• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.53-62
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• 2023

The characteristics of unfrozen water content in frozen soils significantly impact the thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical behavior of the ground. A thorough analysis of the unfrozen water content characteristics of the target subsoil material is crucial for evaluating the stability of frozen ground. This study conducted indoor experiments to measure the freezing point and unfrozen water content of sandy soil while considering pore water salinity. Utilizing the experimental data, we introduced a novel empirical model to conveniently estimate the unfrozen water retention curve. Furthermore, the validity of the unfrozen water retention curve was assessed by comparing the experimental data with the results of a simulation model that utilized the proposed empirical model as input data.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.75-87
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• 2021

Because the hydraulic/mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soil is more complicated than that of saturated soil, one of the most important issues in modelling unsaturated soil is to properly couple its stress-strain relationship with its water retention characteristics. Based on the results of a series of tests, the stress-strain relationship and the changes in suction and saturation of unsaturated completely decomposed granite (CDG, also called Masado) vary substantially under different loading/hydraulic conditions. To precisely model the hydraulic/mechanical behaviour of unsaturated Masado, in this study, the superloading concept was firstly introduced into an existing saturated/unsaturated constitutive model to consider the structural influences. Then a water retention curve (WRC) model considering the volumetric change in the soil, in which the skeleton and scanning curves of the water retention characteristics were assumed to shift in parallel in accordance with the change in the void ratio, was proposed. The proposed WRC model was incorporated into the constitutive model, and the validity of the newly proposed model was verified using the results of tests conducted on unsaturated Masado, including water retention, oedometer and triaxial tests. The accuracy of the proposed model in describing the stress-strain relationship and the variations in suction and saturation of unsaturated Masado is satisfactory.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.103-114
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• 2002

Knowledge of soil water retention characteristic is essential for many problems involving water flow and organic solute transport in unsaturated soils. A physico-empirical approach based on the translation of the particle-size distribution (PSD) into a corresponding water retention curve has been accomplished by others using the concept that the pore-size distribution is directly related to PSD. This approach implies that details of a PSD curve may affect the estimation of water retention characteristic (WRC). To determine whether the WRC estimation using the Arya-Paris model could be affected by the selection of a PSD model, four PSD models with one to four fitting parameters were used. The Jaky model with only one fitting parameter had greater WRC estimation ability than other models with greater number of fitting parameters. The better performance of the Jaky model may be explained by the effect of soil structure in field soils.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.216-219
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• 2006

Water retention curve (WRC), one of soil hydraulic properties, is often approximated by property-transfer models (PTMs). Using the PTMs, we can estimate the WRCs from other physical properties such as particle-size distribution (PSD). The objective of this work was to investigate the performance of two PTMs with different origins for numerical simulations on transport of Benzo[a]pyrene in a soil. To do this, we chose both PTMs with different origins, i.e., (1) the lognormal distribution model (L anti NL models), and (2) the modified $Kov\'{a}cs$ model (MK model). The MK model showed tile worse performance in estimation of the WRCs. When transport of B[a]P was simulated, the MK model predicted to move farther than the L and NL models did, indicating that transport of B[a]P in a soil can be greatly influenced by the choice of PTMs.

• Water for future
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.215-222
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• 1995

The water retention function which has the hysteresis phenomena is required to analyze the Richards equation which is a governing equation of the unsaturated flow, and its hysteresis phenomena has influence upon the characteristics of the unsaturated flow. The accuracy of the published hysteresis models is compared by using experimental data of the water retention function. The apparatus to experiment the hysteresis phenomena on the soil is developed, and experimental data for the main wetting process and the main drying process of the water retention function are obtained. The parameters of the van Genuchten equation are calibrated by using experimentally obtained data. As a result of the comparison of the selected hysteresis models which simulate the main drying curve from the main wetting curve, the Model I-1(Mualem) overestimates and the Model II-1(Mualem) underestimates but the Model III-2(Park and Sonu) similarly estimates the experimental data of the main drying curve.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2005.05b
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• pp.215-219
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• 2005

