• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.329-338
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• 2019

Suction of unsaturated bentonite buffers is a very important input parameter for hydro-mechanical performance assessment and design of an engineered barrier system. This study analyzed suction measurement techniques and constitutive models of unsaturated porous media reported in the literature, and suggested suction measurement techniques and constitutive models suitable for bentonite buffer in an HLW repository. The literature review showed the suction of bentonite buffer to be much higher than that of soil, as measured by total suction including matric suction and osmotic suction. The measurement methods (RH-Cell, RH-Cell/Sensor) using a relative humidity sensor were suitable for suction measurement of the bentonite buffer; the RH-Cell /Sensor method was more preferred in consideration of the temperature change due to radioactive decay heat and measurement time. Various water retention models of bentonite buffers have been proposed through experiments, but the van Genuchten model is mainly used as a constitutive model of hydro-mechanical performance assessment of unsaturated buffers. The water characteristic curve of bentonite buffers showed different tendencies according to bentonite type, dry density, temperature, salinity, sample state and hysteresis. Selection of water retention models and determination of model input parameters should consider the effects of these controlling factors so as to improve overall reliability.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.7-14
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• 2019

The compacted bentonite buffer is one of the major components of an engineered barrier system (EBS) for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), and it is considered the best candidate for the buffer material. The buffer is located between disposal canisters and near-field rock mass, and it interrupts the release of radionuclide from disposal canisters and protect them from the penetration of groundwater. At initial disposal condition, degree of saturation of the compacted bentonite buffer decreases because of high thermal quantities released from the disposal canisters. However, the degree of saturation of the compacted bentonite buffer gradually increases caused by inflow of groundwater. The saturated and unsaturated behavior of the buffer is a very important input data since it can determine the safety performance of EBS. Therefore, this paper investigated water retention capacity (WRC) for the Korean compacted bentonite buffer. The WRC of the compacted bentonite buffer was derived by measuring volumetric water content and water suction when temperature variation was between 24℃~125℃ considering decrease of degree of saturation with respect to temperature increase. The WRC was also derived with the same volumetric water content under the room temperature condition, and it showed 1~15% larger water suction than high temperature condition.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.43-52
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• 2001

It is important that the gas collected from wells completed in waste landfill should be continuously and stably transported to pre-treatment stage through pipelines. The transport is generally affected by fluid flow characteristics of landfill, gas reserves, leachate moisture holdup in pipeline, structures and dimensions of pipeline network, etc. This paper analyzes the pipeline transport and collection mechanism for gas generated in a durable waste landfill. From the results, the optimal controlled scheme of blower inlet pressure is proposed for the prevention of trapped gas pocket zones.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2019

High-level radioactive waste (HLW) such as spent fuel is inevitably produced when nuclear power plants are operated. A geological repository has been considered as one of the most adequate options for the disposal of HLW, and it will be constructed in host rock at a depth of 500~1,000 meters below ground level with the concept of an engineered barrier system (EBS) and a natural barrier system. The compacted bentonite buffer is one of the most important components of the EBS. As the compacted bentonite buffer is located between disposal canisters with spent fuel and the host rock, it can restrain the release of radionuclides and protect canisters from the inflow of groundwater. Because of inflow of groundwater into the compacted bentonite buffer, it is essential to investigate soil-water characteristic curves (SWCC) of the compacted bentonite buffer in order to evaluate the entire safety performance of the EBS. Therefore, this paper conducted laboratory experiments to analyze the SWCC for a Korean Ca-type compacted bentonite buffer considering dry density, confined or unconfined condition, and drying or wetting path. There was no significant difference of SWCC considering dry density under unconfined condition. Furthermore, it was found that there was higher water suction in unconfined condition that in confined condition, and higher water suction during drying path than during wetting path.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.318-328
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• 2015

Effective urban flood reduction and restoration of natural water cycle at present include the application of permeable pavements. The application of permeable pavement addresses urban water cycle and disaster related events which gained attention internationally. However, few researches have been conducted to investigate unsaturated behavior and evaluate the water characteristics curves of these type of pavement materials most especially in the unsaturated state. In this study, first the saturated permeability and the soil-water characteristics curve of a pervious concrete are evaluated based on laboratory tests, and, based on experimental results, the infiltration of permeable pavement system is numerically modelled. In the soil-water characteristics curve of a pervious concrete, the volumetric water content drops very steeply after the air entry value with increasing matric suction. From the finite element analyses, the performance of the permeable pavement when compared to impermeable pavement, confirmed that the whole system effectively delayed and reduced runoff.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.685-690
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• 2022

Recent research on soft adhesives has sought to understand in depth how their chemical or mechanical structures interact strongly with living tissues. The aim is to optimally address the unmet needs of patients with acute or chronic diseases. Synergy adhesion, which includes both electrostatic (hydrogen bonds) and mechanical interactions (capillary stress), appears to be effective in overcoming challenges related to long-term unstable bonds to wet surfaces. Here, we report electrostatic and mechanically synergistic mechanisms of adhesion without chemical residues. To infer the mechanism, a thermodynamic model based on custom combination adhesives has been proposed. The model supported experimental results that thermodynamically controlled swelling of hydrogels embedded in elastomeric structures improves biofluidic insensitive on-site adhesion to wet surfaces and improves detachment without chemical residues in the direction of peeling.