• 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.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.45-52
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• 2015

With the rising interest in the environment, more attention on ecological restoration for damaged slope surface to restore its original state has been drawn. Generally, the most useful method is vegetation based spray work. This method uses green soil including sewage sludge, sawdust, paper sludge, and weathered granite soil. However, because there are neither accurate information nor test values about green soil, green soil is often lost by environmental factors such as rainfalls and strong winds. To solve the problem of green soil, it is necessary to prepare design standards about green soil, and conduct studies to deal with green soil loss in consideration of various variables including basic material property, soil quality of slope surface, and weather. This study was conducted in the mixture of green soil and eco-friendly soil stabilizer. With green soil, basic material property test and compaction test were conducted for the analysis on the basic characteristics of green soil. In the mixture with soil stabilizer at a certain ratio, we conducted shear strength test depending on the ratio in order to analyze the maximum shear strength, cohesion and the change in internal friction angles. Furthermore, in the mixture ratio of green soil and soil stabilizer, which is the same as the ratio in the shear strength test, an inclination of slope surface was made in laboratory for the analysis on erosion and germination rate. Finally, this study evaluated the most effective and economic mixing ratio of soil stabilizer to cope with neighboring environmental factors. According to the test, the shear strength of green soil increased up to 51% rely onto the mixing ratio of and a curing period, and its cohesion and internal friction angle also gradually increases. It is judged that the mixture of soil stabilizer was effective in improving shear strength and thereby increased the stability of green soil.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.13-19
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• 2024

In this study, to reinforce the surface layer of weathered soil slopes where erosion and collapse of surface layer occur, compression strength tests were conducted by mixing carbon fiber and eco-friendly stabilizer (E.S.B.) To determine the optimal mixing ratio of E.S.B. and carbon fiber, E.S.B. was set at conditions of 10%, 20%, and 30%, and carbon fiber at 0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9%, and 1.2%. Additionally, to analyze the changes in compressive strength according to dry density and curing period, 85% and 95% of the maximum dry unit weight were applied, and curing periods were set to 3 days, 7 days, and 28 days. The standard strength for surface layer reinforcement of slopes is proposed as 4 MPa at 7 days and 6 MPa at 28 days according to ACI 230.1R-09 (2009). The compression test results showed that the unconfined compressive strength of E.S.B. reinforced soil met the standard strength at an E.S.B. mixing ratio of 10% or more for 95% compaction. Moreover, when carbon fiber was mixed with E.S.B. reinforced soil, a ductile fracture pattern was observed after the yield point due to compressive strength, indicating that the mixture could compensate for post-yield failure. It was analyzed that the maximum strength is exhibited at a carbon fiber mixing ratio of 0.6%. The unconfined compressive strength of carbon fiber reinforced soil increases by approximately 54-70% compared to the condition without carbon fiber.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.339-348
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• 2020

The uncertain geotechnical properties of frozen soil are important evidence for the design, operation and maintenance of the frozen ground. The complex geological, environmental and physical effects can lead to the spatial variations of the frozen soil, and the uncertain mechanical properties are the key factors for the uncertain analysis of frozen soil engineering. In this study, the elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio of warm frozen soil were measured, and the statistical characteristics under different temperature conditions are obtained. The autocorrelation distance (ACD) and autocorrelation function (ACF) of uncertain mechanical properties are estimated by random field (RF) method. The results show that the mean elastic modulus and mean strength decrease with the increase of temperature while the mean Poisson ratio increases with the increase of temperature. The average values of the ACD for the elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio are 0.64m, 0.53m and 0.48m, respectively. The standard deviation of the ACD for the elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio are 0.03m, 0.07m and 0.03m, respectively. The ACFs of elastic modulus, strength and Poisson ratio decrease with the increase of ratio of local average distance and scale of fluctuation. The ACF of uncertain mechanical properties is different when the temperature is different. This study can improve our understanding of the spatial autocorrelation variations of uncertain geotechnical properties and provide a basis and reference for the uncertain settlement analysis of frozen soil foundation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.7 no.2 s.25
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• pp.35-44
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• 2007

Plowable fill is generally a mixture of sand, fly ash, a small amount of cement and water. Sand is the major component of most flowable fill mixes. Marine dredged soil was adopted for flowable fill instead of fly ash. Natural sea sand and in-situ soil were used for comparison. The flow behavior, hardening characteristics, and ultimate strength behavior of flowable fill were investigated. The unconfined compression test necessary to sustain walkability as the fresh flowble fill hardens was determined and the strength at 3-days appeared to correlate well with the water-to-cement ratio. The strength parameters, like cohesion and internal friction angle, was determined along the curing time. The creep test for settlement potential was conducted. Also, potable falling weight deflectometer(PFWD) test has been carried out for elastic modulus of each controlled low strength materials(CLSM). The data presented show that marine dredged soil and in-situ soil can be successfully used in CLSM.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.171-184
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• 2007

