• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2021

Owing to economically efficient and easy installation, bucket foundation is a promising solution for offshore wind turbines. This paper aims at finding the behavior of suction caissons and soil surrounding the foundation by using three-dimensional finite element analysis. Under various loading conditions, a wide range of foundation geometries installed in dense and medium dense sandy soil was considered to evaluate ultimate horizontal load and overturning moment capacity. The results show that the rotation and displacement of the bucket due to monotonic loading are largely dependent on the foundation geometry, soil density and load eccentricity. Normalized diagrams and equations for the ultimate horizontal load and overturning moment capacities are presented that are useful tool for the preliminary design of such foundation type.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.47-58
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• 2005

Development of underground space is conducted for various useful facility and underground structures and deep excavation technology for reclaimed area has been researched and developed. The seepage flow and behavior of phreatic line in reclaimed area was predominated by transient flow caused by tidal action. Also the soil-water characteristic relation is most important factor for transient flow analysis, therefore the research about the soil-water characteristic is strongly required. In this paper, laboratory tests (pressure cell, desiccator, and tensiometer test) and theoretical analysis were performed to investigate the soil-water characteristic such as air-entry value, metric suction, and residual water content. And the feasibility of prediction method for soil-water characteristic are presented by transient seepage analysis and comparison between analysis results and in-situ measured seepage flux in LNG TK-00 storage tank. Based on the result of laboratory and theoretical analysis, Fredlund and Xing's method provide to work out well for reclaimed ground soils. Also, the transient analysis result is more reasonable and effective for design of deep excavation work in coastal and reclaimed ground.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 2022

To experimentally investigate the variation of soil characteristics in slope during rainfall and the shape of slope failure, the model test was performed using soil box and artificial rainfall simulator. The model test of slope formed by the homogenous sand was performed, and the saturation pattern in the model slope due to rainfall infiltration was observed. The slope model with the inclination of 35° was set up on the slope of 30°, and the rainfall intensity of 50 mm/hr was applied in the test. The soil depth of 35 cm was selected by considering the size of soil box, and the TDR (time domain reflectometry) sensors were installed at various depths to investigate the change of soil characteristics with time. As the result of model test, the slope model during rainfall was saturated from the soil surface to the subsurface, and from the toe part to the crest part due to rainfall infiltration. That is, the toe part of slope was firstly saturated by rainfall infiltration, and then due to continuous rainfall the saturation range was enlarged from the toe part to the crest part in the slope model. The failure of slope model was started at the toe part of slope and then enlarged to the crest part, which is called as the retrogressive failure. At the end of slope failure, the collapsed area increased rapidly. Also, the mode of slope failure was rotational. Meanwhile, the slope failure was occurred when the matric suction in the slope was reached to the air entry value (AEV) estimated in soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC).

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.47-56
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• 2013

There are many technical problems, which can not be resolved by the concept of saturated soil mechanics. Unsaturated soils show an apparent cohesion due to negative pore pressure and relatively lower permeability due to entrapped air compared to saturated soils. The determination of engineering properties of soils with various moisture content is very important to evaluate shear strength and stability of natural and engineered soils. So various researches should be made on unsaturated soils. Especially, sandy soils are widely distributed near Nakdong river, one of the four rivers where Restoration Projects were carried out. Many structures such as dams, flood control facilities, detention facilities and reservoirs have been built in this area. In this study, unsaturated triaxial compressive tests were conducted on sands or silty sands at Nakdong river in order to provide their fundamental characteristics for design and construction of geotechnical structures. As a result of the tests, the maximum deviator stress increased as the confining stress and matric suction increased. The cohesion increased non-linearly as the matric suction increased, but the angle of internal friction was marginally changed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2014

Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (HC) is integrated theoretically from soil water retention curves (SWRC) by Mualem capillary model, but the prediction of HC is extremely sensitive to small variation of matric suction near saturation. Near saturation, the Mualem HC based on smooth SWRC decreases abruptly and has problems in the reliability of hydraulic behavior and the stability of numerical solutions. To improve van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) HC, the van Genuchten SWRC model is modified within range of low matric suction (arbitrary air entry pressure). At an arbitrary air entry pressure, the VG SWRC is linearized in log scale until full saturation. The modified VG SWRC does not affect the fit of actual retention behavior and either the parameters of original VG SWRC fit. Using the modified VG SWRC, the VGM HC is modified to integrate for each interval decomposed by arbitrary air entry pressure. An analytical solution on modified VGM HC is proposed each interval, to protect the rapid change in HC near saturation. For silty soils, VGM models of HC function underestimate the unsaturated permeability characteristics and especially show rapid reduction near saturation. The modified VGM model predicts more accurate HC functions for Korean weathered soils. Furthermore, near saturation, the saturated HC is conserved by the modified VGM model. After 2-D infiltration analysis of an actual slope, the hydraulic behaviors are compared for VGM and the modified models. The prediction by the proposed model conserved the convergence of solutions on various rainfall conditions. However, the solution by VGM model did not converge since the conductivity near saturation reduced abruptly for heavy rainfall condition. Using VGM model, the factor of safety is overestimated in both initial and final stage during heavy rainfall. Stability analysis based on infiltration analysis could simulate the actual slope failure by the proposed model on HC.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2014

