• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.55-66
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• 2012

To investigate the hysteresis of the suction stress in unsaturated weathered mudstone soils (CL), matric suction and volumetric water content were measured in both drying and wetting processes using Automated Soil-Water Characteristics Curve Apparatus. The drying and wetting processes in unsaturated soils were reproduced in the test; the drying process means to load matric suction to spill pore water from the soils, and the wetting process means to unload matric suction to inject pore water into the soils. Based on the measured result, Soil Water Characteristic Curve(SWCC)s were estimated by van Genuchten model (1980). SWCCs have nonlinear relationship between effective degree of saturation and matric suction. The hysteresis in SWCCs between drying and wetting processes occurred. As a result of estimating Suction Stress Characteristic Curve(SSCC) using Lu and Likos model (2006), the suction stress rapidly increased in the low level of matric suction and then increased slightly. Also, the hysteresis in SSCCs between drying and wetting processes occurred. In order to design geo-structures and check its stability considering unsaturated soil mechanics, therefore, it is more reasonable that the SSCC of drying process should be applied in the condition of rainfall infiltration and the SSCC of wetting process in the condition of evaporation or drainage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.71-78
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• 2010

The stability analysis of unsaturated infinite slope under rainfall-induced infiltration condition was performed using the generalized effective stress that unifies both saturated and unsaturated condition recently proposed by Lu and Likos(2004, 2006). The Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) of the sand with the relative density of 75% was first measured for both drying and wetting processes. The Hydraulic Conductivity Function (HCF) and Suction Stress Characteristic Curve (SSCC) were subsequently estimated. Also, under the rainfall-induced infiltration condition transient seepage analysis of unsaturated infinite slope was performed using the finite element program, SEEP/W. Based on these results, the stability of unsaturated infinite slope under rainfall-induced infiltration condition was examined considering the suction stress. According to the results, the negative pore water pressure and water content within the soil changed with time due to the infiltration. Also, the variation of those caused the variation of suction stress and then the factor of safety of slope changed consequently during the rainfall period.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.221-232
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• 2020

In many tropical regions, soil structures often fail under constant loads as a result of decreasing matric suction due to water infiltration. Most of the previous studies have been performed by infiltrating water in the soil specimen by keeping shear stress constant at 85-90% of peak shear strength in order to ensure specimen failure during water infiltration. However, not many studies are available to simulate the soil behavior when water is infiltrated at lower shear stress and how the deformations affect the soil behavior if the failure did not occur during water infiltration. This research aimed at understanding both the strength and deformation behavior of unsaturated soil during the course of water infiltration at 25%, 50% and 75% of maximum deviatoric stress and axial strain by keeping them constant. A unique stress-strain curve expresses the transient situation from unsaturated condition to failure state due to water infiltration is also drawn. The shearing-infiltration test results indicate that the water infiltration reduces matric suction and increase soil deformation. This research also indicates that unsaturated soil failure problems should not always be treated as shear strength problems but deformation should also be considered while addressing the problems related to unsaturated soils.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2022

This paper presents the measuring process of dynamic properties of offshore wind power foundation and provides consideration of each step. This Guideline enables to maintain consistent measuring procedure and therefore increase the reliability of test results. Small scaled suction bucket foundation was fabricated to represent the commercial support structure installation mechanism and two cases(free-free, free-fixed) of dynamic tests were performed at workshop. From the tests, the importance of dynamic properties of connection part between suction bucket and tower was figured out. More over, types and configuration of measuring devices are recommended which can help find the natural frequency of wind turbine foundation correctly. In field test, it was found that the natural frequency of suction bucket foundation was increased linearly with the penetration depth due to the confining effect of ambient soil. Meanwhile, it was not easy to get an enough excitation force with normal impact hammer because the N.F of suction bucket model was in the lower range of 0 Hz ~ 5 Hz. Therefore, new excitation method which has enough force and can excite lower frequency range was devised. This study will help develop safety check procedure of suction bucket foundation in field at each installation stage using the N.F measurement.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.195-202
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• 2021

Offshore wind turbine (OWT) receive a combined vertical-horizontal- moment load by wind, waves, and the structure's own weight. In this study, the bearing capacity for the combined load of the suction foundation of OWT installed on the sandy soil was calculated by finite element analysis. In addition, the stress state of the soil around the suction foundation was analyzed in detail under the condition that a combined load was applied. Based on the results of the analyses, new equations are proposed to calculate the horizontal and moment bearing capacities as well as to define the capacity envelopes under general combined loads.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.523-535
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• 2008

