• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2013

Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function is one of key parameters to solve the flow phenomena in problems of landslide. Prediction models for hydraulic conductivity function related to soil-water retention curve equations in many geotechnical applications have been still used instead of direct measurement of the hydraulic conductivity function since prediction models from soil-water retention curve equations are attractive for their fast and easy use and low cost. However, many researchers found that prediction models for the hydraulic conductivity function can not predict the hydraulic conductivity exactly in comparison with experimental outputs. This research introduced an inverse analysis to evaluate the hydraulic conductivity function corresponding to experimental output from the flow pump system. Optimisation process was carried out to obtain the hydraulic conductivity function. This research showed that the inverse analysis with flow pump system was suitable to assess the hydraulic conductivity in unsaturated soil, and the prediction models for the hydraulic conductivity were led to the significant discrepancy from actual experimental outputs.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.243-259
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• 2016

The Richards equation for water movement in unsaturated soil is highly nonlinear partial differential equations which are not solvable analytically unless unrealistic and oversimplifying assumptions are made regarding the attributes, dynamics, and properties of the physical systems. Therefore, conventionally, numerical solutions are the only feasible procedures to model flow in partially saturated porous media. The standard Finite element numerical technique is usually coupled with an Euler time discretizations scheme. Except for the fully explicit forward method, any other Euler time-marching algorithm generates nonlinear algebraic equations which should be solved using iterative procedures such as Newton and Picard iterations. In this study, lumped mass and distributed mass in the frame of Picard and Newton iterative techniques were evaluated to determine the most efficient method to solve the Richards equation with finite element model. The accuracy and computational efficiency of the scheme and of the Picard and Newton models are assessed for three test problems simulating one-dimensional flow processes in unsaturated porous media. Results demonstrated that, the conventional mass distributed finite element method suffers from numerical oscillations at the wetting front, especially for very dry initial conditions. Even though small mesh sizes are applied for all the test problems, it is shown that the traditional mass-distributed scheme can still generate an incorrect response due to the highly nonlinear properties of water flow in unsaturated soil and cause numerical oscillation. On the other hand, non oscillatory solutions are obtained and non-physics solutions for these problems are evaded by using the mass-lumped finite element method.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.6
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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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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2022

Many geotechnical analyses require the investigation of water flow within partially saturated soil zone to incorporate the effect of climatic conditions. It is widely understood that the hydraulic properties of the partially saturated soil should be included in the transient seepage analyses. However, the characteristics of dual porosity soils with dual-mode water retention curve are normally modelled using single-mode mathematical equation for simplification of the analysis. In reality, the rainwater flow can be affected significantly by the dual-mode hydraulic properties of the soil. This paper presents the variations of safety factor for dual porosity soil slope with dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability. This paper includes the development of the new dual-mode unsaturated permeability to represent the characteristics of soil with the dual-mode water retention curve. The finite element analyses were conducted to examine the role of dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability on the variations of safety factor under rainfall loading. The results indicate that the safety factor variations of dual porosity soil slope modelled using the dual-mode water retention curve and the unsaturated permeability equation are lower than those of dual porosity slope modelled using single-mode water retention curve and unsaturated permeability equations.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.87-99
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• 1992

A mathematical model, UNSATR which predicts the seepage flow through the body of dike especially under the tidal fluctuation has been developed. This model has been revised from UNSAT2 model which was developed on the basis of the saturated-unsaturated theory by Neuman. UNSATR has been verified and applied to the hydraulic model in order to estimated the seepage quantity, the formation of free water surface etc. The results lead to the following conclusions : 1. Seepage rates between the mathematical model and hydraulic model experiment are very similar to each other both in constant and transient water level conditions. 2. The lapsed time to be steady state of the free water surface becomes late as the tidal levels are relatively low mainly due to the seepage flow from the unsaturated zone of the body of dike. 3. Under the transient state of water levels, owing to the flow from the unsaturated domain, streamlines crossing to the free water surface are found and time lag during a falling tide may allow the free water surface inside the body of dike to stand at a high level than the outside water level. 4. The utility and validity of UNSATR model are convinced when the analyses on seepage problems through the porous embankment of the soil structures on the conditions of the steady and unsteady states are carried out.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2004.03b
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• pp.873-881
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• 2004