A macro spreadsheet model, WEANES (Wet Pond Annual Efficiency Simulation Model), has been developed to predict the long-term or annual removal efficiencies of wet retention/detention basins. The model uses historical, site-specific, multi-year, rainfall data, usually available from a nearby National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) climatological station to estimate basin efficiencies which are calculated based on annual mass loads. Other required input parameters are: 1) watershed parameters; drainage area, pervious curve number, directly connected impervious area, and ti me of concentration, 2) pond parameters; control and overflow elevations, pond side slopes, surface areas at control elevation and pond bottom; 3) outlet structure parameters; 4) pollutant event mean concentrations; and 5) pond loss rate which is defined as the net loss due to evaporation, infiltration and water reuse. The model offers default options for parameters such as pollutant event mean concentrations and pond loss rate. The model can serve as a design, planning, and permitting tool for consulting engineers, planners and government regulators.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.823-827
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• 2010

This study was conducted to assess the propriety of models for soil water characteristics estimation in anthropogenic soil through the measurement of soil water content and soil water matric potential. Soil profile was characterized with four different soil layers. Soil texture was loamy sand for the first soil layer (from soil surface to 30 cm soil depth), sand for the second (30~70 cm soil depth) and the third soil layers (70~120 cm soil depth), and sandy loam for the fourth soil layer (120 cm < soil depth). Soil water retention curve (SWRC), the relation between soil water content and soil water matric potential, took a similar trend between different layers except the layer of below 120 cm soil depth. The estimation of SWRC and air entry value was better in van Genuchten model by analytical method than in Brooks-Corey model with power function. Therefore, it could be concluded that van Genuchten model is more desirable than Brook-Corey model for estimating soil water characteristics of anthropogenic soil accumulated with saprolite.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2021

Air-water interfacial area is of great importance for the analysis of contaminant mass transfer processes occurring in the soil systems. Capillary bundle model has been proposed to estimate the specific air-water interfacial areas in unsaturated soils. In this study, the measured air-water interfacial areas of a soil (loam) using the gaseous interfacial tracer technique were compared to those from capillary bundle model. The measured values converged to the specific solid surface area (7.6×104 ㎠/㎤) of the soil. However, the simulated air-water interfacial areas based on the capillary bundle model deviated significantly from those measured. The simulated values were substantially over-estimated at low end of the water content range, whereas the model under-estimated the air-water interfacial area for the most of the water content range. This under-estimation is considered to be caused by the nature of the capillary bundle model that replaces the soil pores with a bundle of glass capillaries and thus no surface roughness at the inner surface of the capillaries is taken into account for the estimation of the air-water interfacial area with the capillary bundle model. Subsequently, appropriate correction is necessary for the capillary bundle model to estimate the air-water interfacial area in soils. Since the soil-moisture release curve data is the basis of the capillary bundle model, the model can be of use due to its simplicity, while the gaseous tracer technique requires complicated experimental equipment followed by moment analysis of the breakthrough curves. The size distribution profile of the pores filled with gas estimated by the water retention curve was found to be similar to that of particle size at different size range. The shifted distribution of gas-filled pores toward smaller size side compared to the particle size distribution was also found.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.83-93
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• 2006

In unsaturated porous media, the air-water interface (AWI) plays an important role in removing of biocolloids such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoan (oo)cysts. In this study, four models related to calculation of specific AWI area are analyzed to determine the appropriate model, and the selected models are verified using the previously reported experimental data. The results indicate that the modified model from Niemet et al. (2002) is the most appropriate tool for calculating the specific AWI area using the van Genuchten (1980) parameters obtained from the water retention curve. Hence, it is expected that this model could be used to quantitatively determine the attachment of biocolloids to AWI in the transport modeling of biocolloids in unsaturated porous media.