• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.610-622
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• 2021

The DECOVALEX project is one of the representative international cooperative projects to enhance the understanding of the complex Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical(THMC) coupled behavior in the high-level radioactive waste disposal system based on the numerical simulation. DECOVALEX-2023 is the current phase consisting of 7 tasks, and Task C aims to model the THM coupled behavior in the disposal system based on the Full-scale Emplacement (FE) experiment at the Mont-Terri underground rock laboratory. This study performs the numerical simulation based on the OGS-FLAC developed for the current study. In the numerical model, we emplaced the heater with constant power horizontally based on the FE experiment and monitored the pressure development, temperature increase, and mechanical deformation at the specific monitoring points. We monitored the capillary pressure as the primary effect inducing the flow in the buffer system, and thermal stress and pressurization were dominant in the surrounding rocks' area. The results will also be compared and validated with the other participating groups and the experimental data further.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.400-414
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• 2021

Under high-level radioactive waste repository conditions, bentonite as an engineered barrier material undergoes thermal, hydrological, mechanical, and chemical processes. We report the applications of X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) imaging technique on the characterization and analysis of bentonite over the past decade to provide a reference of the utilization of this technique and the recent research trends. This overview of the X-ray CT technique applications includes the characterization of the bentonite either in pellets or powder form. X-ray imaging has provided a means to extract grain information at the microscale and identify crack networks responsible for the pellets' heterogeneity. Regarding samples of pellets-powder mixtures under hydration, X-ray CT allowed the identification and monitoring of heterogeneous zones throughout the test. Some results showed how zones with pellets only swell faster compared to others composed of pellets and powder. Moreover, the behavior of fissures between grains and bentonite matrix was observed to change under drying and hydrating conditions, tending to close during the former and open during the latter. The development of specializing software has allowed obtaining strain fields from a sequence of images. In more recent works, X-ray CT technique has served to estimate the dry density, water content, and particle displacement at different testing times. Also, when temperature was added to the hydration process of a sample, CT technology offered a way to observe localized and global density changes over time.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.373-385
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• 2022

The drum cutter, which is used in the form of an attachment of a excavator, is very useful in that it can be used in connection with a excavator that can perform various tasks in the field. This study estimated the load and torque acting on the drum cutter attachment by measuring the hydraulic pressure and strain that appear during excavation on the exposed rock slope using the drum cutter installed in the excavator. Working conditions such as the operation angle between the boom and arm of the excavator were divided into eight working modes. And as a result of analyzing the variations in hydraulic pressure and action force according to the working mode, it was confirmed that the hydraulic pressure and flow rate can be driven without any problems within the range considered in the manufacturing specifications of the drum cutter. The average load and torque acting on the drum cutter were within the range of the manufacturing specifications, but the maximum load was up to four times the specification. Because sumping was not properly performed due to the high ground strength and the ground included discontinuous surfaces in some locations, no trend of load and torque was found depending on the angle between the boom and arm of the excavator. However, it is believed that this result can be used to determine the range of loads and torques that appear on the drum cutter when excavating a high-intensity rock.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.685-690
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• 2023

It was analyzed that the volume of deep excavation works adjacent to existing underground structures is increasing according to the population growth and density of cities. Currently, many underground structures and tracks are damaged by external factors, and the cause is analyzed based on the measurement results in the tunnel, and measurements are being made for post-processing, not for prevention. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect on the deformation of the structure due to the excavation work adjacent to the urban railway track in use. In addition, the safety of structures is evaluated through machine learning techniques for displacement of structures before damage and destruction of underground structures and tracks due to external factors. As a result of the analysis, it was analyzed that the model suitable for predicting the structure management standard value time in the analyzed dataset was a polynomial regression machine. Since it may be limited to the data applied in this study, future research is needed to increase the diversity of structural conditions and the amount of data.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.95-107
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• 2023

In this study, the effect of repeated traffic vibration on the long-term stability of mine openings is analyzed for re-utilization of abandoned mine galleries. The research mine in this study is an underground limestone mine which is developed by room-and-pillar mining method, and a dynamic numerical analysis is performed assuming that the research mine will be utilized as a logistics warehouse. The actual traffic vibration generated by the mining vehicles is measured directly, and its waveform is used as input data for dynamic numerical analysis, As a results of dynamic numerical analysis, after 20,000 repetitions of traffic vibration, the mine openings is analyzed to be stable, but an increase in the maximum principal stress and an additional area of plastic zone are observed in the analysis section. As shown in the changes of displacement, volumetric strain, and maximum principal stress which are measured at the mine opening walls. It is confirmed that if the repeated traffic vibration is continuously applied, the instability of the mine openings can be increased. Authors expect that the results of this study can be used as a reference for basic study on utilization of abandoned mine.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.400-425
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• 2018

This study presents the research results and current status of the DECOVALEX-2019 project Task B. Task B named 'Fault slip modelling' is aiming at developing a numerical method to simulate the coupled hydro-mechanical behavior of fault, including slip or reactivation, induced by water injection. The first research step of Task B is a benchmark simulation which is designed for the modelling teams to familiarize themselves with the problem and to set up their own codes to reproduce the hydro-mechanical coupling between the fault hydraulic transmissivity and the mechanically-induced displacement. We reproduced the coupled hydro-mechanical process of fault slip using TOUGH-FLAC simulator. The fluid flow along a fault was modelled with solid elements and governed by Darcy's law with the cubic law in TOUGH2, whereas the mechanical behavior of a single fault was represented by creating interface elements between two separating rock blocks in FLAC3D. A methodology to formulate the hydro-mechanical coupling relations of two different hydraulic aperture models and link the solid element of TOUGH2 and the interface element of FLAC3D was suggested. In addition, we developed a coupling module to update the changes in geometric features (mesh) and hydrological properties of fault caused by water injection at every calculation step for TOUGH-FLAC simulator. Then, the transient responses of the fault, including elastic deformation, reactivation, progressive evolutions of pathway, pressure distribution and water injection rate, to stepwise pressurization were examined during the simulations. The results of the simulations suggest that the developed model can provide a reasonable prediction of the hydro-mechanical behavior related to fault reactivation. The numerical model will be enhanced by continuing collaboration and interaction with other research teams of DECOLVAEX-2019 Task B and validated using the field data from fault activation experiments in a further study.