A serious of EK remediation tests on contaminated soil are performed under unsaturated conditions and analyzed for electrical potential, water content, pH and so on. The results indicated that electrical potential and pH distributions in the sample are dependent on the amount and inward/outward flow of hydrogen ion. Specially, for the closed system the water content is largely decreased with the flow of hydrogen. The maximum electrical conductivity is measured at the catholyte of CEM(Sealing) test and directly related to the remedial efficiency. Although pHs in the region near to the anode are similarly developed, the different concentration of lead is measured with the electrical gradient contrary to the lead concentration dependent on pH within the sample.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.562-567
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• 2010

A One-Dimensional Water Flow and Contaminant Transport in Unsaturated Zone (FTUNS) code has been developed in order to interpret radionuclide migration in an unsaturated zone. The pore-size distribution index (n) and the inverse of the air-entry value ($\alpha$) for an unsaturated zone were measured by KS M ISO 11275 method. The hydraulic parameters of the unsaturated soil are investigated by using soil from around a nuclear facility in Korea. The effect of hydraulic parameters on radionuclide migration in an unsaturated zone has been analyzed. The higher the value of the n-factor, the more the cobalt concentration was condensed. The larger the value of $\alpha$-factor, the faster the migration of cobalt was and the more aggregative the cobalt concentration was. Also, it was found that an effect on contaminant migration due to the pore-size distribution index (n) and the inverse of the air-entry value ($\alpha$) was minute. Meanwhile, migrations of cobalt and cesium are in inverse proportion to the Freundich isotherm coefficient. That is to say, the migration velocity of cobalt was about 8.35 times that of cesium. It was conclusively demonstrated that the Freundich isotherm coefficient was the most important factor for contaminant migration.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.423-433
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• 2018

A three-dimensional model is constructed to simulate water infiltration in an unsaturated slope from a leaking pipe. Adaptive mesh refinement and time stepping are used, assisted by an automatic procedure for progressive steepening of the hydraulic property function for better convergence. The model is justified by comparing the simulated results with experimental data. Steady-state flow is investigated considering various pipe water pressures, locations and sizes of the opening, and soil layering. The opening size significantly affects the soaked zone around the pipe. Preferential flow dominates along the pipe longitudinal direction in the presence of a loose backfill around the pipe.

• Water for future
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.109-117
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• 1991

The governing equation of flow in porous media is developed on the bases of the continuity equation of fluid for transient flow through a saturated-unsaturated zone, and substitution of Darcy's law. The numerical solutions are obtained by finite element method based on the Galerkin principles weighted residuals. The analysis are carried out by using the unsteady storm data observed and rainfall intensities which are obtained by using the rainfall excess model in considering of the initial losses. The functional relationships between the hydraulic conductivity, capillary pressure head and volumetric water content are applied to the flow of water through unsaturated soil varied with changes of water content.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.63-86
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• 2022

A refined projection-based purely Lagrangian meshfree method is presented towards reliable numerical analysis of fluid flow interactions with saturated/unsaturated porous media of uniform/spatially-varying porosities. The governing equations are reformulated on the basis of two-phase mixture theory with incorporation of volume fraction. These principal equations of mixture are discretized in the context of Incompressible SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics) method. Associated with the consideration of governing equations of mixture, a new term arises in the source term of PPE (Poisson Pressure Equation), resulting in modified source term. The linear and nonlinear force terms are included in momentum equation to represent the resistance from porous media. Volume increase of fluid particles are taken into consideration on account of the presence of porous media, and hence multi-resolution ISPH framework is also incorporated. The stability and accuracy of the proposed method are thoroughly examined by reproducing several numerical examples including the interactions between fluid flow and saturated/unsaturated porous media of uniform/spatially-varying porosities. The method shows continuous pressure field, smooth variations of particle volumes and regular distributions of particles at the interface between fluid and porous media.