• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2010

The present study developed a program which can assess the reliability of tunnel support systems based on a probability-based method. The developed program uses FLAC2D as a solver, and can automatically execute all the processes, associated with numerical and probabilistic analysis. Since a numerical analysis, which models the ground, requires a significant calculation time, it is actually impossible to apply simulation-based methods to probabilistic assessment on the reliability of tunnel support systems. Therefore, the present study used a point estimate method, which is efficient for probabilistic analysis since the method can significantly reduce the number of samples when compared with the simulation-based method. The developed program was applied to a tunnel project, and the results were compared with those through a deterministic approach. From the comparison, it was identified that a probabilistic approach can quantitatively assess the reliability of tunnel support systems based on probability of failure and can be used as a tool for decision making in tunnel support designs.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.115-129
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• 2015

The cut-slope of a large-sectional tunnel portal is recognized as a potential area of weakness due to unstable stress distribution and possible permanent displacement. This paper presents a case study of a slope failure and remediation for a large-scale cut-slope at a tunnel portal. Extensive rock-slope brittle failure occurred along discontinuities in the rock mass after 46 mm of rainfall, which caused instability of the upper part of the cut-slope. Based on a geological survey and face mapping, the reason for failure is believed to be the presence of thin clay fill in discontinuities in the weathered rock mass and consequent saturationinduced joint weakening. The granite-gneiss rock mass has a high content of alkali-feldspar, indicating a vulnerability to weathering. Immediately before the slope failure, a sharp increase in displacement rate was indicated by settlement-time histories, and this observation can contribute to the safety management criteria for slope stability. In this case study, emergency remediation was performed to prevent further hazard and to facilitate reconstruction, and counterweight fill and concrete filling of voids were successfully applied. For ultimate remediation, the grid anchor-blocks were used for slope stabilization, and additional rock bolts and grouting were applied inside the tunnel. Limit-equilibrium slope stability analysis and analyses of strereographic projections confirmed the instability of the original slope and the effectiveness of reinforcing methods. After the application of reinforcing measures, instrumental monitoring indicated that the slope and the tunnel remained stable. This case study is expected to serve as a valuable reference for similar engineering cases of large-sectional slope stability.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.639-650
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• 2019

Time-domain commercial codes are widely used to evaluate the seismic behavior of tunnels. Those tools offer a good insight into the performance and the failure mechanism of tunnels under earthquake loading. Viscous damping is generally employed in the dynamic analysis to consider damping at very small strains in some cases, and the Rayleigh damping is commonly used one. Many procedures to obtain the damping parameters have been proposed but they are seldom discussed. This paper illustrates the influence of the Rayleigh damping formulation on the tunnel visco-elastic behavior under earthquake. Four Rayleigh damping determination procedures and three soil shear velocity profiles are accounted for. The results show significant differences in the free-field and in the tunnel response caused by different procedures. The difference is somewhat decreased when the soil site fundamental frequency is increased. The conventional method which consists of using solely the first soil natural mode to determine the viscous damping parameters may lead to an unsafe seismic design of the tunnel. In general, using five times site fundamental frequency to obtain the damping formulation can provide relatively conservative results.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.405-417
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• 2023

The submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is tethered by mooring lines anchored to the seabed, therefore, the structural integrity of the anchor should be sensitively managed. Despite their importance, reaction forces cannot be simply measured by attaching sensors or load cells because of the structural and environmental characteristics of the submerged structure. Therefore, we propose an effective method for estimating the reaction forces at the seabed anchor of a submerged floating tunnel using a structural pattern model. First, a structural pattern model is established to use the correlation between tunnel motion and anchor reactions via a deep learning algorithm. Once the pattern model is established, it is directly used to estimate the reaction forces by inputting the tunnel motion data, which can be directly measured inside the tunnel. Because the sequential characteristics of responses in the time domain should be considered, the long short-term memory (LSTM) algorithm is mainly used to recognize structural behavioral patterns. Using hydrodynamics-based simulations, big data on the structural behavior of the SFT under various waves were generated, and the prepared datasets were used to validate the proposed method. The simulation-based validation results clearly show that the proposed method can precisely estimate time-series reactions using only acceleration data. In addition to real-time structural health monitoring, the proposed method can be useful for forensics when an unexpected accident or failure is related to the seabed anchors of the SFT.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.95-106
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• 2009

Numerical analysis of the progressive failure of a rock slope was conducted using a 3-D rock joint element considering fracture mechanics and subcritical crack growth of asperities in the rock joints. Even though the stress state in the rock slope is not changing, the elapse of time causes subcritical crack growth to break asperities in the joints. The increase of broken asperities causes failure of joints in the rock slope and the increase of failed joints results in failure of a jointed rock slope. As a result, the progressive failure of a jointed rock slope due to the gradual breaking of small asperities along joints generated by subcritical crack growth occurs at a lower stress than if rock failure occurred by exceeding the static strength or fracture toughness.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.76-85
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• 2015

We have developed a software to predict failure time of the rock slope based on analysis of the data from real time displacement measurements with respect to time. The software consists of four modules that play roles in analytical methods such as inverse velocity method, log time-log velocity method, log velocity-log acceleration method and nonlinear least square method to estimate failure time. VisualBasic.NET on the MS Visual Studio platform was utilized as a development tool to efficiently implement the modules and the graphical user interface of the software. Displacement data obtained from laboratory physical model studies of plane sliding were used to explore the applicability of the software, and to evaluate the possibility of predicting potential slope failure. It seems possible to estimate failure time using developed software for sliding plane having exponential type of deformability.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.212-223
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• 1992