A simulated rainfall system was built, and the unsaturated characteristics were examined by execution of simulated rainfall system test and soil water characteristic curve cell test(SWCC Cell Test) under the various rainfall and slope conditions. With the results, the applicability of infiltration behavior under rainfall and soil water characteristic curve models to the unsaturated weathered granite soil was examined. At the results of comparison the volumetric water content and matric suction measured in the wetting process(under rainfall) with those in the drying process(leaving as it was) of the simulated rainfall system, the volumetric water content showed a difference of $2{\sim}5%$ and matric suction of about $3{\sim}10\;kPa$, indicating the occurrence of hysteresis. In addition, the difference was relatively larger in matric suction than in the volumetric water content, and this tells that the hysteresis behavior is larger in matric suction. When the soil water characteristic curve derived from measurements in simulated rainfall system test were compared with those from the soil water characteristic curve cell test, both methods produced soil water characteristic curves close each other in the wetting process and the drying process, but in both, there was a difference between results obtained from in the wetting process and those from in the drying process. Thus, when soil water characteristic curves are rationally applied to the design and stability analysis considering of the properties of unsaturated soil, it is considered desirable to apply the soil water characteristic curve of the wetting process to the wetting process, and that of the drying process to the drying process.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.139-152
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• 1996

In order to treat flow problems for unsaturated soils, it is necessary to obtain the soil-water characteristic curves which show nonlinear relationship between metric suction and volumetric water content. With two different pleasuring devices, measurements of the matric suction were taken for Jumoonjin sand, Hangang sand, and weathered granite soils with different fined. Experimental parameters which can describe experimental formulas for the soil-water characteristics were determined by using the data obtained from the experiment. Among experimental formulas of previous researchers, that of van Genuchten(1980) agreed well with the results of experiments. For weathered granite soils, the parameters increased with the increase of fine contents, Therefore, the soil-water characteristic for a weathered soil can be estimated by using Parameters corresponding to its fine contents.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2013

A suction anchor is one of the most popular anchors for deepsea floating systems. An anchor used for catenary mooring is predominantly under a horizontal load. In this study, the behavior of a suction anchor installed in cohesionless soil was investigated when the anchor was mainly subjected to a horizontal load induced by a catenary line. In order to study the behavior of the suction anchor, 3D FEM analysis models were developed and analyzed. Depending on the location of the load (padeye), the ultimate horizontal load was monitored. The distributions of the reaction forces around the anchor induced by the seabed were analyzed using the circumferential stress to understand the behavior of the suction anchor under a horizontal load.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.161-168
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• 2018

This paper presents the design procedure of the suction bucket used to support a subsea manifold. The soil-suction bucket interaction numerical analysis technique was verified by comparing the present results with a reference data. In order to simulate the soil-bucket interaction analyses of a subsea manifold structure, various material data such as undrained shear strength, elastic modulus, and poisson ratio of soft clay in Gulf of Mexico were collected from reference survey. We proposed vertical and horizontal design loads based on system weights and current-induced drag forces. Under the assumption that diameter of the suction bucket was 3.0 m considering real dimension of the subsea manifold frame structures, aspect ratio was decided to be 3.0 based on reference survey. The ultimate bearing load components were determined using tangent intersection method. It was proved that the two design load components were less than ultimate bearing loads.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.263-274
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• 2011

A reliability-based slope stability assessment method considering fluctuations in the monitored matric suction was proposed for real-time identification of slope risk. The assessment model was based on the limit equilibrium model for infinite slope failure. The first-order reliability method (FORM) was adopted to calculate the probability of slope failure, and results of the model were compared with Monte-Carlo Simulation (MCS) results to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the model. The analysis shows that a model based on Advanced First-Order Reliability Method (AFORM) generates results that are in relatively good agreement with those of the MCS, using a relatively small number of function calls. The contribution of random variables to the slope reliability index was also examined using sensitivity analysis. The results of sensitivity analysis indicate that the effective cohesion c' is a significant variable at low values of mean matric suction, whereas matric suction ($u_a-u_w$) is the most influential factor at high mean suction values. Finally, the reliability indices of an unsaturated model soil slope, which was monitored by a wireless matric suction measurement system, were illustrated as 2D images using the suggested probabilistic model.