• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.440-448
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• 2014

Hydraulic fracturing technique has been applied in various fields in order to improve the recovery of energy resources such as gas, oil and geothermal energy and research about finding out hydraulic fracturing mechanism and application has been steadily proceeded. In this study, for effective hydraulic fracturing, a scale modeling was progressed to simulate similarly with the actual site. In order to analyze the development aspect of surface crack initiation pressure during hydraulic fracturing followed by different conditions, the number of guide holes hydraulic fracturing test was carried out by setting up a hydraulic fracturing test equipment. Also, through the result, we tried to derive reliable results by comparing and analyzing the value of numerical modeling which is obtained based on the physical properties and mechanical properties with 3DEC, a three-dimensional discrete element method program. As a result, it is considered possible to generate effective crack using the guide hole.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1994.03b
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• pp.3-12
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• 1994

Based on the shear failure mechanism, hydraulic fracturing criteria are extended to three dimensional stress state. According to the situation of the directions of borehole and major principal stress axes, three equations can be derived for three dimensional hydraulic fracturing problems. By comparing these equations, a single criterion is selected for hydraulic fracturing pressure in cohesive soils. The criterion is a function of maximum principal stress, minimum principal stress and soil parameters in UU conditions. The equation indicates that with any increase in maximim principal stress, hydraulic fracturing pressure decreases. In order to prove the integrity of the criteria, laboratory tests are performed on compacted cubical specimens using true a triaxial apparatus. The shape and direction of fractures are determined by injecting colored water after fracture initiation. It is found that the direction of fractures are perpendicular to the o1 plane.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.34-42
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• 2015

Feasibility tests for the hydraulic fracturing were conducted in order to secure additional saline groundwater for irrigating to the land-based aquaculture farm. Two boreholes were placed to the aquaculture farm A and B, respectively. A hydraulic fracturing using single packer was applied to major fracture zones within two boreholes. To identify effects of hydraulic fracturing on securing additional saline groundwater, some selective methods including well logging methods, pumping tests, and groundwater quality analysis were commonly applied to the boreholes before and after the hydraulic fracturing. Enlarging/creating fracture zones, increasing water contents in bedrock near boreholes, and increasing transmissivity were observed after the hydraulic fracturing. Even though the hydraulic fracturing could be an alternative to secure additional saline groundwater to the land-based aquaculture farm, salinity of the groundwater did not meet optimal thresholds for each fingerling in two farms: Fresh submarine groundwater discharge flowed the more into borehole of the farm A that resulted in decreasing a salinity value. Increased saline groundwater quantity in the borehole of the farm B rarely affect to the salinity. Although salinity problem of groundwater limited its direct use for the farms, the mixing with seawater could be effectively used for the fingerlings during the early stage. A horizontal radial collector well placed in the alluvial layer could be an alternative for the farms as well.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.362-371
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• 2013

We conducted hollow cylinder tensile strength tests and Brazilian tests in Seokmo granite to measure tensile strength necessary for estimating the magnitude of the maximum horizontal principal stress in hydraulic fracturing stress measurements. Two different pressurization rates were used in hollow cylinder tests. Tensile strengths were determined to be higher at higher pressurization rate, which suggests that tensile strength should be measurement at the same rate used in actual in situ hydraulic fracturing tests. Considering the effect of pressurization rate and specimen size on tensile strength, the hollow cylinder tests and Brazilian tests yield similar results each other. This demonstrates that Brazilian tests can be utilized to produce representative tensile strengths for interpretation of hydraulic fracturing test results.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.57-70
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• 2002

Since early in the 90's, the need for construction of underground rock structures such as long and large section traffic tunnel, energy storage cavern, industrial facility, etc. has been largely increased because the Korean territory is not wide and about 65 % of the land consists of mountainous region. The initial rock stress measurement has been widely conducted to provide the quantitative information on the stress state of engineering site at the design stage of underground rock structures. Among the diverse methods developed for measuring rock stress, hydraulic fracturing test is most popularly used because it is applicable at pre-construction stage and has no limit in testing depth. In this paper, the characteristics of initial rock stress state in mountainous region were studied on the basis of the in-situ hydraulic fracturing stress measurement results from the 60 test boreholes in various parts of Korea.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.237-247
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• 2001

