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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 22419

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jongmuk Won

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Republic of Korea
Interests: geotechnical engineering; slope stability; soil mechanics; geoenvironmental engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

While the application of geotechnical research is practical in nature, the improvement of fundamental knowledge of geotechnical engineering and its potential risk or impact when implemented in field applications are key aspects of sustainability in geotechnical engineering. The development of laboratory/field experiments and numerical techniques will improve the sustainable design of geotechnical and geoenvironmental infrastructure. Furthermore, efforts to ensure sustainability in geotechnical engineering should include consideration of reliability and resilience aspects because of the stochastic nature of geomaterials with high uncertainty. Quantifying the uncertainty of geotechnical properties or failure would enable reliability-based geotechnical design.

The Special Issue aims to bring together recent advances in all aspects of geotechnical engineering (e.g., recent progress in laboratory experiments, reliability in geotechnical engineering, advances in numerical methods, etc.) that will potentially contribute to sustainable geotechnical design. In addition to topics related to engineered systems, topics related to environmental and economic issues in geotechnical engineering are also welcome. Relevant topics in this Special Issue could include:

Sustainable technologies in geotechnical engineering
Geomaterial characterization for sustainability
Bio-mediated and bio-inspired geotechnics
Environmentally-friendly ground improvement techniques
Reliability analysis in geotechnical engineering
Geotechnical cost-effective solutions
Other recent progress in fundamental knowledge of geotechnical engineering

Dr. Jongmuk Won
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Geotechnical engineering
Numerical analysis
Reliability
Cost-effective
Geomaterial characterization
Biogeotechnical engineering
sustainable geotechnical design
uncertainty quantification

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

16 pages, 8003 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Methodology for Identification of the Key Levee Parameters for Limit-State Analyses Based on Sequential Bifurcation

by Nicola Rossi, Mario Bačić, Lovorka Librić and Meho Saša Kovačević

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 4754; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15064754 - 07 Mar 2023

Viewed by 847

Abstract

Levees are linear structures that are continuously reconstructed throughout the years and whose construction and behavior depends on local soil conditions, as well as requirements regarding impermeability and mechanical resistance. This results in various levee cross sections, even within the same levee. In situations of extreme water events, when timely actions are required, this variability poses a problem for decision-making based on observed behavior, which is highly dependent on the specific section parameters. Creating models for each problematic section becomes impractical, and because of that, in this study, 91 different cross sections from 16 levees are considered to identify the key levee parameters with the largest effects on three observed mechanisms: deformations, exit hydraulic gradients, and factors of safety. The implemented factor screening methodology is based on the sequential bifurcation method (SB) and numerical analyses. The SB method successively investigates groups of factors and uses their cumulative effects to identify the important groups and to discard the unimportant based on a previously selected parameter

Δ

, until the groups are reduced to single factors that may be deemed important. It is found that approximately 30% of all the factors used to describe the most complex sections are considered important by at least one of the investigated mechanisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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14 pages, 2497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Application of Wool-Banana Bio-Composite Waste Material in Geotechnical Engineering for Enhancement of Elastoplastic Strain and Resilience of Subgrade Expansive Clays

by Wajeeha Qamar, Ammad Hassan Khan, Zia ur Rehman and Zubair Masoud

Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13215; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013215 - 14 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1535

