• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.109-125
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• 2023

Disposal repository for high-level radioactive waste secures its safety by means of engineered and natural barriers. The performance of these barriers should be tested and verified through various aspects in terms of short and/or long-term. KAERI has been conducting various in-situ demonstrations in KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel). After completing previous experiment, a conceptual design of an improved in-situ experiment, i.e. K-COIN (KURT experiment of THMC COupled and INteraction), was established and detailed planning for the experiment is underway. Preliminary characterizations were conducted in KURT for siting a K-COIN test site. 15 boreholes with a depth of about 20 m were drilled in three research galleries in KURT and intact rock specimens were prepared for laboratory tests. Using the specimens, physical measurements, uniaxial compression, indirect tension, and triaxial compression tests were conducted. As a result, specific gravity, porosity, elastic wave velocities, uniaxial compressive strength, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, Brazilian tensile strength, cohesion, and internal friction angle were estimated. Statistical analyses revealed that there did not exist meaningful differences in intact rock properties according to the drilled sites and the depth. Judging from the uniaxial compressive strength, which is one of the most important properties, all the specimens were classified as very strong rock so that mechanical safety was secured in all the regions.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.205-217
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• 2006

Rock and discontinuities are main factors consisting of a rock mass and the physical properties of each factor have direct effects on the mechanical stability of artificial structures in the rock mass. Because physical properties of the rock and discontinuities change a lot according to the size of test materials, a close attention is needed when the physical properties, obtained from laboratory tests, are used for the design of field structures. In this study, change of physical properties of intact materials due to the change of their size are studied. Six kinds of artificial materials including crystal, instead of an intact rock, are adopted for the study to guarantee the homogeneity of specimen materials even with relatively large size. Uniaxial strength and Young's modulus of each artificial material are checked out for a size effect and compared with the predicted values by Buckingham's theorem - dimensional analysis. A numerical analysis using PFC (Particle Flow Code) is also applied and primary factors influencing on the size effect are investigated.