• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.266-275
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• 2012

In this study, a method is devised to implement a supercritical $CO_2$ ($scCO_2$) injection environment on a laboratory scale and to investigate the effects of $scCO_2$ on the properties of rock specimens. Specimens of shale and sandstone normally constituting the cap rock and reservoir rock, respectively, were kept in a laboratory reactor chamber with $scCO_2$ for two weeks. From this stage, a chemical reaction between rock surface and the $scCO_2$ was induced. The effect of saline water was also investigated by comparing three conditions ($scCO_2$-rock, $scCO_2-H_2O$-rock and $scCO_2$-brine(1M)-rock). Finally, we checked the changes in the properties before and after the reaction by destructive and nondestructive testing procedures. The swelling of shale was a main concern in this case. The experimental results suggested that $scCO_2$ has a greater effect on the swelling of the shale than pure water and brine. It was also observed that the largest swelling displacement of shale occurred after a reaction with the $H_2O-scCO_2$ solution. The results of a series of the destructive and nondestructive tests indicate that although each of the property changes of the rock differed depending on the reaction conditions, the $H_2O-scCO_2$ solution had the greatest effect. In this study, shale was highly sensitive to the reaction conditions. These results provide fundamental information pertaining to the stability of $CO_2$ storage sites due to physical and chemical reactions between the rocks in these sites and $scCO_2$.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.335-342
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• 2008

Electrical resistivity and seismic refraction surveys were conducted to investigate geologic structures and geotechnical characteristics of the subsurface, along with rock physical property measurements in Dokdo island. The survey results in Seodo island show that the fault adjacent to the fisherman's shelter is a normal fault and extended towards the NW direction, and that Bedded Lapilli Tuff in the downstream was more severely influenced by weathering and erosion than Trachy Andesite II in the upstream of the survey area. In Dongdo island, Trachy Andesite III and Scoria Bedded Lapilli Tuff were severely weathered and eroded, considered as weathered to soft rock formations, and their weathered zone becomes thicker towards the antiaircraft facility in the NE direction of the survey area. The study results also illustrate that Trachyte and Trachy Andesite are hardest, Massive Tuff Breccia is next, and Stratified Ash Tuff is the most soft rock in Dokdo island.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.59-67
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• 2016

In this paper, we perform a numerical analysis to evaluate the potential of fault reactivation during gas production from hydrate bearing sediments and the moment magnitude of induced seismicity. For the numerical analysis, sequential coupling of TOUGH+Hydrate and FLAC3D was used and the change in effective stress and consequent geomechanical deformation including fault reactivation was simulated by assuming that Mohr-Coulomb shear resistance criterion is valid. From the test production simulation of 30 days, we showed that pore pressure reduction as well as effective stress change hardly induces the fault reactivation in the vicinity of a production well. We also investigated the influence of stress state conditions to a fault reactivation, and showed that normal fault stress regime, where vertical stress is relatively greater than horizontal, may have the largest potential for the reactivation. We tested one simulation that earthquake can be induced during gas production and calculated the moment magnitude of the seismicity. Our calculation presented that all the magnitudes from the calculation were negative values, which indicates that induced earthquakes can be grouped into micro-seismic and as small as hardly perceived by human beings. However, it should be noted that the current simulation was carried out using the highly simplified geometric model and assumptions such that the further simulations for a scheduled test production and commercial scale production considering complex geometric conditions may produce different results.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.320-327
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• 2011

In this study, for stemming effect in blast of the mortar block body, the crushed granite sand as fine aggregate, which is waste rock obtained at the ○○ limestone mine, was investigated to compare with stemming materials such as sea sand, river sand, clayed soil and water can be acquired easily at the field. The mortar block body was manufactured with the dimensions of 50 cm width, 50 cm length and 70 cm height. The direct shear and sieve separator test were performed, and the properties of friction resistance were analyzed by the extrusion test for five stemming materials. Axial strain of steel bar and ejection velocity of stemming materials due to the explosive shock pressure in blasthole with the stemming length of 10 cm and 20 cm in the mortar blast test were measured by the dynamic data acquisition system. Among stemming materials, axial strain showed the largest value at the crushed granite sand as fine aggregate, and the ejection velocity was the smallest value at the stemming of water. The results has shown correlate with harden unit weight in blasthole, particle size distribution, shear resistance, and extrusion strength of stemming materials. The ejection velocity of stemming material at the mouth of blasthole and the axial strain of steel bar in the inside of blasthole tend to be inversely proportional to each other, represent exponentially.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.174-183
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• 2004

The knowledge of rock strength is important in assessing wellbore stability problems, effective sanding, and the estimation of in situ stress field. Numerous empirical equations that relate unconfined compressive strength of sedimentary rocks (sandstone, shale, and limestone, and dolomite) to physical properties (such as velocity, elastic modulus, and porosity) are collected and reviewed. These equations can be used to estimate rock strength from parameters measurable with geophysical well logs. Their ability to fit laboratory-measured strength and physical property data that were compiled from the literature is reviewed. While some equations work reasonably well (for example, some strength-porosity relationships for sandstone and shale), rock strength variations with individual physical property measurements scatter considerably, indicating that most of the empirical equations are not sufficiently generic to fit all the data published on rock strength and physical properties. This emphasizes the importance of local calibration before one utilizes any of the empirical relationships presented. Nonetheless, some reasonable correlations can be found between geophysical properties and rock strength that can be useful for applications related to wellhole stability where haying a lower bound estimate of in situ rock strength is especially useful.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.383-391
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• 2013