Abstract

Agro-biogenic stabilization of expansive subgrade soils is trending to achieve cost-effective and sustainable geotechnical design to resist distress and settlement during the application of heavy traffic loads. This research presents optimized remediation of expansive clay by addition of proportionate quantities of waste renewable wool-banana (WB) fiber composites for the enhancement of elastoplastic strain (Ԑ_EP), peak strength (S_p), resilient modulus (M_R) and California bearing ratio (CBR) of expansive clays. Remolded samples of stabilized and nontreated clay prepared at maximum dry density (γ_dmax) and optimum moisture content (OMC) were subjected to a series of swell potential, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), resilient modulus (M_R) and CBR tests to evaluate swell potential, Ԑ_EP, M_R, and CBR parameters. The outcome of this study clearly demonstrates that the optimal WB fiber dosage (i.e., 0.6% wool and 1.2% banana fibers of dry weight of clay) lowers the free swell up to 58% and presents an enhancement of 3.5, 2.7, 3.0 and 4.5-times of Ԑ_EPT, S_p, M_R and CBR, respectively. Enhancement in Ԑ_EP is vital for the mitigation of excessive cracking in expansive clays for sustainable subgrades. The ratio of strain relating to the peak strength (Ԑ_PS) to the strain relating to the residual strength (Ԑ_RS), i.e., Ԑ_PS/Ԑ_RS = 2.99 which is highest among all fiber-clay blend depicting the highly ductile clay-fiber mixture. Cost-strength analysis reveals the optimized enhancement of Ԑ_EPT, S_p, M_R and CBR in comparison with cost using clay plus 0.6% wool plus 1.2% banana fibers blend which depicts the potential application of this research to economize the stabilization of subgrade clay to achieve green and biogeotechnical engineering goals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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14 pages, 6105 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predicting Frost Depth of Soils in South Korea Using Machine Learning Techniques

by Hyun-Jun Choi, Sewon Kim, YoungSeok Kim and Jongmuk Won

Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9767; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159767 - 08 Aug 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1824

Abstract

Predicting the frost depth of soils in pavement design is critical to the sustainability of the pavement because of its mechanical vulnerability to frozen-thawed soil. The reliable prediction of frost depth can be challenging due to the high uncertainty of frost depth and the unavailability of geotechnical properties needed to use the available empirical- and analytical-based equations in literature. Therefore, this study proposed a new framework to predict the frost depth of soil below the pavement using eight machine learning (ML) algorithms (five single ML algorithms and three ensemble learning algorithms) without geotechnical properties. Among eight ML models, the hyperparameter-tuned gradient boosting model showed the best performance with the coefficient of determination (R²) = 0.919. Furthermore, it was also shown that the developed ML model can be utilized in the prediction of several levels of frost depth and assessing the sensitivity of pavement-related predictors for predicting the frost depth of soils. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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16 pages, 6813 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Expanded Steel Pipe Pile to Enhance Bearing Capacity

by Junghoon Kim, Uiseok Kim, Byungchan Min, Hangseok Choi and Sangwoo Park

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 3077; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14053077 - 07 Mar 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2096

Abstract

An expanded steel pipe pile increases the cross-sectional area of conventional micropile by expanding the steel pipe to exhibit a higher bearing capacity owing to increased frictional resistance. However, construction cases of the expanded steel pipe pile are insufficient due to the absence of equipment for expanding steel pipes inside the ground. In this study, hydraulic expansion equipment was developed to verify the reinforcing impact on the bearing capacity and field applicability of the expanded steel pipe pile. A series of laboratory and test bed experiments was conducted to measure the expansion time and deformation of carbon steel pipes by using the developed equipment. The results of these experiments demonstrated that the developed equipment has sufficient ability and constructability to be used in the field for constructing expanded steel pipe piles. Then, field load tests were performed by constructing expanded and conventional steel pipe piles to confirm the improved bearing capacity of the expanded steel pipe pile compared to that of the conventional micropile. As a result, the expanded steel pipe pile exhibited a 20.88% increase in bearing capacity compared to that of the conventional steel pipe pile. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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27 pages, 32977 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction of Post-Yield Strain from Loading and Unloading Phases of Pressuremeter, Triaxial, and Consolidation Test Curves for Sustainable Embankment Design

by Ammad Hassan Khan, Zia ur Rehman, Wasim Abbass, Zubair Masoud, Abdeliazim Mustafa Mohamed, Dina Mohamed Fathi, Mubashir Aziz and Safeer Abbas

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2535; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052535 - 22 Feb 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1593