In this study, the fracture mechanics model as well as the elastic model was reviewed theoretically and four field case studies were conducted to investigate the feasibility of fracture mechanics model for hydraulic fracturing test. There was a difference between the result by fracture mechanics model and the one by elastic model. And the smaller initial crack length is, the larger the difference is. It is considered that the fracture mechanics model can be applied to the specific case of which the crack length is known. In this study, the rock tensile strength is measured using fracture mechanics model, brazilian test and elastic model. The measured tensile strength by the fracture mechanics model is the largest and the elastic model is the smallest. This result is due to the size effect of the each test. And the tensile strength from the elastic model for hydraulic fracturing test can be used to estimate the in-situ rock tensile strength.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.28 no.B
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• pp.111-116
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• 2008

Since the hydraulic fracturing field testing method was introduced first to Korean geotechnical engineers in 1994, there have been lots of progresses in a hardware system as well as an interpretation tool. The hydrofracturing system of first generation was the pipe-line type, and it has been developed to a wire-line system at their second generation. The current up-to-date system is more compact and is able to be operated by all-in-one system. With a progress in a hardware system, the software for analyzing in-situ stress regime has also been progressed. The shut-in pressure, which is the most ambiguous parameter to be obtained from hydrofracturing pressure curves, can now be acquired automatically from the various methods. While the hardware and software for hydrofracturing tests are being developed during the last decade, the author could accumulate the field test results which can cover the almost whole area of South Korea. Currently these field data are used widely in a feasibility study or a preliminary design step for tunnel construction in Korea. Regarding the difficulties in a site selection and a test performance for the in-situ stress measurement at an off-shore area, the in-situ stress regime obtained from the field experiences in the land area can be used indirectly for the design of a sub-sea tunnel. From the hydrofracturing stress measurements, the trend of magnitude and direction of in-situ stress field was shown identically with the geological information in Korea.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.2 s.48
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• pp.125-134
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• 2006

In order to establish the in-situ application of the artificial storage and recovery (ASR) technology which is used the property of the aquifer storage of groundwater. We carried out to the in-situ experiments such as borehole TV logging, pumping test and artificial hydraulic fracturing in volcanic island, Ulleungdo. In-situ experiments were conducted to divide the before- and after-hydraulic fracturing. Pumping test was achieved to confirm the two fracture zones, GL-13m and GL-21m, which are determined by the borehole TV logging. From the results of the before- and after-pumping tests, the hydraulic connectivity was confirmed to locate at GL-13m in the residual deposit zone of pumice media as alluvium. However, in the bedrock tone at GL-21m the hydraulic connectivity could be considered to faulty. Consequently, in this study area the artificial recharge has a little unsatisfied to geo-structural condition and desired to more detail investigation works.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.431-438
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• 2005

In this paper, the characteristics of excessive horizontal stress components in Korea were studied using the in-situ hydraulic fracturing stress measurement data over five hundred in 110 individual test boreholes. Based on the in-situ testing data, the magnitude and orientation of the horizontal stress component and variation of stress ratio (K) with depth were investigated. And also horizontal stress magnitude versus depth relationships and distribution limits of stress ratio components were suggested. For the subsurface space above 310 m depth in the entire territory, the stress ratio has a tendency to diminish and be stabilized with depth, but for some areas, it was revealed that the excessive horizontal stress fields with stress ratio close to 3.0 below 200 m in depth have formed. The result of investigation for excessive horizontal stress regions indicates that there exist several regions above 300 m in depth where localized excessive horizontal stresses enough to induce potentially brittle failure around future openings have formed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2018

Brazilian splitting tests, uniaxial compression tests and triaxial compression tests are carried out on the coal samples cored from Shanxi group $II_1$ coal seam of Jiaozuo coal mine, Henan province, China, to obtain their property parameters. Considering the bedding has notable effect on the property parameter of coal, the samples with different bedding angles are prepared. The effects of bedding on the anisotropic characteristics of the coal seam are investigated. A geological geomechanical model is built based on the geology characteristics of the Jiaozuo coal mine target reservoir to study the effects of bedding on the fracture propagations during hydraulic fracturing. The effects of injection pressure, well completion method, in-situ stress difference coefficient, and fracturing fluid displacement on the fracture propagations are investigated. Results show bedding has notable effects on the property parameters of coal, which is the key factor affecting the anisotropy of coal. The hydraulic cracks trends to bifurcate and swerve at the bedding due to its low strength. Induced fractures are produced easily at the locations around the bedding. The bedding is beneficial to form a complicated fracture network. Experimental and numerical simulations can help to understand the effects of bedding on hydraulic fracturing in coalbed methane reservoirs.