Chemical admixture stabilization has been extensively used in both shallow and deep stabilization in order to improve inherent properties of the soil such as strength and deformation behavior. An increment in strength, a reduction in compressibility, an improvement of the swelling or squeezing characteristics and increasing the durability of soil are the main aims of the admixtures for soil stabilization. Recently, the various advanced cement stabilizer mixing technique was developed. Advanced cement stabilizer mixing technique is environmentally-friendly and has an excellent mixing property and outstanding mixing speed. In this study, to develop the rural road pavement technology using cement stabilizer, compaction and unconfined compression test were performed with various mixing ratio and two types of soil(clay and silty soil). And the freezing/thaw test and bending strength test performed to develop suitable cement stabilizer material for stabilization of rural road. Based on the test results, the liquid types of cement stabilizer material and silty soil mixture are most suitable for rural road construction and although the mixing ratio is low, cement stabilizer mixture is effective for durability of rural road surface layer.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.31-45
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• 2019

In this study the spatial variability of soils is substantiated physically and numerically by using random field theory. Heterogeneous samples are fabricated by combining nine homogeneous soil clusters that are assumed to be elements of an adopted random field. Homogeneous soils are prepared by mixing different percentages of kaolin and bentonite at water contents equivalent to their respective liquid limits. Comprehensive characteristic laboratory tests were carried out before embarking on direct shear experiments to deduce the basic correlations and properties of nine homogeneous soil clusters that serve to reconstitute the heterogeneous samples. The tests consist of Atterberg limits, and Oedometric and unconfined compression tests. The undrained shear strength of nine soil clusters were measured by the unconfined compression test data, and then correlations were made between the water content and the strength and stiffness of soil samples with different consistency limits. The direct shear strength of heterogeneous samples of different stochastic properties was then evaluated by physical and numerical modelling using FISH code programming in finite difference software of $FLAC^{3D}$. The results of the experimental and stochastic numerical analyses were then compared. The deviation of numerical simulations from direct shear load-displacement profiles taken from different sources were discussed, potential sources of error was introduced and elaborated. This study was primarily to explain the mathematical and physical procedures of sample preparation in stochastic soil mechanics. It can be extended to different problems and applications in geotechnical engineering discipline to take in to account the variability of strength and deformation parameters.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.403-418
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• 2014

There are around 6700 millions tons of perlite reserves in the world. Although perlite possesses pozzolanic properties, it has not been so far used in soil stabilization. In this study, stabilization with perlite and lime of an expansive clayey soil containing smectite group clay minerals such as montmorillonite and nontronite was investigated experimentally. For this purpose, test mixtures were prepared with 8% of lime (optimum lime ratio of the soil) and without lime by adding 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of perlite. Geotechnical properties such as compaction, Atterberg limits, swelling, unconfined compressive strength of the mixtures and changes of these properties depending on perlite ratio and time were determined. The test results show that stabilization of the soil with combination of perlite and lime improves the geotechnical properties better than those of perlite or lime alone. This experimental study unveils that the mixture containing 30% perlite and 8% lime is the optimum solution in stabilization of the soil with respect to strength.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2002

Clayey paddy soils should be mixed with other good coarse soils to be used as a material for the lining, or, embankment. However, it has been difficult to separate soil particles from each other because of the internal cohesion in the soil gradation(separation) characteristics of the fine soil were investigated by various laboratory tests including the slaking durability test. Degradation rate of the soil were dependent upon the clay content and the initial water content before the submergence. The amount of degradations decreased as initial water content increased with exponential functions. The dried specimens separated into the particles after 24 hours of the submergence and specimens which water contents were less than 10% also separated into the particles after 2, or 3 days of the submergence. Compaction curves and the unconfined strength were not varied before and after the submergence. However, unconfined strength decreased as water content increased.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.73-81
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• 2016

In the construction on low strength and high compressible soft ground, the many problems have been occurred in recent construction project. therefore, the soil improvement have been developed to obtain high strength in relatively short period of curing time. Based on the laboratory tests using undisturbed marine clay, the effect of improvement on soft ground was estimated. Deep mixing method by cement have been virtually used for decades to improve the mechanical properties of soft ground. However, previous researches set the focus on the short term strength the about 10% of cement treated clay. In this paper, cement and Natural Soil Stabilizer (NSS) were used as the stabilizing agent to obtain trafficability and mechanical strength of the soft clay. Based on the several laboratory tests, optimum condition was proposed to ensure the mechanical strength and compressibility as the foundation soil using cement and NSS mixed soil. Finally, research data was proposed about the applicability of NSS as the stabilizing agent to soft clay to increase the mechanical strength of soil.