Abstract

Exponential development of post-yield strain (Ԑ_post) is a pivotal indicator of failure in embankments constructed on soft saturated clays. This paper characterizes saturated clay stratum comprising very soft to very stiff stratigraphy, with plasticity index (PI) ranging from 19% to 31%, by performing widely used geotechnical engineering tests, i.e., the prebored pressuremeter (PMT) test, the triaxial (TXL) test, and constant-rate-of-strain (CRS) consolidation. PMT, TXL, and CRS tests were performed at a strain rate range of 0.18%/min to 0.21%/min to explore the yield stress (σ′_y), the pre-yield strain (Ԑ_pre), and the post-yield strain (Ԑ_post). Results indicate that Ԑ_post/Ԑ_pre for PMT, TXL, and CRS stress–strain curves range from 2.7 to 19 in the loading phase and 2 to 21 in the unloading phase. An exponential increase in Ԑ_post/Ԑ_pre is observed in the range of 10 to 21 for very soft to soft clay which is congruent with the realistic sustainable range of 4 to 30 for embankment failure on soft clays worldwide. The evaluated Ԑ_post/Ԑ_pre can be applied for sustainable prediction of post-failure evolution of strains in embankments on soft clays. Simplistic correlations are developed for approximation and prediction of Ԑ_post as a function of σ′_y, Ԑ_pre and maximum applied pressure (P_max) for loading and unloading phases with reasonable accuracy. The intuitive zone of critical ℇ_post is quantified for impending failure in embankments for maximum applied pressure (P_max), ranging from 36 kPa to 100 kPa for very soft to soft clay for use in sustainable embankment design and construction. Variation in predicted versus measured results of an individual site is observed to be within ±10% of line of equality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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21 pages, 62918 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Clogging Risk Early Warning for Slurry Shield Tunneling in Mixed Mudstone–Gravel Ground: A Real-Time Self-Updating Machine Learning Approach

by Junli Zhai, Qiang Wang, Dongyang Yuan, Weikang Zhang, Haozheng Wang, Xiongyao Xie and Isam Shahrour

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1368; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031368 - 25 Jan 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2231

Abstract

Clogging constitutes a significant obstacle to shield tunneling in mudstone soils. Previous research has focused on investigating the influence of soils and slurry properties on clogging, although little attention has been paid to the impact of tunneling parameters on clogging, and particularly early clogging warning during tunneling. This paper contributes to developing a real-time clogging early-warning approach, based on a self-updating machine learning method. The clogging judgment criteria are based on the statistical characteristics of whole-ring tunneling parameters. The paper proposes the use of random forest (RF) for a real-time self-updating early warning strategy for clogging. The performance of this approach is illustrated through its application to a slurry-pressure-balanced shield tunneling construction of Nanning metro line 1. Results show that the RF-based approach can predict clogging during a ring construction with only four minutes of tunneling data, with an accuracy of 95%. The RF model provided the best performance compared with the other machine learning methods. Furthermore, the RF model can realize an accurate clogging prediction in one ring, using less tunneling data with the self-updating mechanism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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22 pages, 7027 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on Increase in Stability of Floating and Underground Extension Method through Slab Pre-Construction

by Uiseok Kim, Byungchan Min, Junghoon Kim, Hangseok Choi and Sangwoo Park

Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13696; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413696 - 11 Dec 2021

Viewed by 2149

Abstract

The development of underground spaces in urban areas plays a crucial role in the regeneration and sustainability of cities. However, the conventional underground excavation works in metropolises limit the use of the ground facilities owing to stability, noise, and vibration problems, which may cause huge economic damage. In this study, a method of pre-constructing slabs of underground facilities was analyzed to improve the stability of the floating and underground extension method, even during the use of the target building. First, a numerical simulation was conducted to compare the stability of the top-down method with slab pre-construction with that of the conventional top-down method. Then, the stability of the test bed was checked by applying this construction method to the field. As a result, the top-down method with slab pre-construction significantly improved the stability of the target building by preventing the buckling of the columns and supporting members. The increase in the displacement of existing columns and supporting members was controlled after the pre-construction of the slab. In addition, the crack width and ground settlement were stable within the management standards at the field. Thus, this construction method is expected to be crucial in pursuing urban regeneration and sustainability through the efficient development of underground spaces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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14 pages, 3964 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Particle Sizes, Mineralogy and Pore Fluid Chemistry on the Plasticity of Clayey Soils

by Jongmuk Won, Junghee Park, Junki Kim and Junbong Jang

Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 11741; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111741 - 24 Oct 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1908

