• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
• /
• 1999.04a
• /
• pp.251-253
• /
• 1999

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2003

In order to measure aperture variation dependent on normal stress and to characterize on relationship between aperture variation and hydraulic conductivity this study measured apertures of rock fractures under a high resolution confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) with application of five stages of uniaxial normal stresses. From this method the response of aperture can be continuously characterized on one specimen by different loads of normal stress. The results of measurements showed a rough geometry of fracture bearing non-uniform aperture. They also revealed different values of aperture variations according to the load stages on each position along a fracture due to the fracture roughness. Laboratory permeability tests were also conducted to evaluate the changes of permeability coefficients related to the aperture variations by different loads. The results of permeability tests revealed that the hydraulic conductivity was not reduced at a fixed rate with increase of normal load. Moreover, the rates of aperture variations did not match to those of hydraulic conductivity. The hydraulic conductivity calculated in this study did not follow the cubic law, representing that the parallel plate model is not suitable to express the fracture geometry corresponding to the results of aperture measurements under the CLSM.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.27-39
• /
• 2007

This paper investigates numerically characteristics of the fluid flow in spatially correlated variable-aperture fractures under effective normal stress conditions. Spatially correlated aperture distributions are generated by using the geostaistical method (i.e. Turning Bands algorithm). In order to represent a nonlinear relationship between the effective normal stress and the fracture aperture, a simple mechanical formula is combined with a local flow model. Obtained numerical results indicate that the fluid flow is significantly affected by the geometry of aperture distribution varying according to the applied effective normal stress as well as the spatial correlation length of aperture distribution. Moreover, by using results simulated in this study, the modified Louis formula representing the relationship between the effective normal stress and the effective permeability of fracture is proposed.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.61-68
• /
• 2009

This paper presents the numerical investigation for the hydraulic behavior of a fractured rock mass with a hydromechanical interaction which may be considered during the in-situ hydraulic injection test. These experiments consist in a series of flow meter injection tests for fractures existing along an open hole section installed in a borehole, and experimental results are applied for testing a numerical model developed to the analysis and prediction of such hydromechanical interactions. Field experimental results show that conductive fractures form a dynamic and interdependent network, that individual fractures cannot be adequately modeled as independent systems, that new fluid intaking zones generate when pore pressure exceeds the minimum principal stress magnitude in that borehole, and that pore pressures much larger than this minimum stress can be further supported by the circulated fractures. In this study, these characteristics are investigated numerically how to influence the morphology of the natural fracture network in a rock mass by using a discrete fracture ntework model.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.221-226
• /
• 2000

In this study, the characteristics of gas-water relative permeability curves in a single fractured-plate according to the various aperture size were analyzed by using the Hele-Shaw type glass plate model. The plate was made of glasses for the observation of the two-phase flow pattern, and seven cases were set up based on the aperture size in the range of field scale from 30 to $120\mum$. The experiment was conducted by steady-state method, and the water saturation was determined more accurately by the developed digital image process technique. The empirical equations of relative permeability to gas and water for single fractured-plate were correlated by using the aperture size which directly affects the two-phase flow pattern and critical saturation.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.17 no.2 s.52
• /
• pp.309-315
• /
• 2007

The purpose of this paper is to make a close inquiry into the relationship between width and length of crack as a method to maximize compensation effect by grouting discontinuity within weak bedrock, together with emphasis on application of the basic data to the reformation of weak bedrock in a construction site. The result reveals that the length of trace at each fracture averages $1.5{\sim}3.0mm$. Based on analysis of openness distribution pattern at each fracture, the estimated values are quite well in agreement with those of the experiment, with a negative trend in the distribution of aperture width.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.79-86
• /
• 2004

Hydraulic conductivity along rock fracture is mainly dependent on fracture geometries such as orientation, aperture, roughness and connectivity. Therefore, it needs to consider fracture geometries sufficiently on a fracture model for a numerical analysis to calculate permeability coefficient in a fracture. This study performed new type of numerical analysis using a homogenization analysis method to calculate permeability coefficient accurately along single fractures with several fracture models that were considered fracture geometries as much as possible. First of all, fracture roughness and aperture variation due to normal stress applied on a fracture were directly measured under a confocal laser scaning microscope (CLSM). The acquired geometric data were used as input data to construct fracture models for the homogenization analysis (HA). Using the constructed fracture models, the homogenization analysis method can compute permeability coefficient with consideration of material properties both in microscale and in macroscale. The HA is a new type of perturbation theory developed to characterize the behavior of a micro inhomogeneous material with a periodic microstructure. It calculates micro scale permeability coefficient at homogeneous microscale, and then, computes a homogenized permeability coefficient (C-permeability coefficient) at macro scale. Therefore, it is possible to analyze accurate characteristics of permeability reflected with local effect of facture geometry. Several computations of the HA were conducted to prove validity of the HA results compared with the empirical equations of permeability in the previous studies using the constructed 2-D fracture models. The model can be classified into a parallel plate model that has fracture roughness and identical aperture along a fracture. According to the computation results, the conventional C-permeability coefficients have values in the range of the same order or difference of one order from the permeability coefficients calculated by an empirical equation. It means that the HA result is valid to calculate permeability coefficient along a fracture. However, it should be noted that C-permeability coefficient is more accurate result than the preexisting equations of permeability calculation, because the HA considers permeability characteristics of locally inhomogeneous fracture geometries and material properties both in microscale and macroscale.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.344-357
• /
• 1995

The gap conductance between the fuel and the sheath depends strongly on the gap width and has a significant influence on the amount of initial stored energy. The modified Ross and Stoute gap conductance model in ELESTRES is based on a simplified thermal deformation model for steady-state fuel temperature calculations. A review on a series of experiments reveals that fuel pellets crack relocate, and are eccentrically positioned within the sheath rather than solid concentric cylinders. In this paper, the hue recently-proposed gap conductance models (offset gap model and relocated gap model) are described and are applied to calculate the fuel-sheath gap conductances under experimental conditions and normal operating conditions in CANDU reactors. The good agreement between the experimentally-inferred and calculated gap conductance values demonstrates that the modified Ross and Stoute model was implemented correctly in ELESTRES. The predictions of the modified Ross and Stoute model provide conservative values for gap heat transfer and fuel surface temperature compared to the offset gap and relocated gap models for a limiting power envelope.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2016.05a
• /
• pp.326-326
• /
• 2016

The fault can be defined, in a geological context, as a rupture plane showing a significant displacement generated in the case that the local tectonic stress exceeds a threshold of rupture along a particular plane in a rock mass. The hydrogeological properties of this fault can be varied with the spatial distribution and the connectivity of void spaces in a fault. When the formation of fault includes the process of the creation and the destruction of void spaces, a complex relation between the displacement along the fault and the variation of void spaces. In this study, the variation of flow with the geometrical characteristics of the fault is simulated and analyzed by using the three-dimensional discrete fracture network model. Three different geometrical characteristics of the faults are considered in this study: 1) simple hydraulic conductive plane, 2) damaged zone, and 3) relay structure of faults.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2002

There is the high possibility of crack initiation from mechanical joints, which are widely used in aircraft fuselages, due to the development of stress concentration and contact pressure. In this paper, the mixed-mode stress intensity factors at the surface and deepest points of an inclined quarter elliptical corner crack in mechanical joints are analyzed by the weight function method. The coefficients included in the weight function are obtained by finite element analyses for reference loadings. Critical angle at which mode I stress intensity factor becomes maximum is determined by analyzing the variation of stress intensity factors along incline angle of crack and the effects of the amount of clearance and crack depth on the critical angle are investigated.