The distinct element method(DEM) si well suited to the kinematic analysis of blocky rock masses. Two distinctive problems, a rock avalache and tunnel in jointed rock masses, are chosen to apply the DEM which is based on perfectly rigid behaviour of blocks. Investigated for both problems are the effects of the input parameters such as contact stiffnesses, friction coefficient and damping property. Using various types of models of the avalanche and tunne, an extensive parametric study is done to gain experiences in the method, and then to alleviate difficulties in determining parameter values suitable for a given problem. The coefficient of frictio has significant effects on all aspects of avalanche motion(travel distance, velocity and travel time), while the stiffnesses affect the rebounding and jumping motions after collision. The motion predicted by the models having single and mutiple blocks agrees well to the observations reported on the actual avalache. For the tunnel problem, the behaviour of the key block in an example tunnel is compared by testing values of the input parameters. The stability of the tunnel is dependent primarily on the friction coefficient, while the stiffness and damping properties influence the block velocity. The kinematic stability of a tunnel for underground unclear waste repository is analyzed using the joint geometry data(orientation, spacing and persistence) occurred in a tailrace tunnel. Allowing a small deviation to the mean orientation results in different modes of failure of the rock blocks around the tunnel. Of all parameters tested, the most important to the stability of the tunnel in blocky rock masses are the geometry of the blocks generated by mapping the joint and tunnel surfaces in 3-dimensions and also the friction coefficient of the joints particularly for the stability of the side walls.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.269-276
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• 2019

The cracking and spalling caused by fracture of concrete lining have adverse impacts on serviceability and durability of the tunnel, and the subsequent maintenance work for damaged structure needs to be specific to the damaging causes. In this paper, a particular case study of an operational tunnel structure is presented for the serious cracking and spalling behaviours of concrete lining, focusing on the multi-factors inducing lining failure. An integrated field investigation is implemented to characterize the spatial distribution of damages and detailed site situations. According to results of nondestructive inspection, insufficient lining thickness and cavity behind lining are the coupled-inducement of lining failure bahaviors. To further understanding of the lining structure performance influenced by these multiple construction deficiencies, a reliable numerical simulation based on extended finite element method (XFEM) is performed by using the finite element software. The numerical model with 112 m longitudinal calculation, 100 m vertical calculation and 43 m vertical depth, and the concrete lining with 1450 solid elements are set enrichment shape function for the aim of simulating cracking behavior. The numerical simulation responses are essentially in accordance with the actual lining damaging forms, especially including a complete evolutionary process of lining spalling. This work demonstrates that the serious lining damaging behaviors are directly caused by a combination of insufficient thickness lining and cavity around the surrounding rocks. Ultimately, specific maintenance work is design based on the construction deficiencies, and that is confirmed as an efficient, time-saving and safe maintenance method in the operational railway tunnel.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.383-400
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• 2009

Low rise building roofs can be subjected to large fluctuating pressures during a tropical cyclone resulting in fatigue failure of cladding. Following the damage to housing in Tropical Cyclone Tracy in Darwin, Australia, the Darwin Area Building Manual (DABM) cyclic loading test criteria, that loaded the cladding for 10000 cycles oscillating from zero to a permissible stress design pressure, and the Experimental Building Station TR440 test of 10200 load cycles which increased in steps to the permissible stress design pressure, were developed for assessing building elements susceptible to low cycle fatigue failure. Recently the 'Low-High-Low' (L-H-L) cyclic test for metal roofing was introduced into the Building Code of Australia (2007). Following advances in wind tunnel data acquisition and full-scale wind loading simulators, this paper presents a comparison of wind-induced cladding damage, from a "design" cyclone proposed by Jancauskas, et al. (1994), with current test criteria developed by Mahendran (1995). Wind tunnel data were used to generate the external and net pressure time histories on the roof of a low-rise building during the passage of the "design" cyclone. The peak pressures generated at the windward roof corner for a tributary area representative of a cladding fastener are underestimated by the Australian/New Zealand Wind Actions Standard. The "design" cyclone, with increasing and decreasing wind speeds combined with changes in wind direction, generated increasing then decreasing pressures in a manner similar to that specified in the L-H-L test. However, the L-H-L test underestimated the magnitude and number of large load cycles, but overestimated the number of cycles in the mid ranges. Cladding elements subjected to the L-H-L test showed greater fatigue damage than when experiencing a five hour "design" cyclone containing higher peak pressures. It is evident that the increased fatigue damage was due to the L-H-L test having a large number of load cycles cycling from zero load (R=0) in contrast to that produced during the cyclone.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.743-748
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• 2010

The stability forecasting of rock slope is more difficult than soil slope because catching the sign of failure in monitoring is not easy and deformation of the rock is small in failure process. But in the rock slope, there is small deformation like crack propagation in rock itself and it accumulates gradually in failure process. If it is possible to detect the small change in the rock slope, we can know the failure time exactly. Because the individual signal is gathered in the acoustic emission monitoring, it is possible to monitoring the slope if many sound signal is accumulated. Detection test of acoustic emission was performed. Uniaxial, two types of bending test, and two plane shear test were done with various cement paste sample. Wave propagation velocity of uniaxial test sample was increased with curing time. Wave Analysis give us the result that there is a AE sign signal before the failure, the AE count is suddenly increased. And frequency level 125kHz before failure is changed to level 200-250kHz after failure. In two plane shear test we can catch the AE signal and can know the failure type from wave shape. Monitoring test site is tunnel slope in Hongcheon but special signal is not collected.