Abstract

The current classification of clayey soils does not entail information of pore fluid chemistry and particle size less than 75 µm. However, the pore fluid chemistry and particle size (at given mineralogy) are critical in the plasticity of clayey soils because of their impact on negative charge density. Therefore, this study extensively discusses the description of clay with respect to mineralogy, particle sizes, and pore fluid chemistry based on liquid and plastic limits of kaolinite, illite, and bentonite, and estimates undrained shear strength from the observed liquid limits. The liquid limits and undrained shear strength estimated from the observed liquid limits as a function of mineralogy (clay type), particle size, and ionic concentration reveal the need of incorporating pore fluid chemistry and particle size into the fines classification system. Furthermore, multiple linear regression models developed in this study demonstrate the importance of particle size and ionic concentration in predicting the liquid limit of clayey soils. This study also discusses the need for a comprehensive understanding of fines classification for proper interpretation of natural phenomena and engineering applications for fine-grained sediments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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23 pages, 4801 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Causal Network-Based Risk Matrix Model Applicable to Shield TBM Tunneling Projects

by Heeyoung Chung, Jeongjun Park, Byung-Kyu Kim, Kibeom Kwon, In-Mo Lee and Hangseok Choi

Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4846; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094846 - 26 Apr 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2527

Abstract

The present study compares and analyzes three risk analysis models that are applicable to shield tunnel boring machine (TBM) tunneling, and thus proposes an improved risk matrix model based on the causal networks applicable to sustainable tunnel projects. The advantages and disadvantages of three risk analysis models are compared, and causal networks are structured by analyzing the causal relationship between risk factors and risk events. Based on the comparison and analysis results, the causal network-based risk matrix model (CN-Matrix model), which complements the disadvantages and exploits the advantages of the three existing models, is proposed in this paper. Furthermore, this study suggests a means of modifying the weighting scores in the estimation of the risk score, which permits the CN-Matrix model to determine the risk level more reasonably. Thus, the improved CN-Matrix model is more reliable and robust compared to the three existing models. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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16 pages, 4265 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Root Reinforcement Effect on Cover Slopes of Solid Waste Landfill in Soil Bioengineering

by Jeongjun Park, Indae Kim and Jeong-Ku Kang

Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3991; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073991 - 02 Apr 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1835

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of vegetation plant roots on the stability of the cover slopes of solid waste landfills. A large direct shear test and a root tensile strength test were conducted to quantify the effect of rooted soil of revegetation plants on the increment in shear strength of the soil as a method to protect the cover slope of solid waste landfills. In the large direct shear test, an increase in the shear strength of the ground with the presence of roots was observed, and the root reinforcement proposed in the literature was modified and proposed by analyzing the correlation between the root diameter and the tensile strength according to water content. The stability of the slope revegetation of a landfill facility, considering the root reinforcement effect of revegetation, was calculated by conducting a slope stability analysis reflecting the unsaturated seepage analysis of rainfall conditions for various analysis conditions, such as the gradient, the degree of compactness, the thickness of the cover, and the rooted soil depth of the landfill facility. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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Review

Jump to: Research

20 pages, 1535 KiB

Open AccessReview

Methods for Solving Finite Element Mesh-Dependency Problems in Geotechnical Engineering—A Review

by Jiangxin Liu, Lijian Wu, Kexin Yin, Changjun Song, Xiaolin Bian and Shengting Li

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2982; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052982 - 03 Mar 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2200

Abstract

The instabilities of soil specimens in laboratory or soil made geotechnical structures in field are always numerically simulated by the classical continuum mechanics-based constitutive models with finite element method. However, finite element mesh dependency problems are inevitably encountered when the strain localized failure occurs especially in the post-bifurcation regime. In this paper, an attempt is made to summarize several main numerical regularization techniques used in alleviating the mesh dependency problems, i.e., viscosity theory, nonlocal theory, high-order gradient and micropolar theory. Their fundamentals as well as the advantages and limitations are presented, based on which the combinations of two or more regularization techniques are also suggested. For all the regularization techniques, at least one implicit or explicit parameter with length scale is necessary to preserve the ellipticity of the partial differential governing equations. It is worth noting that, however, the physical meanings and their relations between the length parameters in different regularization techniques are still an open question, and need to be further studied. Therefore, the micropolar theory or its combinations with other numerical methods are promising in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geotechnical Engineering towards Sustainability)

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