• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2024

In this case study, detailed survey of the Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) evaluation for the deep geological repository for high level nuclear waste was conducted. Oversea and Domestic case studies were compiled and investigated. EDZ is considered a crucial factor in the performance assessment of spent fuel disposal, leading to numerous studies worldwide aiming to understand the characteristics of the EDZ and quantitatively assessment of its extent through field and laboratory tests at Underground Research Laboratory (URL) sites. To enhance the understanding of EDZ, this study begins with defining and exploring the history of EDZ, compiling factors influencing EDZ, and summarizing the impacts caused by EDZ. Subsequently, an analysis of EDZ and rock properties is performed, followed by presenting generalized outcomes, limitations drawn from previous research, and proposing future research directions.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.45-57
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• 1999

Groundwater flow in rock mass is controlled by the fractures developed in the area. So, the conductive fractures are very important for groundwater flow in crystalline rock. This study aims to find out the characteristics of the fracture distributed in granitic rock in the northern part of the Yusong area (latitude $36^{\circ}24'18"~36^{\circ}25'08",{\;}longitude{\;}127^{\circ}21'00"~127^{\circ}23'23"$). The electric and EM surveys were carried out in the site to delineate the fracture the fracture zones. Since geophysical survey provides non-unique solution, hydraulic data and dilling log data including BHTV scanning were used as complementary data to achieve the objective of this study. Electric survey(DC) arrays used are schlumberger and dipole-dipole arrays. VLF is used for EM survey. The main charcteristics of the fracture developed in the study aera are that fractures associated with basic dyke cut corss the main fracture zone in NNW and play an important role as hydraulic barrier. In trun, groundwater table in the upstream area is lower than that downstream area.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.318-326
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• 2004

In this study, a new direct shear apparatus was developed to investigate the shear characteristics of the rock joints at various conditions. Using the developed apparatus, various experiments on filled rock joints were carried out considering the asperity angle, the normal stress, the type and thickness of filling material and to investigated the basic shear characteristics of filled rock joints were analyzed. According to the experiments performed under the constant normal stress condition by varying the asperity angle, the type and thickness of filling material, it was shown that the behavior and strength of filled rock joint could be defined by the type and thickness of the filling material. The dilation angle of the filled joints was found to be smaller than that of unfilled rock joint, and thereby, the effect of roughness was also reduced due to the filling material. And critical thickness ratio varied according to stress level and roughness as well as the type of filing materials.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.32-42
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• 2012

It is very difficult to capture the weathering characteristics of rock because of limitation caused by time and space. A new scheme of experiment that includes physical and chemical weathering processes was implemented on Cretaceous granitic rock samples from Kimhae area to investigate the variations of geomechanical properties of deteriorated rocks due to artificial weathering processes. The seismic velocity was found to decrease with increasing artificial weathering cycle. Effective porosity and absorption tend to increase with artificial weathering processes. The amount of deterioration of rock samples depend on pre-test degree of weathering. Effective porosity, absorption and seismic velocity can be used as the measure of weathering characteristics of granite in the study area. Weathering is accelerated by combined effect of physical and chemical weathering processes. The new experimental methodology conducted in this study has strong capability to analyze the weathering characteristics of rocks.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.23-28
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• 2022

In Korea, 70% of the land is mountainous and structures occupy a high proportion in railway and road construction. In particular, in recent years, the construction of high-speed railways and highways for high-speed driving is rapidly increasing. At the same time, the construction of tunnels is also increasing. The number of tunnel construction cases in which long-term deformation occurs after tunnel excavation is completed is increasing. The stability of these tunnel structures depends entirely on the characteristics of the rock surrounding the tunnel excavation. In the case of pyroclastic rock, which is the subject of this study, it is generally vulnerable to weathering and has a characteristic that its strength decreases over a long period of time. Tunnel design and construction planning considering the strength characteristics of pyroclastic rocks are essential. This study analyzed the cases of over-deformation that occurred at the tunnel site in the pyroclastic section. Based on this study, a plan for tunnel design and construction management in an area where pyroclastic rock exist in the future is presented.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.717-731
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• 2021