Rainfall-induced landslides are caused by reduction of effective stress and shear strength due to rainfall infiltration. In order to analyze the susceptibility of landslides, the statistical analysis approach has been used widely but this approach has the limitation which cannot take into account of landslide triggering mechanism. Therefore, the physically based model which can consider the process of landslide occurrence was proposed and commonly used. However, the most previous physically based model analyses evaluate and consider the strength characteristics for saturated soil only in the susceptibility analysis. But the strength parameters for unsaturated soil such as matric suction should be considered with the strength parameters for saturated soil since the shear strength in unsaturated soil also plays important role in the stability of slope. Consequently this study suggested the modified physically based slope model which can evaluate strength characteristics for both of saturated and unsaturated soils. In addition, this study evaluated the thickness of saturated part in slope with rainfall intensity and hydraulic characteristics of slope on the basis of physically based model. In order to evaluate the feasibility, the proposed model was applied to practical example in Jinbu area, Gangwon-do, which was experienced large amount of landslides in July 2006. The ROC graph analysis was used to evaluate the validation of the model, and the analysis results were compared with the results of the previous analysis approach.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.85-103
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• 2023

The in-situ remediation of a solidified stratum containing a large amount of fine-texture material like clay or organic matter in contaminated soil faces limitations such as increased remediation cost resulting from decreased purification efficiency. Even if the soil conditions are good, remediation generally requires a long time to complete because of non-uniform soil properties and low permeability. This study assessed the remediation effect and evaluated the field applicability of a methodology that combines pneumatic fracturing, vacuum extraction, and plasma blasting (the PPV method) to improve the limitations facing existing underground remediation methods. For comparison, underground remediation was performed over 80 days using the experimental PPV method and chemical oxidation (the control method). The control group showed no decrease in the degree of contamination due to the poor delivery of the soil remediation agent, whereas the PPV method clearly reduced the degree of contamination during the remediation period. Remediation effect, as assessed by the reduction of the highest TPH (Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons) concentration by distance from the injection well, was uncleared in the control group, whereas the PPV method showed a remediation effect of 62.6% within a 1 m radius of the injection well radius, 90.1% within 1.1~2.0 m, and 92.1% within 2.1~3.0 m. When evaluating the remediation efficiency by considering the average rate of TPH concentration reduction by distance from the injection well, the control group was not clear; in contrast, the PPV method showed 53.6% remediation effect within 1 m of the injection well, 82.4% within 1.1~2.0 m, and 68.7% within 2.1~3.0 m. Both ways of considering purification efficiency (based on changes in TPH maximum and average contamination concentration) found the PPV method to increase the remediation effect by 149.0~184.8% compared with the control group; its average increase in remediation effect was ~167%. The time taken to reduce contamination by 80% of the initial concentration was evaluated by deriving a correlation equation through analysis of the TPH concentration: the PPV method could reduce the purification time by 184.4% compared with chemical oxidation. However, the present evaluation of a single site cannot be equally applied to all strata, so additional research is necessary to explore more clearly the proposed method's effect.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.541-552
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• 2019

In this study, landslide flume tests were performed to analyze characteristics of ground characteristics and landslide occurrence due to rainfall infiltration. As test materials, weathered granite soil and gneiss soil, the most frequent landslides in Korea, were used, and landslides were triggered by heavy rain (Intensity = 200 mm/hr). The measurement sensors were installed with 3 sets at toe, slope, top part and shallow (GL-0.2 m), middle (GL-0.4 m), and deep (GL-0.6 m) depth in the slope and measured at 10 second intervals. After landslide flume tests, the slope stability analysis was performed by applying the unsaturated soil theory based on the change of ground characteristics and compared with actual landslide occurrence from flume test. As a result of the analysis, factor of safety reflected the landslide occurrence from flume test and factor of safety decreased as rainfall infiltration, leading to slope failure. Finally we compared to the factor of safety below 1 and actual landslide occurrence time, the average difference was 1,600 seconds for weathered granite soil and 5,400 seconds for weathered gneiss soil.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.33-44
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• 1998

Preliminary study has been conducted to analyse the co-relation between shallow landslides frequently occurring in rainy seasons and the water infiltration into the slope. The change of stress state due to partial saturation of a soil and hence the reduction of its shear strength have been reviewed. The variation of the safety factor of an infinite planar slope in accordance with various water infiltration scenarios has been estimated by limit equilibrium method to explain the mechanism of shallow slope failure. Numerical analysis under the same condition as those of some models dealt with in the previous method has been carried out by using FLAC, a finite difference program, and the results have been compared with the ones obtained by limit equilibrium method. Both results proved to be identical, which implies the ability of the numerical approach to the problems related to the stability analysis of unsaturated slope with the irregular geometry. Further improvement, however, should be made to apply the present analysis procedure to general slopes since it deals with a simple one.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.963-971
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• 2008

Unsaturated soil mechanics has been often used to find out a cause of failure (tensile failure) of retaining walls and hill slopes containing sandy soils. Checking shear strength is a popular method by considering suction stress developed form pore water menisci among the grains and saturated pockets of pore water under negative pressure. Linear Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is generally adopted as a failure criterion. However, depending on relative density, stress history, and the magnitude of stress, the failure behavior of sand may not follow linear M-C frictional behavior. For stress in the large compressive ranges, say from tens to hundreds of kPa, the linear M-C criterion is an adequate representation for the shear strength behavior of sand. However, less than tens of kPa, the M-C criterion often can not be accurately represented. Depending on failure criterion, the uniaxial tensile strength is different over 100% relative error. For sand behavior under small compression regimes, therefore, such as under low or zero gravity, or under undergoing tensile failure in the crest area of hill slopes or behind retaining walls, it is important to consider the non-linear behavior.