• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.556-567
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• 2015

The evaluation of THM coupling behavior in deep underground repository condition is essential for the long term safety and stability assessment of high-level radioactive waste repository. In order to develop reliable THM analysis techniques effectively, an international cooperation project, DECOVALEX, is carried out. In DECOVALEX-2015 Task B2, the in situ THM experiment planned to be conducted by JAEA was modeled by the research teams from the participating countries. In this study, a THM coupling technique combining TOUGH2 and FLAC was developed and applied to 1 dimensional THM modeling, in which rock, buffer, and heater are considered. The results were compared with those from other research teams.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.394-405
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• 2011

In this paper, we applied coupled non-isothermal, multiphase fluid flow and geomechanical numerical modeling using TOUGH-FLAC coupled analysis to study the complex thermodynamic and geomechanical performance of underground lined rock caverns (LRC) for compressed air energy storage (CAES). Mechanical stress in concrete linings as well as pressure and temperature within a storage cavern were examined during initial and long-term operation of the storage cavern for CAES. Our geomechanical analysis showed that effective stresses could decrease due to air penetration pressure, and tangential tensile stress could develop in the linings as a result of the air pressure exerted on the inner surface of the lining, which would result in tensile fracturing. According to the simulation in which the tensile tangential stresses resulted in radial cracks, increment of linings' permeability and air leakage though the linings, tensile fracturing occurred at the top and at the side wall of the cavern, and the permeability could increase to $5.0{\times}10^{-13}m^2$ from initially prescribed $10{\times}10^{-20}m^2$. However, this air leakage was minor (about 0.02% of the daily air injection rate) and did not significantly impact the overall storage pressure that was kept constant thanks to sufficiently air tight surrounding rocks, which supports the validity of the concrete-lined underground caverns for CAES.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.421-430
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• 2008

In discontinuous rock masses, hydraulic-mechanical coupled analyses are required since groundwater flow in joints have a great influence on the stability of a subsea tunnel. In this study, a sensitivity analysis was performed based on coupled analysis to verify the routine which can estimate the safety factor of a tunnel in discontinuous rock mass. To this end, 324 cases of numerical calculations were performed with a commercial program, UDEC-2D. As a result, it was confirmed that the proposed routine for coupled analysis in discontinuous rock mass could give a reasonable result for the estimation of safety factor of a tunnel. Therefore, it is expected that the safety factor estimation method used in this study can be effectively applied for the stability estimation of a subsea tunnel in discontinuous rock masses.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.262-279
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• 2019

In the engineering barriers of high-level radioactive waste disposal, gases could be generated through a number of processes. If the gas production rate exceeds the gas diffusion rate, the pressure of the gas increases and gases could migrate through the bentonite buffer. Because people and the environment can be exposed to radioactivity, it is very important to clarify gas migration in terms of long-term integrity of the engineered barrier system. In particular, it is necessary to identify the hydro-mechanical mechanism for the dilation flow, which is a very important gas flow phenomenon only in medium containing large amounts of clay materials such as bentonite buffer, and to develop and validate new numerical approach for the quantitative evaluation of the gas migration phenomenon. Therefore, in this study, we developed a two-phase flow model considering the mechanical damage model in order to simulate the gas migration in the engineered barrier system, and validated with 1D gas flow modelling through saturated bentonite under constant volume boundary conditions. As a result of numerical analysis, the rapid increase in pore water pressure, stress, and gas outflow could be simulated when the dilation flow was occurred.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.41-46
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• 2023

Numerical analysis of frost heave is challenging due to the influence of soil and environmental factors. Thermo-hydromechanical coupled analysis relies heavily on excessive input variables and primarily focuses on validating clayey soils, so it is limited to frost susceptible silty soils. An empirical approach based on thermodynamics offers relatively simple frost heave analysis and the advantage of linking constitutive equations with frost heave to enable geomechanical interpretations. In this paper, we introduce an empirical numerical model using the Segregation Potential (SP) and evaluate reliability through comparative analysis with experimental results of frost susceptible silty soils. While the SP model enables frost heave analysis for the given silty soils, further investigation on various silty soils is necessary to gather data on key input variables.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.324-332
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• 2017

In this paper, a numerical analysis of one-dimensional viscous fluid flow in a rock joint using UDEC code is performed to evaluate the effect of design parameters on injection performance. We consider injection pressure, fluid compressibility, time dependence of yield strength and viscosity of injected grout fluid, and mechanical deformation of joint as the design parameters, and penetration length and flow rate of injection are investigated as the injection performance. Numerical estimations of penetration length and flow rate were compared to analytical solution and were well comparable with each other. We showed that cumulative injection volume can be over-estimated by 1.2 times than the case that the time-dependent viscosity evolution is not considered. We also carried out a coupled fluid flow and mechanical deformation analysis and demonstrated that injection-induced joint opening may result in the increment of cumulative volume by 4.4 times of that from the flow only analysis in which joint aperture is kept constant.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2009

