• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.585-599
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• 2015

Laboratory model tests were conducted to investigate the effect of surcharge loading rate on the magnitude of lateral displacement of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) improved deposit. The test results indicate that under the condition that the system had sufficient factor of safety (FS) ($FS{\geq}1.2$), for the similar model ground under the same total applied surcharge load, the lateral displacement increases with the increase of loading rate. The test results have been used to check the validity of a previously proposed method for predicting the maximum lateral displacement, and it shows that the data points are around the middle line of the predicted range, which supports the usefulness of the proposed method. The basic idea of the prediction method is an empirical relationship between the normalized lateral displacement (NLD) and a ration of load to the undrained shear strength of the deposit (RLS). The model test results offer some modifications of the NLD-RLS relationship: (1) instead of a bilinear relationship, NLD-RLS relationship may be entirely nonlinear; (2) the upper bound value of RLS for the proposed method can be used may be limited to 2.1 instead of the originally proposed value of 3.0.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.473-480
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• 2023

Acid rain of soils has a significant impact on mechanical properties. An X-ray diffraction test, scanning electron microscope (SEM) test, laser particle size analysis test, and triaxial unconsolidated undrained (UU) test were carried out in red clay soils with different compaction degrees under the effect of different concentrations of acid. The experiments demonstrated that: the dissolution effect of acid rain on colluvium weakened with the increase in the compacting degree under the condition of certain pH values, i.e., the damage to the structure of red clay soil was relatively light, where the number of newly increased pores in the soil decreased and the agglomeration of soil particles increased; for the same compacting degree, the structural gap decreased, and the agglomeration increased with the increase in the pH value (acidity decreases) of the acid rain; the dissolution rate of Si, Al, Fe, and other elemental minerals and cement in red clay soil was found to be higher under the effect of acid rain, in turn destroying the original structure of the soil body and producing a large number of pores. This is macroscopically expressed as the decrease of the soil cohesion and internal friction angle, thereby reducing the shear strength of the soil body.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.463-470
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• 2016

A vane shear test (VST) is a simple testing method for determining an undrained shear strength of cohesive soils by minimizing soil disturbance. In this study, the VST was used to determine a shear strength of sand. Dry Nakdong River sand was prepared for loose and dense conditions in a cell and then pressurized with 25, 50, 75 or 100 kPa from the surface of sand. A vane (5 cm in diameter and 10 cm in height) was rotated and a torque was measured within sand. When a torque moment by vane and friction resistance moment by sand is assumed to be equalized, a friction angle can be obtained. When a vane rotates within clay, a uniform undrained shear strength is assumed to be acting on cylindrical failure surface. On the other hand, when it is applied for sand, the failure shape can be assumed to be an octagonal or square column. The relationship between measured torque and resistant force along assumed failure shapes due to friction of sand was derived and the internal friction angle of sand was determined for loose and dense conditions. For the same soil condition, a series of direct shear test was carried out and compared with VST result. The friction angle from VST was between 24-42 degrees for loose sand and 33-53 degrees for dense sand. This is similar to those of direct shear tests.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.247-256
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• 2003

FEM analyses which are based on modified Cam-clay theory have been generally used in such cases as analyses of stability and displacement fur embankment construction on soft clays. However, the Modified Cam Clay Model can generate some problems in anisotropic stress conditions of field because the critical state theory has been developed through many laboratory tests in isotropic conditions. Thus, the applicability on the prediction of undrained shear strength and pore water pressure which was based on the critical state theory was evaluated by triaxial tests and numerical analyses in isotropic and anisotropic conditions. Used samples often come out in domestic area, together with general low plastic clays which are showing dilatant behavior in shearing process. They were evaluated by laboratory tests and FEM based on MCCM. From the results of test and numerical analysis, the predictions of undrained strength in low plastic clays well coincided with each other in both isotropic and anisotropic conditions. However, the generation of porewater pressure was often overestimated during undrained shearing in anisotropic conditions. The results can generate the errors in the prediction of stress path of field sites during loading such as construction of embankment on soft clays because the field is subjected to anisotropic conditions during loading.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.29-39
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• 2007

In this study, the centrifugal tests were fulfilled to analyze the displacement characteristics caused by the embankment construction on soft ground. Embankment of height, undrained shear strength and with or without geotextile were selected to evaluate the displacement characteristics of soft ground by embankment. As a result, the replacement section without geotextile showed the parabola shape. The replacement section with geotextile showed the trapezoidal shape which represents the uniform settlements. The replacement angle is increasing nearly lineally with increasing the height of embankment and G-level. The position, where the maximum horizontal displacement occurred, was between $0.24H_0$ and $0.35H_0$ and was at $0.3H_0$ on the average. In the case of with and without geotextile, the relationship between the maximum settlement of ground(S) and maximum horizontal displacement(${\delta}_m$) was ${\delta}_m$ = 0.60S, ${\delta}_m$ = 0.54S, respectively.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.45-56
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• 1998

