• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

Earthquake can change underground stress condition around the hypocenter and affect the fracture systems of the rocks. In Korea, the M5.8 Gyeongju earthquake on September 12, 2016 and M5.4 Pohang earthquake on November 15, 2017 occurred inside the Yangsan fault zone and possibly affected the fracture systems in the Yangsan fault zone and nearby rock masses. In this study, the characteristics of the fracture system (fracture orientation, number of the fractures, fracture spacing and aperture, dip angle, fracture density along depth, and relative rock strength) of the rocks in the low/intermediate level radioactive waste repository site located in the coastal area of the East Sea are analyzed by the impact of the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes using acoustic televiewer data taken from the boreholes at the radioactive waste repository site in 2005 and 2018. As a result of acoustic televiewer logging analysis, the fracture numbers, fracture aperture, and fracture density along depth overall increased in 2018 comparing to those in 2005. This increase tendency may be due to changes in the fracture system due to the impact of the earthquakes, or due to weathering of the wall of the boreholes for a long period longer than 10 years after the installation of the boreholes in 2005. In the borehole KB-14, on the whole, the orientation of the fractures and the average fracture spacing are slightly different between 2005 and 2018, while dip angle and relative rock strength in 2005 and 2018 are similar each other.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.57-69
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• 2023

In this study, we simulated induced seismicity in the Groningen natural gas reservoir using 2D hydro-mechanical coupled discrete element modelling (DEM). The code used is PFC2D (Particle Flow Code 2D), a commercial software developed by Itasca, and in order to apply to this study we further developed 1)initialization of inhomogeneous reservoir pressure distribution, 2)a non-linear pressure-time history boundary condition, 3)local stress field monitoring logic. We generated a 2D reservoir model with a size of 40 × 50 km² and a complex fault system, and simulated years of pressure depletion with a time range between 1960 and 2020. We simulated fault system failure induced by pressure depletion and reproduced the spatiotemporal distribution of induced seismicity and assessed its failure mechanism. Also, we estimated the ground subsidence distribution and confirmed its similarity to the field measurements in the Groningen region. Through this study, we confirm the feasibility of the presented 2D hydro-mechanical coupled DEM in simulating the deformation of a complex fault system by hydro-mechanical coupled processes.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.479-493
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• 2023

The need for safety management has arisen due to the increasing number of years of operated underground structures, such as tunnels and utility tunnels, and accidents caused by those aging infrastructures. However, in the case of privately managed underground utility ducts, there is a lack of detailed guidelines for facility safety and maintenance, resulting in inadequate safety management. Furthermore, the absence of basic design information and the limited space for safety assessments make applying currently used non-destructive testing methods challenging. Therefore, this study suggests non-destructive inspection methods using ultrasonic and impact-echo techniques to assess the quality of underground structures. Thickness, presence of rebars, depth of rebars, and the presence and depth of internal defects are assessed to provide fundamental data for the safety assessment of box-type general underground structures. To validate the proposed methodology, different conditions of concrete specimens are designed and cured to simulate actual field conditions. Applying ultrasonic and impact signals and collecting data through multi-channel accelerometers determine the thickness of the simulated specimens, the depth of embedded rebar, and the extent of defects. The predicted results are well agreed upon compared with actual measurements. The proposed methodology is expected to contribute to developing safety diagnostic methods applicable to general underground structures in practical field conditions.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.839-844
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• 2024

This study analytically analyzed the impact of underground structure displacement behavior on track damage due to adjacent excavation work, ground deterioration, and changes in groundwater level. The concrete track that was the subject of the study was analyzed for sleeper floating track(STEDEF) and precast concrete slab track(B2S). Sleeper floating track is a track structure in which the concrete bed and sleepers are voided. precast concrete slab track is a track structure that induces the elastic behavior of the rail by assembling rails and fasteners using slabs. For numerical analysis, each concrete track, from rail to concrete bed, was modeled as three-dimensional elements. In addition, the displacement behavior of the underground structure was set as a variable to analyze the damage effect on the concrete bed. Using numerical analysis, the concrete bed stress due to uplift and subsidence was analyzed, and the level of crack effect was analyzed by comparing it to the tensile strength and shear strength. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the sleeper floating track was more vulnerable than the precast concrete slab track when the same uplift and subsidence occurred. In addition, uplift and subsidence, it was analyzed that the cracks range in the sleeper floating track was large.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.8 no.4 s.30
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• pp.49-62
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• 2006

The republic of korea has put a great emphasis on the role of the road as widening a social infra-structural facility. Thus, vast amount of money has been invested on the road establishment. As a result, there has been fruitful outcomes in establishing the road system of the nation especially for the flat road with ease. However, in order to have more systematic and sustainable road system, we should turn our attention to more painful and high-cost regions such as mountainous districts and those are to be developed effectively. The configuration of the road is an important factor to be considered in making a decision for the road planning. Nevertheless, current road planning criterion has no such clarified and objective judging standard for figuring the configuration of the road out and, as a result, speed planning can be decided incorrectly. our research has acknowledged the necessity of estimating the configuration of the road and aimed to make it organized and sorted according to the height, slope, and the vehicle's speed. The results are as follows. First, our research made use of GIS data and classified the road into 9 different areas according to the height and the slope. Also, road classification being matched to the data of vehicle's speed, it has been shown that those characteristics of different areas have made an influence on vehicle's speed. Secondly, based on the results of the similarity between geographical classification and, vehicle's speed of sorted groups according to the height and the slope, conclusively we have classified as flat, rolling region and mountain. Since our research has made use of vehicle's speed for National Highway, it is not applicable to different functional highways. However, for the highway to be established hereafter, it can be a standard for reflection geographical characteristics.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6C
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• pp.395-406
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• 2006

Drilled shafts are a common foundation solution for large concentrated loads. Such piles are generally constructed by drilling through softer soils into rock and the section of the shaft which is drilled through rock contributes most of the load bearing capacity. Drilled shafts derive their bearing capacity from both shaft and base resistance components. The length and diameter of the rock socket must be sufficient to carry the loads imposed on the pile safely without excessive settlements. The base resistance component can contribute significantly to the ultimate capacity of the pile. However, the shaft resistance is typically mobilized at considerably smaller pile movements than that of the base. In addition, the base response can be adversely affected by any debris that is left in the bottom of the socket. The reliability of base response therefore depends on the use of a construction and inspection technique which leaves the socket free of debris. This may be difficult and costly to achieve, particularly in deep sockets, which are often drilled under water or drilling slurry. As a consequence of these factors, shaft resistance generally dominates pile performance at working loads. The efforts to improve the prediction of drilled shaft performance are therefore primarily concerned with the complex mechanisms of shaft resistance development. The shaft resistance only is concerned in this study. 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 the construction practices. In this study, the influences of asperity characteristics such as the heights and angles, the strength characteristics and elastic constants of surrounding rock masses and the depth and length of rock socket, et. al. on the shaft resistance of drilled shafts are investigated from elasto-plastic analyses( FLAC). Through the parametric studies, among the parameters, the vertical stress on the top layer of socket, the height of asperity and cohesion and poison's ratio of rock masses are major influence factors on the unit peak shaft resistance.