• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.16 no.1 s.60
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• pp.1-10
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• 2006

Rock masses in nature include various rock discontinuities such as faults, joints, bedding planes, fractures, cracks, schistosities, and cleavages. The behavior of rock structures, therefore, is mainly controlled by various rock discontinuities. In many tunnels, enormous cost and time are consumed to cope with the failing or sliding of rock blocks, which cannot be predicted because of the complexity of rock discontinuities. It is difficult to estimate the properties of rock masses before the rock excavation. The observational design and construction method of tunnels in rock masses is becoming important recently. In this paper, a new observational design and construction method for rock block evaluation of tunnels in discontinuous rock masses is proposed, and then applied to the tunnel based on actual rock discontinuity information observed in the field. It is possible to detect key blocks all along the tunnel exactly by using the numerical analysis program developed far the new observational design and construction method. This computer simulation method with user-friendly interfaces can calculate not only the stability of rock blocks but also the design of supplementary supports. The effectiveness of the proposed observational design and construction method has been verified by the confirmation of key block during the enlargement excavation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.23-37
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• 2002

Failure of the cut slope is triggered by combination of internal and extemal failure factors. Internal failure factors are related to geological and geometrical conditions of slope itself, and natural and/or artificial loadings on slope can be the external failure factors. Influences of these failure factors show different intensity according to the ground condition and are controlled by behavior characters of the slope. In this study, the soil depth ratio(SR), block size ratio(BR) and rock strength are used as the criteria to divide ground condition based on behavior characteristics. Ground condition of the slope is divided into discontinuous jointed rock mass and continuos soil-like mass, highly fractured rock mass and massive rock mass by the criteria(SR and BR). The SFi-system is a rating system to determine the slope failure index(SFi) by analyzing internal and external factors based on classification of the ground condition. The results of the SFi-system application to the real cut slopes show close relationship between the SFi value and potential or dimension of the failure. Therefore, the SFi-system can be used as a useful tool to predict and analyze the characteristic of the slope failure.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.508-522
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• 2019

Because of the slope failure, not only property damage but also human damage can occur, slope stability analysis should be conducted to predict and reinforce of the slope. This paper, defines the ground areas that can be characterized in terms of slope failure such as Rockmass jointset, Rockmass fault, Soil, Leakage water and Crush zone in sloped images. As a result, it was shown that the deep learning instance segmentation network can be used to recognize and automatically segment the precise shape of the ground region with different characteristics shown in the image. It showed the possibility of supporting the slope mapping work and automatically calculating the ground characteristics information of slopes necessary for decision making such as slope reinforcement.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.328-337
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• 2008

Quantifying the extent and characteristics of the excavation damage zone(EDZ) is important for the nuclear waste industry which relies on the sealing of underground openings to minimize the risk for radionuclide transport. At AECL's Underground Research Laboratory(URL) the Tunnel Sealing Experiment(TSX) was conducted and the tunnel geometry and orientation relative to the stress field had been selected to minimize the potential for the development of an EDZ. The extent and characteristics of the EDZ was measured using velocity profiling and permeability measurements in radial boreholes. The results from this EDZ characterization are used in this paper to evaluate a modeling fir estimating the extent of the EDZ. The methodology used a damage model formulated in the Universal Distinct Element Code and calibrated to laboratory properties. This model was then used to predict the extent of crack initiation and growth around the TSX tunnel and the results compared to the measured damage. The development of the damage zone in the numerical model was found to be in good agreement with the field measurements.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.339-350
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• 2007

Content, swelling, concentration, drainage of clay are critical factors that could control rock failures as well as discontinuous geological structures like faults and joints. Especially, the proportional components of clay minerals can be one of few direct indicators to a rock failure caused well by rainfall. Criticality of the role of clay mineral contents gets bigger in the slope and tunnel design. This study, using a horizontal boring core of pelitic/psammitic phyllite from the OO tunnel construction site, aims to investigate mineral composition changes related to fault distribution and their mechanical effects to the activity of these discontinuous layers (i.e., clay-filled fault layers), and eventually to define correlation among rock compositions, weathering products and rock instabilities. Field survey and lab tests were carried out for the composition and strength index of fault clay minerals within the core samples and microscopic analysis of fresh and weathered rock samples.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.5-13
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• 2008