• 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 $scCO_2$.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.670-691
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• 2018

This study presents the research results of the BMT(Benchmark Model Test) simulations of the DECOVALEX-2019 project Task B. Task B named 'Fault slip modelling' is aiming at developing a numerical method to predict fault reactivation and the coupled hydro-mechanical behavior of fault. BMT scenario simulations of Task B were conducted to improve each numerical model of participating group by demonstrating the feasibility of reproducing the fault behavior induced by water injection. The BMT simulations consist of seven different conditions depending on injection pressure, fault properties and the hydro-mechanical coupling relations. TOUGH-FLAC simulator was used to reproduce the coupled hydro-mechanical process of fault slip. A coupling module to update the changes in hydrological properties and geometric features of the numerical mesh in the present study. We made modifications to the numerical model developed in Task B Step 1 to consider the changes in compressibility, Permeability and geometric features with hydraulic aperture of fault due to mechanical deformation. The effects of the storativity and transmissivity of the fault on the hydro-mechanical behavior such as the pressure distribution, injection rate, displacement and stress of the fault were examined, and the results of the previous step 1 simulation were updated using the modified numerical model. The simulation results indicate that the developed model can provide a reasonable prediction of the hydro-mechanical behavior related to fault reactivation. The numerical model will be enhanced by continuing interaction and collaboration with other research teams of DECOVALEX-2019 Task B and validated using the field experiment data in a further study.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.430-440
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• 2000

A series of studies such as geological logging data analysis, detailed geological survey, rock mass evaluation, in-situ and laboratory tests, rock strength and mechanical properties of the rock were concerned. The stability of the slope were carried out inorder to design the pit slope and individual benches using the stereographic projection analysis and numerical methods in Roto Pit of Pasir coal field. The bedding plane was one of the major discontinuities in the Roto Pit and the dip of which is about 60$^{\circ}$ in the northern part and 83$^{\circ}$ in the southern part. The dip of bedding becomes steeper from north to south. The plane and toppling failures are presented in many slopes. In laboratory test the average uniaxial compressive strength of mudstone was 9MPa and that of weak sandstone was 10MPa. In-situ test showed that the rocks of Roto north mining area are mostly weak enough to be classified in grade from R2(weak) to R3(medium strong weak) and the coal is classified in grades from R1(Very weak) to R2(Weak). The detailed stability analysis were carried out on 4 areas of Roto north (east, west, south and north), and 2 areas of Roto south(east and west). In this paper, the minimum factor of safety was set to 1.2 which is a general criterion for open pit mines. Using the stereographic projection analysis and the limit equilibrium method, slope angles were calculated as 30∼36$^{\circ}$ for a factor of safety greater than 1.2. Then these results were re-evaluated by numerical analysis using FLAC. The final slope angles were determined by rational described above. A final slope of 34 degrees can guarantee the stability for the eastern part of the Roto north area, 33 degrees for the western part, 35 degrees for the northern part and 35 degrees for the southern part. For the Roto south area, 36 degrees was suggested for both sides of the pit. Once the pit slope is designed based on the stability analysis and the safety measures, the stability of slope should be checked periodically during the mining operations. Because the slope face will be exposed long time to the rain fall, a study such aspreventive measures against weathering and erosion is highly recommended to be implemented.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.447-456
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• 2000

Rock bridge in rock masses can be considered as one of several types of opening-mode fractures, and also it has been known to have a great influence on the stability of structures in rock mass. In the beginning of researching a rock bridge it used to be studied only in characteristics of its behavior, as considering resistance of material itself. However the distribution pattern of rock bridges, which can affect the stability of rock structures, is currently researched with a fracture mechanical approach in numerical studies. For investigating the effect of rock bridges on the development pattern of hydraulic fractures, the author analyzed numerically the stress state transition in rock bridges and their phenomena with a different pattern of the rock bridge distributions. From the numerical studies, a two-crack configuration could be defined to be representative of the most critical conditions for rock bridges, only when cracks are systematic and same in their length and angle. Moreover, coalescence stresses and onset of propagation stresses could be known to increase with decreasing s/L ratio or increasing d/L ratio. The effect of pre-existing crack on hydraulic fracturing was studied also in numerical models. Different to the simple hydraulic fracturing modeling in which the fractures propagated exactly parallel to the maximum remote stress, the hydraulic fractures with pre-existing cracks did not propagate parallel to the maximum remote stress direction. These are representative of the tendency to change the hydraulic fractures direction because of the existence of pre-existing crack. Therefore s/L, d/L ratios will be identical as a function effective on hydraulic fractures propagation, that is, the K$_1$ value increase with decreasing s/L ratio or increasing d/L ratio and its magnification from onset to propagation increases with decreasing s/L ratio. The scanline is a commonly used method to estimate the fracture distribution on outcrops. The data obtained from the scanline method can be applied to the evaluation of stress field in rock mass.