In order to select a proper ground improvement technology and to assess the quality and rate of improvement in the soft deposits. it is essential to characterize in-situ properties of the soft marine clay layer that may have many thin silt or sand seams. In this paper, both piezocone and flat dilatometer tests were performed to characterize in situ properties of a marine clay. Both tests provided quite similar site classifications, and in both tests the penetration pore water pressure was the better indicator for the classification of marine clay layer, especially in which sand or silt seams are frequently interbedded. Undrained strengths determined by both the cone tip resistance and the excess pore water pressure measured from piezocone were very similar in clayey soil layers. And the untrained strength determined by dilatometer had an approximately average value of undiained strengths obtained from piezocone. In addition, the theoretical time factor that can consider pore pressure dissipation effect during cone penetration may provide a reliable estimation of the coefficient of consolidation, especially for a coastal site which includes many silt or sand fractions or seams.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.9-18
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• 1996

The results of a series of triaxial compression tests on remolded normally consolidated clay are compared with the predictions .by the isotropic single -hardening constitutive model, which incorporates eleven parameters. The parameters can be determined from undrained triaxial compression tests on isotropically consolidated specimens of remolded clay. The model with the determined parameters is applied to predict the stress-strain and pore pressure behaviors for untrained triaxial compresion tests on anisotropically consolidated specimens. Also the model is utilized to predict the stress strain and voltmetric strain behavior for drained triaxial compression tests on both isotropic and anisotropic specimens. The predicted response agrees well with the measured behavior for undrained triaxial compression tests on not only isotropically but also anisotroically but also anisotropically consolidated specimens. The initial volumetric strain is, however, predicted to be less than the measured value from drained triaxial compression tests, while the predicted volumetric strain close to failure is greater than the measured value. Nevertheless, it may be stated generally that overall acceptable predictions are produced. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that the applicability of the model on prediction of the behavior of normally consolidated clay is achieved sufficiently.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.15-21
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• 2003

A series of triaxial compression tests were performed on samples of compacted granite soil in a modified triaxial cell that allowed separate control of pore air pressure ($U_a$) and pore water pressure ($U_w$) in order to examine the characteristics of pore pressure, volume change and stress-strain behavior during undrained loading conditions. Triaxial samples of unsaturated and saturated compacted granite soil, 50mm in diameter and 100mm in height, were prepared by compaction in a mould. These samples were tested at 3 different suction values (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 kgf/cm$^2$) for unsaturated compacted granite soil and at 3 different confining stresses (1.0, 2.0, 4.0 kgf/cm$^2$). Results showed that only effective cohesion increased with little variation of friction angle, according to matric suction.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.107-113
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• 1990

A series of cubical triaxial tests with independent control of the three principal stresses were performed on a compressible sand. All specimens which were formed by depositing the fine sand loosely, were used. It was found that slope of the stress-strain curve increased with increased b value, and the major principal strain at failure first remains approximetely constant for b values smaller than about 0.3 for drained condition and 0.6 for undrained condition respectively, and thereafter decreases with increasing value of b. The test results showed that the direction of the strain increments at failure form acute angles with the failure surfaces for both the drained and undrained condition. The results are thus not in agreement with the normality criterion from classic plasticity theory. However, it was found that the projections of the plastic strain increment vectors on the octahedral plane are perpendicular to the faiure surface in that plane.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.23-36
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• 1992

The flat dilatometer(DMT) has been practically used as an in-situ test equipment. It is a simple, rapid and cost-effective tool to characterize the in-situ stress-strain-strength properties of various types of ground materials. However, the results of flat DMT should be validated with considerable data with respect to the known reference values for a specific site. In this study, the applicability of existing relationships which were established for other local deposits is verified by performing the tests in several clay deposits. To compare with the DMT results, field vane tests and cone penetration tests were also carried out in the same field as reference tests, and unconsolidated undrained tests, oedometer tests, and other fundamental material properties tests were conducted on the thin-walled tube samples in the laboratory. The results of the flat DMT combined with empirical correlations are used to estimate soil types, unit weights, coefficients of lateral earth pressure at rest, overconsolidation ratios, constrained moduli and undrained shear strengths of three clay local deposits. It was found that various geotechnical properties estimated from the flat DMT generally well agree with those from the reference tests.