Just as infill material can reduce the shear strength of a rock joint, a layer of soft material between concrete and the surrounding rock socket can reduce pile shaft resistance of drilled shafts socketed in rocks. This can also result from construction methods that leave smeared or remoulded rock or drilling fluid residue on the sides of the rock sockets after concrete placement. The nature of the interface between the concrete pile shaft and the surrounding rock is critically important to the performance of the pile, and is heavily influenced by construction practice. Characteristics of the concrete-rock interface, such as roughness and the presence of the soft materials deposited during or after construction can significantly affect the shaft resistance response of the pile. In this study, we conducted the parametric study to examine the performance characteristics of drilled shafts socketed in smeared rock under the vertical load with the code of finite difference method of FLAC 2D. As the results of the current research, the parameters that affect the settlement of the pile head and the ultimate unit shaft resistance could be identified.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.16 no.3 s.62
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• pp.195-202
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• 2006

Hydro-environmental impact assessments (HEIA) in tunnel constructions have been performed through various methods including preliminary investigations, field tests, numerical simulations, and monitoring. Specially, it is very important to evaluate quantitatively groundwater inflows into tunnels as well as drawdowns caused by tunnelling. Obvious definitions between porous and fractured rock media in hvdrogeologic properties of study regions must be needed to execute HEIA for rational tunnel construction in fractured bedrocks. In this paper, we propose a HEIA on tunnel constructions in fractured rocks media resulted from various hydrogeologic field tests and numerical models on given regions and determination of systematic order, i.e. the technical road map (TRM) of HEIA. These systematic HEIAs are expected to be usefully applied to base data in tunnel construction in fractured rock media.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.237-249
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• 2019

The roughness changes on a fracture surface were analyzed via a multi-stage compression test under high temperatures to assess how the cracks in a rock mass affect groundwater movement. The analyzed samples consist of coarse granitic rocks from approximately 40 and 270 m depth, and fine granitic rocks from 500 m depth. The compression test was conducted on $20{\times}40{\times}5mm$ samples using a loading system where the pressure increases in 10 MPa increments to 120 MPa. A high-resolution 3D confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) was used to observe the surface changes, including the roughness changes, at each pressure step. The roughness change was calculated based on the roughness factor. The experimental results indicate that the roughness of the fracture surface varies with rock type under the stepwise pressure conditions. These data provide a basis for predicting groundwater flow along rock fractures.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.111-129
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• 2002

Generally, investigation methods of cut slope are conucted only geological surface survey to gain engineering geological data of cut slopes. These methods have many problems such as limitations of investigation for a special area. So geophysical investigations such as geotomography, seismic and electrical resistivity methods have been used to search for failure surface in potential failure slopes or failed slopes. But investigation method using the borehole camera is recently a used method and it is thought that this method is more reliable method than other investigation methods because of being able to see by the eyes. Therefore, this paper was conducted investigations of borings and BIPS(Borehole Image Processing System) to search for potential sliding surfaces and was applied to obtain information of discontinuity on failed and potential failure slope in highway. As the results of BIPS, we could decide potential sliding surface in the slope, conducted to check slope stability and decided slope stability measures.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.307-322
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• 2023

Rock-mass grouting plays a crucial role in the construction of dams and deep caverns, effectively preventing seepage in the foundations, enhancing stability, and mitigating hazards. Most rock grouting is affected by hydrogeological and rock engineering indices such as rock quality designation (RQD), rock mass quality (Q-value), geological strength index (GSI), joint spacing (Js), joint aperture (Ap), lugeon value (Lu), secondary permeability index (SPI), and coefficient of permeability (K). Therefore, accurate geological analysis of basic rock properties and guidelines for grouting construction are essential for ensuring safe and effective grouting design and construction. Such analysis has been applied in dam construction sites, with a particular focus on the geological characteristics of bedrock and the development of prediction methods for grout take. In South Korea, many studies have focused on grout injection materials and construction management techniques. However, there is a notable lack of research on the analysis of hydrogeological and rock engineering information for rock masses, which are essential for the development of appropriate rock grouting plans. This paper reviews the current state of research into the correlation between the grout take with important hydrogeological and rock engineering indices. Based on these findings, future directions for the development of rock grouting research in South Korea are discussed.