A number of true triaxial tests on rock samples have been conducted since the late 1960 and their results strongly suggest that the intermediate principal stress has a considerable effect on rock strength. Based on these experimental evidence, various 3-D rock failure criteria accounting for the effect of the intermediate principal stress have been proposed. Most of the 3-D failure criteria, however, are focused on the phenomenological description of the rock strength from the true triaxial tests, so that the associated strength parameters have little physical meaning. In order to confirm the likelihood that the intermediate principal stress dependency of rock strength is related to the presence of weak planes and their distribution to the preferred orientation, true triaxial tests are simulated with the transversely isotropic rock model. The conventional Mohr-Coulomb criterion is extended to its anisotropic version by incorporating the concept of microstructure tensor. With the anisotropic Mohr-Coulomb criterion, the critical plane approach is applied to calculate the strength of the transversely isotropic rock model and the orientation of the fracture plane. This investigation hints that the spatial distribution of microstructural planes with respect to the principal stress triad is closely related to the intermediate principal stress dependency of rock strength.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.23-32
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• 2017

For exposed slopes, the weathering degree over time has a major effect on the engineering properties of rocks and the slope stability. Rocks are gradually changed by weathering into soil over time, and the resulting physical, chemical and mechanical changes of rocks affect the engineering stability of the slope. However, there are not many ways to objectively evaluate the weathering degree of a slope. In this study, therefore, to investigate the weathering characteristics of rocks, granite, gneiss and shale distributed in the Chungbuk region were sampled by weathering stage and changes in their component minerals and tissues were investigated. Furthermore, artificial weathering was induced using the freezing and thawing test and quantitatively investigated through porosity and absorption rate. In addition, the changes of microcracks due to artificial weathering were evaluated through box fractal dimension ($D_B$). Through mineralogical study the phase change of constituting minerals, the growth of secondary minerals, the development of micro-cracks and the fabric changes due to weathering were observed. The mineralogical, chemical and engineering evaluations of the weathering degree through the experimental results in this study are expected to be useful for analyzing the weathering characteristics and causes by rock type and for proposing a methodology to evaluate the degradation of physical properties comparatively and quantitatively.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.146-157
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• 2009

An experimental study of accelerated weathering on mudstone sample specimens from Haman, Gyeongnam was performed to investigate the variations of physico-mechanical properties of deteriorated rocks due to freeze-thaw weathering. Each complete cycle of freeze and thaw lasted 24 hours, comprising 2 hours of saturating in vacuum chamber, 8 hours of freezing at $-16{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ and 14 hours of thawing at room temperature. Total of 55 cycles of freeze-thaw were completed with measuring the index properties as well as geometries of microfractures. The measured specific gravity and P-wave velocity found to decrease with increasing freeze-thaw cycles. On the other hand, absorption ratio and effective porosity were continuously increased with increasing freeze-thaw cycles. It was found that the index properties of deteriorated sample specimen depend on its initial properties and flaws in rock. The size and density of the traces of the microfracture on slab specimen exhibited abrupt changes after 30 cycles of freeze-thaw weathering. The results obtained in this study show that the box fractal dimension($D_B$) given in this paper has the strong capability of quantifying the size and density of the microfracture.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.493-505
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• 2013

This numerical study investigates seismicity and fault slip induced by fluid injection in deep geothermal reservoir with pre-existing fractures and fault. Particle Flow Code 2D is used with additionally implemented hydro-mechanical coupled fluid flow algorithm and acoustic emission moment tensor inversion algorithm. The output of the model includes spatio-temporal evolution of induced seismicity (hypocenter locations and magnitudes) and fault deformation (failure and slip) in relation to fluid pressure distribution. The model is applied to a case of fluid injection with constant rates changing in three steps using different fluid characters, i.e. the viscosity, and different injection locations. In fractured reservoir, spatio-temporal distribution of the induced seismicity differs significantly depending on the viscosity of the fracturing fluid. In a fractured reservoir, injection of low viscosity fluid results in larger volume of induced seismicity cloud as the fluid can migrate easily to the reservoir and cause large number and magnitude of induced seismicity in the post-shut-in period. In a faulted reservoir, fault deformation (co-seismic failure and aseismic slip) can occur by a small perturbation of fracturing fluid (<0.1 MPa) can be induced when the injection location is set close to the fault. The presented numerical model technique can practically be used in geothermal industry to predict the induced seismicity pattern and magnitude distribution resulting from hydraulic stimulation of geothermal reservoirs prior to actual injection operation.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.379-393
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• 2019

For the economical construction of a tunnel by TBM, the selection of TBM optimized with the various project conditions is important, and also necessary to predict the performances of selected TBM in advance. This study was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the EPB shield TBM screw conveyor by the discrete element method. The sticky particles were used for the excavated material models, and screw conveyor with 11 different inclined angles were simulated to evaluate the performance depending on the different inclined angles. The four different rotational speed conditions of the screw were used, and torque, required power, extra energy for muck discharge, and the muck discharge rate were selected as four performance indicators. As a result, the optimized inclined angle was selected, and selected angle accords with the fact that EPB shield TBM screw conveyor is generally installed and adjusted at the inclined angle between 20.0° and 30.0° in the field.