediments is mostly concentrated around inner edge of core liner due to a long duration after sediment collection.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.207-219
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• 2021

Several additives are used to enhance the geotechnical properties (e.g., shear wave velocity, shear modulus) of soils to provide sustainable, economical and eco-friendly solutions in geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering. In this study, piezoelectric ring actuators are used to measure the shear wave velocity of unreinforced, fiber, cemented, and fiber reinforced cemented Toyoura sand. One dimensional oedometer tests are performed on medium dense specimens of Toyoura sand-cement-fiber-silica flour mixtures with different percentages of silica flour (0-42%), fiber and cement (e.g., 0-3%) additives. The experimental results indicate that behavior of the mixtures is significantly affected by the concentration of silica flour, fiber and cement additives. Results show that with the addition of 1-3% of PVA fibers, the shear wave velocity increases by only 1-3%. However, the addition of 1-4% of cement increases the shear wave velocity by 8-35%. 10.5-21% increase of silica flour reduces the shear wave velocity by 2-5% but adding 28-42% silica flour significantly reduces the shear wave velocity by 12-31%. In addition, the combined effect of cement and fibers was also found and with only 2% cement and 1% fiber, the shear wave velocity increase was found to be approximately 24% and with only 3% cement and 3% fibers this increased to 35%. The results from this study for the normalized shear modulus and normalized mean effective stress agree well with previous findings on pure Toyoura sand, Toyoura silty sand, fiber reinforced, fiber reinforced cemented Toyoura sand. Any variations are likely due to the difference in stress history (i.e., isotropic versus anisotropic consolidation) and the measurement method. In addition, these small discrepancies could be attributed to several other factors. The potential factors include the difference in specimen sizes, test devices, methods of analysis for the measurement of arrival time, the use of an appropriate Ko to convert the vertical stresses into mean effective stress, and sample preparation techniques. Lastly, it was investigated that there is a robust inverse relationship between α factor and 𝞫₀ exponent. It was found that less compressible soils exhibit higher 𝜶 factors and lower 𝞫₀ exponents.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.22-31
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• 1991

Various types of ultrasonic techniques have been used for the estimation of compressive strength of concrete structures. However, conventional ultrasonic velocity method using only longitudial wave cannot be determined the compressive strength of concrete structures with accuracy. In this paper, by using the introduction of multiple parameter, e. g. velocity of shear wave, velocity of longitudinal wave, attenuation coefficient of shear wave, attenuation coefficient of longitudinal wave, combination condition, age and preservation method, multiple regression analysis method was applied to the determination of compressive strength of concrete structures. The experimental results show that velocity of shear wave can be estimated compressive strength of concrete with more accuracy compared with the velocity of longitudinal wave, accuracy of estimated error range of compressive strength of concrete structures can be enhanced within the range of ${\pm}$10% approximately.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1980

The results of measurements of shear current induced in water by wind in wind wave tunnel are presented briefly. The shear current distributions are found to fit reasonably well an exponentiall form. This form was used to estimate surface velocity and boundary layer thickness used in stability analysis. An analysis of hydrodynamic stability of the shear current was carried out, using a broken line as an approximate profile, to see the stability as a possible mechanism of wind wave generation. Comparison between experimental results and theoretical ones shows that there exists a large discrepancy particularly in phase velocity and hydrodynamic instability of the shear current seems not to be the basic mechanism of wind wave generation.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.33-39
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• 2019

In this study, an experimental study was carried out with variables of the shape of the ground soil-binder in order to find out whether the shear wave velocity and the ground grade were improved by the ground improvement. In this study, the shear wave velocity was measured using the crosshole method with variables of the shape of the ground soil-binder. In addition, the prediction formula of the shear wave velocity for suitability of N-Values for the domestic soil conditions are proposed using the result value of this study and the existing results of shear wave velocity. As a result, the shear wave velocity of the ground has increased. In addition, the prediction formula proposed in this study reasonably issued the existing experimental results regardless of the stratum conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.442-451
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• 2008

The evaluation of field degree of consolidation on soft clays has been an important problem in geotechnical areas. Monitoring either settlements or pore water pressures has been widely applied in the filed, but occasionally they have some problems. This study addresses the suggestion and application of another method for evaluating the degree of consolidation using shear wave velocities. A research site where soft clay layers were consolidated by surcharging loads was chosen. Laboratory tests were performed to determine the relation between shear wave velocity and effective stress. Field seismic tests were conducted several times during the consolidation of the clay layers. The tests results show that the shear wave velocity increased significantly as clays consolidated. The shear wave velocities at each field stress states were derived from the laboratory results and the degree of consolidation was evaluated by comparing the shear wave velocities obtained by laboratory and field seismic methods. In most stress states, the degree of consolidation evaluated using the shear wave velocity matched well with that obtained from field settlement record, showing the potential of applying the method using shear waves in the evaluation of field degree of consolidation on soft clay deposits.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.207-218
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• 2013

One of the input parameters in the evaluation of seismic performance of rockfill dams is shear-wave velocity of rock debris and clay core. Reliable evaluation of shear-wave velocity by surface-wave methods requires overcoming the problems of rock-debris discontinuity, material inhomogeneity and sloping boundary. In this paper, for the shear-wave velocity investigation of rockfill dams, SBF (Short-Array Beamforming) technique was proposed using the principles of conventional beamforming technique and adopted to solve limitations of the conventional surface-wave techniques. SBF technique utilizes a 3- to 9-m long measurement array and a far-field source, which allowed the technique to eliminate problems of near-field effects and investigate local anomalies. This paper describes the procedure to investigate shear-wave velocity profile of rockfill dams by SBF technique and IRF (Impulse-response filtration) technique with accuracy and reliability. Validity of the proposed SBF technique was verified by comparisons with downhole tests and CapSASW (Common-Array-Profiling Spectral-Analysis-of-Surface-Waves) tests at a railroad embankment compacted with rock debris.