• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.927-935
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• 2011

In-situ California Bearing Ratio(CBR) test has been widely used for evaluating the subgrade condition in pavements. However, because the in-situ CBR test is expensive and takes time for operation, it is difficult to figure out the in-situ characteristics of subgrade strength in detail. For faster and economical operation, the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer(DCP) has been often utilized for estimating the subgrade strength in the field. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between CBR value and DCP index of the embankment constructed with mixtures of soil and waste lime. Waste lime used in this study is producted as a by-product in the manufacturing process of making $Na_2CO_3$ from local chemical factory in Incheon. In this field measurement, the geotechnical tests such as field water content, field density, field CBR test, and dynamic cone penetration test were conducted.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.55-63
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• 2007

Deformational characteristics of subgrade soils are important properties in the mechanistic analysis and design of pavement system. In this study, to evaluate the effect of specimen construction methods on deformational characteristics of subgrade soils in Korea, resonant column tests were performed for specimens constructed by various methods. Specimen construction method affected to the modulus value but the variation in the normalized modulus reduction curve was almost identical. The effects of specimen construction method on modulus are decreased with increasing confining pressure. The average maximum variation in the modulus value with different specimen construction methods was estimated as 16.8%. The differences in the modulus value of the specimens with same water content and dry density conditions that made by gyratory compaction and impact compaction were very small within 5.2%. The impact compaction method was proposed as a specimen construction method for determining the design input parameter testing considering that impact compaction method is much simpler and require less expensive specimen construction equipment and setup than gyratory compaction method.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.41-50
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• 2019

Stiffness characteristic of subgrade is one of the most important aspects for the design and evaluation of pavement and railway. However, adequate field testing methods for evaluating the stiffness characteristics of the subgrade have not been developed yet. In this study, an in-situ dynamic stiffness analyzer (IDSA) is developed to evaluate the characteristics of subgrade stiffness along the depth, and its performance is evaluated in elastic materials and a compacted soil. The IDSA consists of a falling hammer system, a connecting rod, and a tip module. Four strain gauges and an accelerometer are installed at the tip of the rod to analyze the dynamic response of the tip generated by the drop of hammer. Based on the Boussinesq's method, the stiffness and Young's modulus of the specimens can be calculated. The performance of IDSA was tested on three elastic materials with different hardness and a compacted soil. For the repeatability of test performance, the dynamic signals for force and displacement of the tip are averaged from the hammer impact tests performed five times at the same drop height. The experimental results show that the peak force, peak displacement, and the duration depend on the hardness of the elastic materials. After calculating the stiffness and elastic modulus, it is revealed that as the drop height of hammer increases, the stiffness and elastic moduli of MC nylon and the compacted soil rapidly increase, while those of urethanes less increase.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.385-396
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• 2022

The accurate determination of the subgrade reaction modulus (K_s) of soil is an important factor for geotechnical engineers. This study estimated the K_s of soft soil improved with floating deep cement mixing (DCM) columns. A novel prediction model was developed that emphasizes the accuracy of identifying the most significant parameters of K_s. Several multi-layer perceptron (MLP) models that were trained using the Levenberg Marquardt (LM) backpropagation method were developed to estimate K_s. The models were trained using a reliable database containing the results of 36 physical modelling tests. The input parameters were the undrained shear strength of the DCM columns, undrained shear strength of soft soil, area improvement ratio and length-to-diameter ratio of the DCM columns. Grey wolf optimization (GWO) was coupled with the MLPs to improve the performance indices of the MLPs. Sensitivity tests were carried out to determine the importance of the input parameters for prediction of K_s. The results showed that both the MLP-LM and MLP-GWO methods showed high ability to predict K_s. However, it was shown that MLP-GWO (R = 0.9917, MSE = 0.28 (MN/m²/m)) performed better than MLP-LM (R =0.9126, MSE =6.1916 (MN/m²/m)). This proves the greater reliability of the proposed hybrid model of MLP-GWO in approximating the subgrade reaction modulus of soft soil improved with floating DCM columns. The results revealed that the undrained shear strength of the soil was the most effective factor for estimation of K_s.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.37-46
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• 2008

Application of resilient modulus, representing mechanical behavior of pavement materials, has become general concept for pavement design, analysis and maintenance after '86 AASHTO selected it as a basic input property of subgrade. It is known that resilient modulus of domestic subgrade soil is affected greatly by material factors, such as water content and dry weight unit, and stress components, such as deviatoric stress and confining stress, while effects of loading frequency and loading repeat were regarded negligible. If design based on resilient modulus is to be successfully implemented, design input variables of relevant models should be able to reflect local conditions. In this study, generalized mechanical model for subgrade is proposed. Model parameters are estimated from test results. Verification of the model was performed through finite element analysis using the proposed model, which showed good agreement with measured results of pavement deflections.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.23-31
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• 2023

