• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.373-382
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• 2022

Unsaturated soil at high suctions is widespread. Many civil engineering projects are related to the hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils at high suctions, particularly in arid and semiarid areas. To investigate water retention behaviors of nine clayey soils (one is classified as fat clay and the others are classified as lean clay according to the unified soil classification system), the high suction (3.29-286.7 MPa) was imposed on the specimens at zero net stress by the vapor equilibrium technique. In this paper, the effect of void ratio on the water retention behavior at high suction was discussed in detail. Validation data showed that soil types, i.e., different mineralogical compositions, are critical in the soil water retention behavior at a high suction range. Second, the hysteresis behavior at a high suction range is mainly related to the clay content and the specific surface area. And the mechanism of water retention and hysteresis behavior at high suctions was discussed. Moreover, the maximum suction is not a unique value, and it is crucial to determine the maximum suction value accurately, especially for the shear strength prediction at high suctions. If the soil consists of hydrophilic minerals such as montmorillonite and illite, the maximum suction will be lower than 10⁶ kPa. Finally, using the area of hysteresis to quantify the degree of hysteresis at a high suction range is proposed. There was a good correlation between the area of hydraulic hysteresis and the specific surface area.

• 한국지하수토양환경학회지:지하수토양환경
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.53-63
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• 2010

Pneumatic fracturing is an emerging tool to enhance the remediation efficiency of contaminated unsaturated zones by injecting high pressure air and inducing artificial fracture networks. Pneumatic fracturing is reported to be well suited for the cases where the contaminated unsaturated zone thickness is less than 5 m as many contaminated domestic sites in Korea. Nevertheless, there have been almost no studies carried out on the site-specific efficiency and the optimized design of pneumatic fracturing considering the unsaturated zone characteristics of Korea. In this study, we employ numerical simulations to compare the efficiency of pneumatic fracturing on the aspect of the site remediation and the porosity improvement at several hypothetic unsaturated zones composed of four typical soil types. According to the simulation results, it is found that the zone with fine grains soil such as clay and silt shows better efficiency than the zone composed of coarse grains in terms of air flow and porosity enhancements. The results imply that pneumatic fracturing may improve the efficiency of site reclamation by jointly or independently applied to the many contaminated sites in Korea.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.109-122
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• 2024

Standard triaxial cells are commonly used to measure the mechanical behavior of saturated soils. However, this type of standard system is difficult to use for unsaturated soil specimens since it cannot measure the changes in the pore-air volume and pressure. This paper proposes to extend the measurement possibilities of the standard triaxial testing device in a simple way and to adapt it to partially saturated soils. The system is supplied by two hygrometers installed at each end of the cylindrical unsaturated specimen to measure local relative humidity, which allows the derivation of suction. The volumetric strain of the specimen is calculated by analyzing digital photos captured from the outside of the transparent cell wall. Specimens made of kaolin clay, having different hydraulic properties, were tested to verify the reliability of the measurements, and thus, the relevance of the proposed techniques to study the mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils.

• 한국지반공학회지:지반
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.43-54
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• 1995

실트질 모래를 재료로 삼축압축시험기를 개조하고, 삼축셀에 고압공기투과판을 부착하여 축변환기법에 의해 흡인력과 순평균응력을 조절하면서 등력압축시험과 전단시험을 행하여, 불포화 상태에 따른 토질정수의 변화를 규명하였으며, 함수상태의 변화에 따라 응력, 체적변화 등의 거동특성을 검토하였다. 실험의 결과에서 규명된 불포화토의 특성을 바탕으로, 불포화토의 응력성분을 고려하고, 수정 Cam -Clay 모델을 경계조건으로 하는 불포화토의 거동예측을 위한 구성식을 개발하고, 실트질 모래에 대한 실내실험의 자료로부터 구한 관측치와 예측치를 비교하여 이의 타당성을 검증하였다.

• 한국농공학회지
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• 제40권5호
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• pp.37-42
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• 1998

This study was performed to evaluate the characteristics of volume change is unsaturated clayed soil. The medium-plastic clay was selected and compacted by 50% of Proctor standard compaction energy at 6% higher moisture content than its OMC. A series of isotropic compression tests and triaxial shear tests were performed. The results of the study are summarized as follows. At each matric suction, when the matric suction was increased, the yield stress was increased and slope of volume change was decreased. The more net mean stress was, the less the quantity of volume change was. In shear test, the volumetric strain was much rapidly changed in large matric than in low matric suctions. But the effect of matric suction to volume change disappeared under high net mean stress. At lower deviator stress the more matric suction was, the higher volume change was. But As the matric suction was increasing, the behavior of the unsaturated clayey soil was similar to that of saturated clayey soil. Volume change in the unsaturated clayey soil can be represented as a unique plane in three-dimensional space, which is the axes of net mean stress, matric suction and void ratio.

