• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.03a
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• pp.966-972
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• 2009

Soil-aggregate system in pavement foundations exist in unsaturated conditions. However, change in water content on foundation layers due to joint and structural cracks during rainfall may cause problems like layer deformations or partial settlements. Therefore, a need exist to evaluate the infiltration and drainage capacity of soil-aggregate foundation system under both saturated and unsaturated conditions. To do that, a laboratory soil-water characteristic curve and permeability under unsaturated conditions are assessed to establish hydraulic properties of geomaterials and limited numerical analysis are performed respectively. As a result, it was found that suction profiles and drainage process was greatly influenced by the initial suction of soil-aggregate system at the time of infiltration, soil water characteristics curves, and hysteresis effects.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.599-606
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• 2010

It has been reported that many slope failures in unsaturated soils are mainly caused by downward infiltration due to rainfall. The rainfall characteristics could be an important factor, and more predictable slope failures can be achieved by considering more reasonable rainfall conditions. So, a need exists that these trends of infiltration in weathered soils, which is commonly found in Korea, are assessed by considering rainfall conditions based on phenomenological approach. In this paper, numerical analyses of unsaturated soil slope under rainfall conditions are presented based on the soil-water characteristic curve in the laboratory and huff method. Then the performance of unsaturated weathered soil slopes was evaluated under various conditions after applying the effect of overburden pressure on SWCCs and fines contents. The results demonstrated that the rainfall conditions using Huff method can be very effective and the proper application on analysis is very important to enhance the prediction on unsaturated slope stability.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.377-384
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• 2000

The characteristics and prediction model of the shear strength for unsaturated residual soils was studied. In order to investigate the influence of the initial water content on the shear strength, unsaturated triaxial tests were carried out varying the initial water content, and the applicability of existing prediction models for the unsaturated shear strength was testified. It was shown that the soil - water characteristic curve and the shear strength of the unsaturated soil varied with the change of the initial water content. A sample compacted in the lower initial water content needs a higher suction to get the same degree of saturation while the shear strength of a sample with the lower initial water content displays a lower value. In order to apply the existing prediction models of the unsaturated shear strength to granite residual soils, a correction coefficient, α, on the internal friction angle, ø'was added.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.27-33
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• 2011

Infiltration plays an important role in the urban water cycle. Infiltration has a potential to contribute to groundwater recharge in addition to runoff reduction. However, infiltration in urban areas has been considered only as a means of runoff reduction. Conventional design methods for infiltration facilities assume soils to be fully-saturated for the sake of simplicity. The amount of groundwater recharge can not be estimated properly with this scheme. Hence, the characteristics of the unsaturated soil condition need to be considered. The finite element model using SEEP/W to estimate infiltration under the unsaturated condition is presented. Infiltration tests for Joomonjin sand are performed and the infiltration behavior of Joomoonjin sand under the unsaturated condition is measured experimentally to verify the validity of the finite element model. The results from comparing infiltrated volume between the saturated and the unsaturated conditions under the same soil and rainfall conditions show that the infiltrated volume in the unsaturated condition is two times bigger than that in the saturated condition.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.419-429
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• 2020

To investigate the effect of spatial variability on hydraulic properties of unsaturated soils, a numerical model is set up which can simulate seepage process in an unsaturated heterogeneous soil. The unsaturated heterogeneous soil is composed of matrix sand embedded with a small proportion of clay for simulating the heterogeneity. Soil-water characteristic curve and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve of the unsaturated soil are expressed by Van Genuchten model. Hydraulic parameters of the matrix sand are considered as random fields. Different autocorrelation lengths (ACLs) of hydraulic parameter of the matrix sand and different proportions of clay are assumed to investigate the influence of spatial variability on the equivalent hydraulic properties of the heterogeneous soil. Four model sizes are used in the numerical experiments to investigate the influence of scale effects and to determine the sizes of representative volume element (RVE) in the numerical simulations. Through a number of Monte Carlo simulations of unsaturated seepage analysis, the means and the coefficients of variations (COVs) of the equivalent hydraulic parameters of the heterogeneous soil are calculated. Simulations show that the ACL and model size has little influence on the means of the equivalent hydraulic parameters, but they have a large influence on the COVs of the equivalent hydraulic parameters. The size of an RVE is mainly affected by the ACL and the proportion of heterogeneity. The influence of spatial variability on the hydraulic parameters of the heterogeneous unsaturated soil can be used as a guidance for geotechnical reliability analysis and design related to unsaturated soils.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.57-64
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• 2007

Since matric suction of unsaturated soil was related to soil and ground water contaminations, it is very important to analyze its mechanism that was represented by shear characteristics. In three phases of soil, a little air makes the condition of unsaturated soil on contract or shrinkage surface between water and air. Capillarity and suction in pore of unsaturated soil cause surface tension and surface force so it makes negative pore water pressure and increases effective stress as a result. Therefore, negative pore water pressure in partially saturated soil affects the soil structure and degree of saturation and it is important to evaluate accurately unsaturate flow and behavior. In this study, the shear strength characteristics of the seven sandy soils were investigated using consolidated drained triaxial tests with special emphasis on the effects of the negative pore pressure and the matric suction. These tests involved shearing under either a constant net confining pressure and varying matric suction or under a constant matric suction and varying net normal stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2002.03a
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• pp.139-146
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• 2002

The characteristics and prediction model for the shear strength of unsaturated residual soils was studied. In order to investigate the influence of the net normal stress on the shear strength, unsaturated triaxial tests and SWCC tests were carried out varying the net normal stress, and the experimental data for unsaturated shear strength tests were compared with predicted shear strength envelopes using existing prediction models. It was shown that the soil - water characteristic curve and the shear strength of the unsaturated soil varied with the change of the net normal stress. Therefore, to achieve a truly descriptive shear strength envelope for unsaturated soils, tile effect of the normal stress on the contribution of matric suction to the shear strength has to be taken into consideration. In this paper, a modified prediction model for the unsaturated shear strength was proposed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2007.09a
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• pp.502-513
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• 2007

This paper describes the rainfall-induced slope failures caused by infiltration due to prolonged rainfall. The emphasis was on quantifying the effect of fine-grained contents which are influencing on the infiltration rate in the wetting front of initially unsaturated slopes during rainfall. Suction tests by tensiometer were performed for five mixture specimens with varying fine-grained contents and then, numerical analyses for the stability of unsaturated slopes are carried out for different relative densities and mixture portions based on the soil water characteristic curves obtained by GCTS pressure plate. It is shown that the fines are highly influenced on wetting front suction of unsaturated soil slopes. Based on the results, it is found that until 15% fine content is the limit showing different wetting front suction, beyond which the wetting band depth do not affect considerably the stability of unsaturated slopes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.82-90
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• 2007

In order to analyse the strength problems for an unsaturated soil, it is required to examine closely the characteristics of the parameters of shear strength which was changed with the metric suction and void ratio. To this ends, a triaxial compression test was conducted on the three samples-granular soil, cohesive soil and silty soil. The specimen was made by pressing the static pressure on the mold filled soil and was controled the void ratio with the different compaction ratio. And the test was performed by using the modified apparatus of the triaxial compression tester. The range of matric suction was 0-90 kPa.The measured results for the deviator stress and parameters of shear strength were analysed with the void ratio and the compaction ratio, and they were examined closely the characteristics of the strength for an unsaturated soil.