The escalating settlements observed in concrete slab tracks pose a significant challenge in Korea, raising concerns about their adverse impact on the safe operation of high-speed railways and the substantial costs involved in restoration. A primary contributor to these settlements is identified as the utilization of rock materials sourced from tunnel construction, incorporated into the lower subgrade without the requisite soil mixing to achieve an appropriate particle size distribution. This study employs numerical analysis to evaluate the efficacy of partial reinforcement in reducing settlements in rock-filled lower subgrades. Column-shaped reinforcement areas strategically positioned at regular intervals in the lower subgrade induce soil arching in the upper subgrade, leading to a concentration of soil loads on the reinforced areas and consequent settlement reduction. The analysis employs finite element methods to investigate the influence of the size, stiffness, and spacing of the reinforced areas on settlement reduction in the lower subgrade. The numerical results guide the formulation of an optimal design approach, proposing a method to determine the minimum spacing required for reinforcements to effectively limit settlements within acceptable bounds. This research contributes valuable insights into addressing the challenges associated with settlement in concrete slab tracks, offering a basis for informed decision-making in railway infrastructure management.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.619-629
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• 2024

To improve the utilization rate of phosphate tailings (PTs) and widen the sources of subgrade filler, the PTs is employed to modify clay, forming a PTs modified clay, applied in the subgrade. Accordingly, the environmental friendliness of PTs was investigated. Subsequently, an optimal proportion was determined through compaction and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) experiments. Afterward, the stability of mixture with the optimal proportion was further evaluated through the water stability and dry-wet stability experiments. Finally, via the gradation and microstructure experiments, the strength mechanism of PTs modified clay was analyzed. The results show that the PTs were classified in the non-hazardous solid wastes, belonging to Class A building materials. With the increase of PTs content and the decrease of clay content, the optimum water content and the swelling degree gradually decrease, while the maximum dry density and CBR first increase and then decrease, reaching their peak value at 50% PTs content, which is the optimal proportion. The resilient modulus of PTs modified clay at the optimal proportion reaches 110.2 MPa. The water stability coefficient becomes stable after soaking for 4 days, while the dry-wet stability coefficient decreases with the increase of cycles and tends to be stable after 8 cycles. Under the long-term action, the dry-wet change has a greater adverse impact than continuous soaking. The analysis demonstrates that the better strength mainly comes from the skeleton role of PTs and the cementation of clay. The systematic laboratory test results and economic analysis collectively provide data evidence for the advantages of PTs modified clay as a subgrade filler.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1999.11c
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• pp.129-141
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• 1999

This paper presents the results of plate load test and dynamic load test performed to evaluate the performance of geocell where it is used to reinforce soft subgrade for high-speed railroad. Efficacy of geocell was observed in increase in bearing capacity of subgrade and reduction of thickness of reinforced sub-ballast. Plate load tests were carried out at four different places with varying foundation soil strength as a function of number of geocell layer, type of filler material, thickness of cover soil, and the presence of non-woven geotextile. Dynamic load tests were performed in a laboratory. The test soil chamber consists of, from the bottom, 50 cm thick clayey soil, one layer of geocell filled with crushed stone, 10 cm thick crushed stone cover, reinforced sub-ballast of varying thickness, 35 cm thick ballast. This configuration was determined based on the results of numerical analysis and plate load tests. For each set of the dynamic load tests, loads were applied more than 80,000 times. One layer of geocell underlying a 10 cm thick cover soil led to an increase in bearing capacity three to four times compared to a crushed stone layer of the same thickness substituted for the geocell and cover soil layer. Given the test conditions, the thickness of reinforced sub-ballast can be reduced by approximately 35 cm with the presence of geocell.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.775-784
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• 2017

This study is devoted to developing many new substructure models for ballasted railway track by using the pyramid model philosophy. As the effect of railway embankment has been less considered in the previous studies in the field of vehicle/track interaction, so the present study develops the pyramid models in the presence of railway embankment and implements them in vehicle/track interaction dynamic analyses. Considering a moving car body as multi bodies with 10 degrees of freedom and the ballasted track including rail, sleeper, ballast, subgrade and embankment, two categories of numerical analyses are performed by considering the new substructure systems including type A (initiation of stress overlap areas in adjacent sleepers from the ballast layer) or type B (initiation of stress overlap areas in adjacent sleepers from the subgrade layer). A comprehensive sensitivity analyses are performed on effective parameters such as ballast height, sleepers spacing and sleeper width. The results indicate that the stiffness of subgrade, embankment and foundation increased by increasing the ballast height. Also, by increasing the ballast height, rail and ballast vertical displacement decreased.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.1106-1116
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• 2008

Single-pole transmission structures which are supported by drilled shaft foundations are usually subjected to large overturning moments with modest vertical and lateral loads. To analyze the behavior of the drilled shaft under such loading conditions, an analytical model was developed based on beam-column and subgrade reaction methods. Field model tests were performed to calibrate the developed analytical model in which additional subgrade spring models were adopted. The field test results estimated from the calibrated analytical model were compared with those calculated by one spring model and other commercial program. According to the comparison study, the developed analytical model was proven to be a useful tool to analyze the laterally loaded behavior of foundations for single-pole structures.