• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.91-97
• /
• 2008

In this paper, in-situ technique for measuring hydraulic conductivity of Excavation Disturbed Zone (EDZ) in a direct way and its application to an Underground Research Laboratory (URL) site were introduced. It was understood that both the EDZ oriented test equipment as a hardware and analysis/evaluation technique as a software should be integrated for upgrading a quality of estimated EDZ hydraulic conductivity. The well-estimated EDZ hydraulic conductivity is expected to enhance a reliability of stability evaluation for caverns under groundwater table and design of a waterproof or drainage system as well as a grout system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.4
• /
• pp.1385-1397
• /
• 2024

Bentonite is a recommended material for the multiple barriers in the final disposal of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) to prevent groundwater intrusion and nuclear species migration. However, after drying-wetting cycling during the repository construction stage and ion exchange with the concrete barrier in the long-term repository, the bentonite mechanical behaviors, including swelling capacity and hydraulic conductivity, would be further influenced by the groundwater intrusion, resulting in radioactive leakage. To comprehensively examine the factors on the mechanical characteristics of bentonite, this study presented scenarios involving MX-80 and KV-1 bentonites subjected to drying-wetting cycling and accelerated ion migration. The experiments subsequently measured free swelling, swelling pressure, and hydraulic conductivity of bentonites with intrusions of seawater, high pH, and low pH solutions. The results indicated that the solutions caused a reduction in swelling volume and pressure, and an increase in hydraulic conductivity. Specifically, the swelling capability of bentonite with drying-wetting cycling in the seawater decreased significantly by 60%, while hydraulic conductivity increased by more than three times. Therefore, the study suggested minimizing drying-wetting cycling and preventing seawater intrusion, ensuring a long service life of the multiple barriers in the LLW repository.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.108-119
• /
• 1996

Several parameters of hydraulic architecture relating to hydraulic conductance in xylem vessels were investigated in the current-year shoots of six species of deciduous oak trees. The above parameters were also investigated in the sprouts of Quercus mongolica and Q. variabilis, as well as in the seedlings of Q. mongolica and Q. acutissima. The values of specific conductivity, leaf specific conductivity and Hagen-Poiseuille's relative hydraulic conductivity relating to vessel diameter of Q. dentata were the highest in all of the species studied. The above values of most of the species studied were higher in May-June than in September-October because of increasing the vessel embolism by cavitation and so on through the growing season. The estimated values of relative hydraulic conductivity of vessel by Hagen-Poiseuille's empirical equation and the real values of hydraulic conductivity presented positive relationships in most of the species studied. Huber value and leaf specific conductity using leaf area or leaf weight generally exhibited similar patterns each other even if having some exceptions. The hydraulic conductances of sprouting shoots were much better than those of normal growing shoots in Q. rnongolica and Q. variabilis. The specific conductivity and leaf specific conductivity were rapidly decreased by the vessel embolism through cavitating just after cutting the shoots in Q. mongolica and Q. acutissima seedlings. Diurnal changes of the conductivities in the seedlings of Q. mongolica and Q. acutissima presented the possibility of their self-controlling of conductance by active moisture absorption under mild water stress. Specific conductivity and leaf specific conductivity, and so on of Q. acutissima seedlings subjected to periodical moisture stress or not have decreased through the growing season, but the influences of moisture stress to the conductance were not proved definitely because of influencing similarly and simultaneously to the development of xylem and leaf having inverse relation in the influences. The values of conductivities were higher generally in middle or upper parts of stems than root collar in the seedlings.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.706-714
• /
• 1964

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.85 no.1
• /
• pp.120-129
• /
• 1996

This study was carried out to investigate the hydraulic architecture such as relative hydraulic conductivity, Leaf specific conductivity(LSC), Huber value, Specific conductivity of the stem, branch and Junctions of stem-to-branch in Quercus mongolica trees. The hydraulic architecture of various hydraulic conductivities of stem and branch was described. The results obtained were summarized as follows : 1. The range of relative hydraulic conductivity was $2.5526{\times}10^{-12}$ to $1.2260{\times}10^{-10}m^2$ in stems, $1.6279{\times}10^{-11}$ to $6.8378{\times}10^{-11}m^2$ in branches. The relative hydraulic conductivities increased with decreasing diameter of stem and branch. The relative hydraulic conductivity of one-year-old terminal shoots were two times greater than that of the lateral shoots. 2. LSC value was larger at the top than at the base in stem. LSC is much smaller in branches than in stem ; especially smallest at branching part. 3. Hydraulic conductivities of the branching part appeared the different values with the 4 type and 4 type. Relative hydraulic conductivity, LSC, Specific conductivity and mean vessel diameter in type branching part were larger in stem than in branch part, but not found in the branching part of Y type. 4. LSC and Specific conductivity of stem increased with decreasing diameter, but Huber value slowly increased with decreasing diameter ; especially highest at less than 1cm diameter. 5. LSC, Huber value, and mean diameter of vessels were larger at 1-year-old leader shoots than at lateral shoots. 6. The mean vessel diameter in various parts of a tree decreased with decreasing diameter of stem, but the number of vessels per unit area($mm^{-2}$) increased reversely. Mean vessel diameter in stem decreased sharply at earlywood and slowly at latewood with decreasing diameter of stem.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.69-77
• /
• 2014

Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the bentonite-buffer was evaluated using the relative humidity data. The method for calculating unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was deduced from the general analytical equation representing the movement of water in unsaturated media, which was applied to the experimental results of water infiltration tests for identifying the behavior of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity according to the water saturation. Unlike the saturated condition, the hydraulic gradient and water flux were irregularly changed, and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was increased with increasing the experimental time. Swelling of bentonite grains due to the water absorption increased the volume and size of pore within bentonite, resulting in the increase of water velocity and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. This result suggested the necessity of further investigation on the correlation between the swelling degree of bentonite-buffer and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. The method used in this study can be useful technique for evaluating long-term hydraulic performance of bentonite-buffer in the radioactive waste disposal system.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.201-215
• /
• 2014

This study was performed to investigate the correlation between hydraulic conductivity and the flow rate of an aquifer, with the flow rate calculated from the laterals of the radial collector well using data obtained by the development project of riverbank filtration (Second Phase) in Changwon City. The hydraulic conductivity was empirically calculated from unconsolidated sediments collected from a sandy gravel layer along the middle-to-downstream sections of the Nakdong River. The Beyer equation produced the most suitable hydraulic conductivity from the various empirical formulas employed. The calculated hydraulic conductivity ranged from 0.083 to 0.264 cm/s, with an average value of 0.159 cm/s, suggesting that the aquifer in the study area possesses a high permeability with a good distribution of sandy gravel. The relationship between the calculated hydraulic conductivity in the aquifer and the entrance velocity into the screen, the flow rate was analyzed through the linear regression analysis. From the result of regression analysis, it showed that the hydraulic conductivity and the entrance velocity into the screen and the flow rate have a linear regression equation having about 72% of the high correlation. The result of verification in the measured data between each variable showed a high suitability from being consistent with the approximately 72% in the linear regression analysis. This study demonstrates that the groundwater flow rate can be estimated within the laterals of the radial collector well using a linear regression equation, if the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer is known. This methodology could thus be applicable to other aquifers with hydraulic conductivity and permeability parameters similar to those in the present study area.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.59-67
• /
• 2003

In this study, the change in hydraulic conductivity according to the changes in the contact area, aperture, confining pressure and temperature was observed to improve the reliability of the analysis of underground water flow. Also, the mechanical and thermal properties of domestic crystalline rocks in a great depth were obtained. It was found that the averaged intial aperture ranged from 544.33${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ to 898.62${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and it followed a log-normal distribution. The hydraulic conductivity decreased with the increase of normal stress on the fracture surface and the hydraulic conductivity decreased as temperature increased. The change in hydraulic conductivity was strongly correlated with the change in contact area. It was verified by experiments that hydraulic conductivity was inversely proportional to the contact area. The measured mechanical and thermal properties were very close to the existing typical properties of domestic granites.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.36 no.12
• /
• pp.7-16
• /
• 2020

This study presents an acoustic technique to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of soils. Acoustic attenuation and propagation velocity spectra were measured for dry and saturated sandy specimens to confirm that the relationship between Biot's characteristic frequency and its associated hydraulic conductivity exists only for saturated soils. From the experiments presented in this paper, both attenuation-based and propagation-velocity-based techniques resulted in almost identical characteristic frequencies for saturated soils. The propagation velocity based measurements, however, show a a a slightly clearer trend compared to the attenuation based measurements. The results also show that the acoustically estimated hydraulic conductivities of soils agree well with constant head laboratory test results, demonstrating that this acoustic technique can be a useful nondestructive tool to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of sandy or silty soils.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.153-163
• /
• 2020

Laboratory experiments were conducted with two different soil conditions to investigate rainfall infiltration characteristics. The soil layer materials that were tested were weathered granite soil and weathered gneiss soil. Artificial rainfall of 80 mm/hr was reproduced through the use of a rainfall device, and the volumetric water content and matric suction were measured. In the case of the granite soil, the saturation velocity and the moving direction of the wetting front were fast and upward, respectively, whereas in the case of the weathered gneiss soil, the velocity and direction were slow and downward, respectively. Rainfall penetrated and saturated from the bottom to the top as the hydraulic conductivity of the granite soil was higher than the infiltration capacity of the artificial rainfall. In contrast, as the hydraulic conductivity of the gneiss soil was lower than the infiltration capacity of the rainfall, ponding occurred on the surface: part of the rainfall first infiltrated, with the remaining rainfall subsequently flowing out. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function of weathered soils was determined and analyzed with matric suction and the effective degree of saturation.