We analyzed the characteristics of the habitat environment for the Seonam study area in Ulsan, the southern shore of the East Sea using bathymetry and seafloor environment data. The depth of the study area ranges from about 0 m to 23 m. In the west of the study area, the water depth is shallow with a gentle slope, and the water depth becomes deeper with a steep slope in the east. Due to the right-lateral strike-slip faults located in the continental margin of the East Sea, the fracture surfaces of the seabed rocks are mainly in the N-S direction, which is similar to the direction of the strike faults. Three seafloor types (conglomeratic-grained sandy, coasre-graiend sandy, fine-grained sandy) and rocky bottom area have been classified according to the analyses of the bathymerty, seafloor image, and surface sediment data. The rocky bottom areas are mainly distributed around Seaoam and in the northern and southern coastal area. But the intermediate zone between Seonam and coastal area has no rocky bottom. This intermediate area is expected to have active sedimentation as seawater way. The sandy sediments are widely distributed throughout the study area. Underwater images and UAV images show that Cnidarians, Brachiopods, Mollusks are mostly dominant in the shallow habitat and various Nacellidae, Mytilidae live on the intertidal zone around Seonam. Annelida and Arthropod are dominant in the sandy sediments. The distribution of marine organism in the study area might be greatly influenced by the seafloor type, the composition and particle size distribution of the seafloor sediments. The analysis of habitat environment mapping with bathymetry, seafloor data and underwater images is supposed to contribute to the study of the structure and function of marine ecosystem.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.161-171
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• 2017

Observed ground motions are composed of three factors such as, seismic source, attenuation, and site amplification effect. Among them, the site amplification characteristics should be considered significantly when estimating seismic source and attenuation characteristics with more confidence. The site effect is also necessary when estimating not only seismic hazard in seismic design engineering but also rock mechanical properties. This study uses the method of H/V spectral ratio of observed ground motion between target site and reference site called a reference site method. In addition to using the vertical Fourier spectrum of the reference site, we try out the horizontal Fourier spectrum as a new method in this study. We analyze H/V spectral ratio of six ground motions respectively, observed at four sites close to Yedang Reservoir. We then compare site amplification effects at each site using 3 kinds of seismic energies including S waves, Coda waves energy, and background noise. The results suggest that each site showed similar site amplification patterns in S waves and Coda waves energy. However, the site amplification of background noise shows much different characteristics from those of S waves and Coda wave energy, which suggests that the background noises at each site have their own developing mechanism. Each station shows its own characteristics of specific resonance frequency and site amplification properties in low, high and specific resonance frequency ranges. Comparison of the method used in this study to the others that used different methods can provide us with more information about the dynamic amplification of a site characteristics and site classification.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.1 s.47
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• pp.85-96
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• 2006

This study was conducted to suggest a method to determine weighting values of each parameter of the RMR system considered with geologic characteristics of a study area. This study reviewed the weighting values of the RMR system for the Cretaceous sedimentary rocks distributed in Ulsan area. Based on the data of field survey at the study area, a multiple regression analysis was used to set up an optimal weighting values of the RMR parameters. For the multiple regression analysis, each parameter of the RMR and the slope gradient were regarded as the independent variable and the dependent variable, respectively. The analysis result suggested a modified weighting values of the RMR parameters as follows; 30 for the intact strength of rock; 18 for RQD; 8 for spacing of discontinuities; 32 for the condition of discontinuities; and 12 for ground water.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2003

Recent worldwide trends show that tunnel length is getting longer, and the demand for longitudinal ventilation system with jet-fans in highway tunnels has also increased mainly due to the economic reasons. Improvements in vehicle engine subsequently reduced required ventilation rate(Qreq) which is the decisive factor in choosing the optimal ventilation system. Qreq contour map is a graph that defines the relationship among tunnel length, grade and required ventilation rate. It is important to understand the variation of Qreq in order to evaluate the characteristics of ventilation system with jet fans. Therefore this study aims at studying a graphical method for determining the characteristics of jet-fm ventilation system using Qreq contour map. Also, this study focuses on traffic composition on local highways.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.147-168
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• 2004

Purpose of this study is to quantitatively characterize the fracture roughness which was measured with a confocal laser scanning microscope. The roughness discrete data measured by confocal laser microscope were analyzed by spectral analysis and fast Fourier transform (FFT).The roughness data by used noise reduction filter were applied for fractal analysis to describe roughness features quantitatively. Artificial fractures created by Brazilian test on granites were used to measure fracture roughness under the confocal laser scanning microscope. Measurements were performed along three scan lines on each fracture surface. 36 scan lines were determined on 12 specimens in total. Features of roughness showed that coarse and medium grained granites tend to more rough features than those of fine grained granites. Continuous analog data of roughness is possible to described as discrete data of measure roughness with a fixed interval under the confocal laser microscope. Results of FFT with the measured data showed the highest values on the second harmonics. Distribution of average amplitude of second harmonics was observed 0.9853 in coarse grained granite, 1.0792 in medium grained granite and 0.6794 in fine grained granite. This indicates that the larger roughness has the higher energy of harmonics as the result of fractal analysis in low frequency zone.