When constructing a subsea tunnel in discontinuous rock mass, fluid flow in joints has a great influence on the behavior of the tunnel so that hydro-mechanical coupled analysis should be performed for the stability estimation. In practice, relaxed rock load is generally used for the design of tunnel concrete lining. In a continuum analysis, a method based on the distribution of local safety factor around a tunnel was proposed for the estimation of a potential relaxed zone. However, in the case of discontinuous rock mass in which joints are developed, the whole stability of tunnels depends on the behavior of the joints. In this study, therefore, a method is proposed for the estimation of a potential relaxed zone occurred by the excavation of a tunnel in discontinuous rock mass. The suggested method is validated by sensitivity analysis and the comparison with the results of continuum analysis.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.382-393
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• 2020

The engineered barrier system of high-level radioactive waste disposal must maintain its performance in the long term, because it must play a role in slowing the rate of leakage to the surrounding rock mass even if a radionuclide leak occurs from the canister. In particular, it is very important to clarify gas dilation flow phenomenon clearly, that occurs only in a medium containing a large amount of clay material such as a bentonite buffer, which can affect the long-term performance of the bentonite buffer. Accordingly, DECOVALEX-2019 Task A was conducted to identify the hydraulic-mechanical mechanism for the dilation flow, and to develop and verify a new numerical analysis technique for quantitative evaluation of gas migration phenomena. In this study, based on the conventional two-phase flow and mechanical behavior with effective stresses in the porous medium, the hydraulic-mechanical model was developed considering the concept of damage to simulate the formation of micro-cracks and expansion of the medium and the corresponding change in the hydraulic properties. Model verification and validation were conducted through comparison with the results of 1D and 3D gas injection tests. As a result of the numerical analysis, it was possible to model the sudden increase in pore water pressure, stress, gas inflow and outflow rate due to the dilation flow induced by gas pressure, however, the influence of the hydraulic-mechanical interaction was underestimated. Nevertheless, this study can provide a preliminary model for the dilation flow and a basis for developing an advanced model. It is believed that it can be used not only for analyzing data from laboratory and field tests, but also for long-term performance evaluation of the high-level radioactive waste disposal system.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.291-304
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• 2011

Recently concern for subsea tunnels is increasing, The effect of high water pressure can not be ignored in the case of a deep subsea tunnel. Reinforcement like grouting is necessary for the stability of such a subsea tunnel. In this study, therefore, it was investigated how the water barrier and shear strength increment resulted from grouting had an effect on the stability of a subsea tunnel. To this end, two-dimensional hydromechanical coupled analyses were performed for a sensitivity analysis in terms of different range, permeability coefficient, and cohesion of grouting reinforcement for the rock classes I, III, and V with respect to RMR system. The mutual relationship between strength increment and water pressure increased by barrier effect due to grouting was investigated by analyzing the numerical results.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.320-334
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• 2020

This study presents an application of hydro-mechanical coupled Particle Flow Code 3D (PFC3D) to simulation of fluid injection induced fault slip experiment conducted in Mont Terri Switzerland as a part of a task in an international research project DECOVALEX-2019. We also aimed as identifying the current limitations of the modelling method and issues for further development. A fluid flow algorithm was developed and implemented in a 3D pore-pipe network model in a 3D bonded particle assembly using PFC3D v5, and was applied to Mont Terri Step 2 minor fault activation experiment. The simulated results showed that the injected fluid migrates through the permeable fault zone and induces fault deformation, demonstrating a full hydro-mechanical coupled behavior. The simulated results were, however, partially matching with the field measurement. The simulated pressure build-up at the monitoring location showed linear and progressive increase, whereas the field measurement showed an abrupt increase associated with the fault slip We conclude that such difference between the modelling and the field test is due to the structure of the fault in the model which was represented as a combination of damage zone and core fractures. The modelled fault is likely larger in size than the real fault in Mont Terri site. Therefore, the modelled fault allows several path ways of fluid flow from the injection location to the pressure monitoring location, leading to smooth pressure build-up at the monitoring location while the injection pressure increases, and an early start of pressure decay even before the injection pressure reaches the maximum. We also conclude that the clay filling in the real fault could have acted as a fluid barrier which may have resulted in formation of fluid over-pressurization locally in the fault. Unlike the pressure result, the simulated fault deformations were matching with the field measurements. A better way of modelling a heterogeneous clay-filled fault structure with a narrow zone should be studied further to improve the applicability of the modelling method to fluid injection induced fault activation.