• 한국지반공학회지:지반
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.191-204
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• 1998

플라이 애쉬의 폐기물 매립장 대용 차수재로서의 적용성을 평가하기 위하여 실내 실험과 모델 연구를 실시하였다. 실제의 매립장 차수층이 불포화 상태일 수 있는 점을 고려하여, 대용 차수재와 기존의 점토 차수재에서의 포화 및 불포화 상태에서의 물 흐름 특성을 비교하였다. 차수층에서의 오염물 이동 특성을 연구하기 위하여 오염물을 이용한 회분실험을 실시하였으며, 이때 폐놀을 대표 오염물질로 사용하였다. 모델은 물질 수지에 기초하였으며, 유한 차분법과 predictor-corrector법을 이용한 수치 해법으로 풀었고, 연립 미분방정식을 다루는테는 sequential method를 이용했다. 연구 결과 대용 차수재는 기존 차수재보다 폐놀 차단 능력이 더 크고 또 불포화대에서의 차수능력도 더 크다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 또한, 본 연구에서 고려된 흐름조건에서는 차수층을 포화대로 해석할 경우 통과하는 물의 양이 약간 과소평가되고 폐놀 차단 능력은 매우 과소평가됨을 알 수 있었다.

• 터널과지하공간
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.38-51
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• 2019

Barcelona Basic Model(BBM)은 응력의 변화에 따른 부피변화뿐만 아니라 흡입력의 변화에 따른 팽윤거동을 설명할 수 있으며, 흡입력 변화에 따른 점착력과 선행압밀응력의 변화와 온도변화에 따른 선행압밀응력의 변화를 고려할 수 있다. 따라서, 고준위방사성폐기물 처분시스템에서 공학적방벽재로 고려되고 있는 벤토나이트 완충재의 열-수리-역학적 복합거동을 예측 및 분석하는 것에 많이 활용되고 있다. 그러나 우리나라의 암반 및 지반 공학자들에게 잘 알려져 있지 않기 때문에 BBM을 소개하고자 한다. BBM은 불포화 토질의 역학적 거동을 모사하기 위해 Modified Cam Clay(MCC) 모델을 확장하여 만들어 졌기 때문에 본 고에서는 먼저 MCC 모델을 간략하게 소개하고, 열-탄소성 모델인 BBM을 상세히 소개하였다.

• 한국지반공학회논문집
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• 제27권11호
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• pp.55-69
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• 2011

다양한 지반공학적 문제들에서 불포화 상태의 중요성이 강조되면서, 불포화 지반의 열-수리-역학적 현상들에 대한 거동특성을 모사하기 위한 역학적 구성모델 개발이 진행되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 Bishop의 유효응력 정의에 근거한 불포화 지반의 역학적 탄소성 구성모델을 제시하였다. 유효응력에 근거한 구성관계는 유효응력과 온도를 주 변수로 증분 형식으로 표현되었으며, 이를 이용하여 응력 갱신과 강성 텐서를 산정하였다. 개발된 구성모델을 이용하여 THM 현상을 포함하는 불포화토의 1차원 거동, 불포화토의 삼축 압축시험, 그리고 고준위 방사성폐기물 시설의 완충재의 거동 특성에 관한 예제 해석을 수행하여 해의 안정성과 구성모델의 적용성에 대하여 논의하였다. 수치해석결과는 개발된 역학적 구성모델이 THM 현상의 매우 복잡한 거동을 효과적으로 모사할 수 있었으며, 일반적인 불포화토의 거동 해석뿐만 아니라 다양한 환경 조건하에서의 THM 거동 해석에 적용이 가능할 것으로 판단된다.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.131-151
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• 2011

The electrical conductivity of a soil-water system is related to its engineering properties. By measuring the soil electrical conductivity, one may obtain quantitative, semi-quantitative, or qualitative information to estimate the in-situ soil behavior for site characterization. This paper presents the results of electrical conductivity measured on compacted kaolin clay samples using a circular two-electrode cell in conjunction with a specially designed compaction apparatus, which has the advantage of reducing errors due to sample handling and increasing measurement accuracy. The experimental results are analyzed to observe the effects of various parameters on soil electrical conductivity, i.e. porosity, unit weight, water content and pore water salinity. The performance of existing analytical models for predicting the electrical conductivity of saturated and unsaturated soils is evaluated by calculating empirical constants in these models. It is found that the Rhoades model gives the best fit for the kaolin clay investigated. Two general relationships between the formation factor and soil porosity are established based on the experimental data reported in the literature and measured from this study for saturated soils, which may provide insight for understanding electrical conduction characteristics of soils over a wide range of porosity.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제8권5호
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• pp.687-706
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• 2015

Methods commonly used to evaluate the improvement of lime-treated expansive soil include swelling characteristics and unconfined compressive strength. In the field, lime-treated expansive soils are in compacted unsaturated state. Soil water characteristic curves (SWCCs) represent a key parameter to interpret and describe the behavior of unsaturated expansive soil. This paper investigates the use of SWCC as a technique to evaluate improvements acquired by expansive soil after lime treatment. Three different lime contents were considered 2%, 4% and 6% by dry weight of clay. Series of tests were performed to determine the SWCC for the different lime content under curing periods of 7 and 28 day. Correlations between key features of the soil water characteristic curves of lime treated expansive soils and basic engineering behavior such as swelling characteristics and unconfined compression strength were established. Test results revealed that initial slope ($S_1$), saturated water content ($w_{sat}$), and air entry value (AEV) play an important role in reflecting improvement in engineering behavior achieved by lime treatment.