• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.243-252
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• 2017

Since the failure behavior of transversely isotropic rocks is significantly different from that of isotropic rocks, it is necessary to develop a transversely isotropic rock failure function in order to evaluate the stability of rock structures constructed in transversely isotropic rock masses. In this study, a spatial distribution function for strength parameters of transversely isotropic rocks is proposed, which is based on the Cassini oval curve proposed by 17th century astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini to model the orbit of the Sun around the Earth. The proposed distribution function consists of two model parameters which could be identified through triaxial compression tests on transversely isotropic rock samples. The original Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) failure function is extended to a three-dimensional transversely isotropic M-C failure function by employing the proposed strength parameter distribution function for the spatial distributions of the friction angle and cohesion. In order to verify the suitability of the transversely isotropic M-C failure function, both the conventional triaxial compression and true triaxial compression tests of transversely isotropic rock samples are simulated. The predicted results from the numerical experiments are consistent with the failure behavior of transversely isotropic rocks observed in the actual laboratory tests. In addition, the simulated result of true triaxial compression tests hints that the dependence of rock strength on intermediate principal stress may be closely related to the distribution of the microstructures included in the rock samples.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.194-201
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• 2008

In order to investigate the characteristics in tensile strength of transversely isotropic rock, a new anisotropic tensile failure function was suggested. According to the function, the tensile strength is minimum in the normal direction to a weakness plane and rises exponentially to its maximum on a plane perpendicular to the weakness plane. The anisotropic function is defined in terms of three strength parameters which can be identified trom direct tensile tests of transversely isotropic rocks. By incorporating the suggested function into the critical plane approach, a numerical procedure which enables to search the tensile strength and the direction of critical plane at failure was presented. The validity of the suggested numerical procedure was checked through the simulation of direct tensile tests reported in a literature. The numerical results from the simulation were in good agreements with those from the laboratory tests.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.470-479
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• 2013

Hydraulic fracturing is used as a method for promoting the fluid flow in the rock and, in the energy field such as geothermal development and the development of sales gas, many studies has been actively conducted. In many cases, hydraulic fracturing is not performed in isotropic rock and especially in the case of sedimentary rocks, hydraulic fracturing is conducted in the transverse isotropic rock. The direction of the crack growth on hydraulic fracturing does not necessarily coincides with the direction of maximum principal stress in the transverse isotropic rock. Therefore, in this study, bonded particle model with hydro-mechanical coupling analysis was adopted for analyzing the characteristics of hydraulic fracturing in transverse isotropic rock. In addition, experiments of hydraulic fracturing were conducted in laboratory-scale to verify the validity of numerical analysis. In this study, the crack growth and crack patterns showed significant differences depending on the viscosity of injection fluid, the angle of bedding plane and the influence of anisotropy. In the case of transverse isotropic model, the shear crack growth due to hydraulic fracturing appeared prominently.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.150-168
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• 2023

The anisotropic behavior of rocks is primarily attributed to the directional arrangement of rock-forming minerals and the distribution characteristics of microcracks. Notably, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks often exhibit distinct transverse isotropy in terms of their strength and deformation characteristics. Consequently, it is crucial to gain accurate insights into the deformation and failure characteristics of transversely isotropic rocks during rock mechanics design processes. The deformation of such rocks is described by five independent elastic constants, which are determined through laboratory testing. In this study, the characteristics of the directional variation of apparent elastic constants in transversely isotropic rocks were investigated using experimental data reported in the literature. To achieve this, the constitutive equation proposed by Mehrabadi & Cowin was introduced to calculate the apparent elastic constants more efficiently and systematically in a rotated Cartesian coordinate system. Four transversely isotropic rock types from the literature were selected, and the influence of changes in the orientation of the weak plane on the variations of the apparent elastic modulus, apparent shear modulus, and apparent Poisson's ratio was analyzed. Based on the investigation, a new constraint on the elastic constants has been proposed. If the proposed constraint is satisfied, the directional variation of the apparent elastic constants in transversely isotropic rocks aligns with intuitive predictions of their tendencies.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.232-240
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• 2015

Magnetotelluric (MT) survey investigates electrical structure of subsurface by measuring natural electromagnetic fields on the earth surface. For the accurate interpretation of MT data, the precise three-dimensional (3-D) modeling algorithm is prerequisite. Since MT responses are affected by electrical anisotropy of medium, the modeling algorithm has to incorporate the electrical anisotropy especially when analyzing time-lapse MT data sets, for monitoring engineered geothermal system (EGS) reservoir, because changes in different-vintage MT-data sets are small. This study developed a MT modeling algorithm for the simulation MT responses in the presence of electrical anisotropy by improving a pre-existing staggered-grid finite-difference MT modeling algorithm. After verifying the developed algorithm, we analyzed the effect of vertical transversely isotropic (VTI) anisotropy on MT responses. In addition, we are planning to extend the applicability of the developed algorithm which can simulate not only the horizontal transversely isotropic (HTI) anisotropy, but also the tiled transversely isotropic (TTI) anisotropy.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.521-532
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• 2007

Elastic wave propagations in the semi-infinite transversely isotropic cylinder under various kinds of longitudinal impact loads are analyzed using the axisymmetric finite element method and Houbolt time-integration scheme. For which the finite element program is newly constructed and verified through the comparison of present numerical results with those by other researchers. E-type glass-epoxy composite cylinders with different fiber volume fractions are adopted and studied in detail with dynamic responses of the isotropic cylinder. Three dimensional wave motions are given in graphic form to show the realistic view of the wave propagation. Nondimensionalized dynamic characteristic variables which relate the size of finite element mesh, the time step, and the wave speed are presented for obtaining accurate and stable numerical results.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.100-109
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• 2016

This study suggests three spatial distribution functions of strength parameters, which can be adopted in the derivation of failure conditions for transversely isotropic rocks. All three proposed functions, which are the oblate spheroidal function, the exponential function, and the function based on the directional projection of the strength parameter tensor, consist of two model parameters. With assumption that the cohesion and friction angle can be described by the proposed distribution functions, the transversely isotropic Mohr-Coulomb criterion is formulated and used as a failure condition in the simulation of the conventional triaxial tests. The simulation results confirm that the failure criteria incorporating the proposed distribution functions could reproduce the general trend in the variations of the axial stress at failure and the directions of failure planes with varying inclination of the weankness planes and confining pressure. Among three distribution functions, the function based on the directional projection of the strength parameter tensor yields the highest axial strength, while the axial strength estimated by the oblate spheroidal distribution function is the lowest.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.2 s.67
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• pp.119-127
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• 2007

Based on the critical plane approach, a methodology far predicting the anisotropic strength ot transversely isotropic rock is Proposed. It is assumed that the rock failure is governed by Hoek-Brown failure criterion. In order to establish an anisotropic failure function, Mohr envelope equivalent to the original Hoek-Brown criterion is used and the strength parameters m, s are expressed as scalar functions of orientation. The conjugate gradient method, which is one of the robust optimization techniques, is applied to the failure function for searching the orientation giving the maximum value of the anisotropic function. While most of the existing anisotropic strength models can be applied only when the stress condition is the same as that of conventional triaxial compression test, the proposed model can be applied to the general 3-dimensional stress conditions. Through the simulation of triaxial compression tests for transversely isotropic rock sample, the validity of the proposed method is investigated by comparing the predicted triaxial strengths and inclinations of failure plane.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.174-180
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• 2011

An anisotropic version of Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is proposed in order to provide a strength criterion for transversely isotropic rock. The concept of fabric tensor introduced by Pietruszczak & Mroz (2001) is employed to define the friction angle and cohesion as scalar functions of the fabric tensors. The anisotroy in these two strength parameters are calculated in association with the consideration of the relative rotation between the principal stress coordinate and the principal material triad. The critical plane on which the anisotropic function maximized is found by an optimization technique based on the Lagrange multiplier method. To demonstrate the performance of the anisotropic failure criterion, conventional triaxial tests on the samples having various inclinations of weakness plane are simulated and the resulting triaxial strength and dip angle of failure plane are discussed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.15 no.6 s.59
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• pp.391-399
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• 2005

In this study, stress difference between isotropic and transversely isotropic rock mass, and planar principal stresses at the periphery of the tunnel in the rock with various ratio of anisotropy were determined theoretically. Stress differences between isotropic and anisotropic calculations at crown. side walls and floor of a tunnel with assumed stress states were analyzed and compare each other by $FLAC^{2D}$, a finite differential element method. As a result, magnitude and direction of principal stresses in the case of ignoring anisotropy were different from those of anisotropic cases, whatever the stress state was. Stress difference increased as the ratio of anisotropy increased. Direction or anisotropy affected stress difference, especially in the cases of anisotropic directions of $45^{\circ}\;and\;135^{\circ}$ of counterclockwise from x direction.