• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.184-193
• /
• 1998

In order to dispose radioactive wastes safely, it is needed to understand the mechanical, thermal, fluid behavior of rockmass and physico-chemical interactions between rockmass and water. Also, the knowledge about mechanical and hydraulic properties of rocks is required to predict and to model many conditions of geological structure, underground in-situ stress, folding, hot water interaction, intrusion of magma, plate tectonics etc. This study is based on researches about rock mechanics issues associated with a waste disposal in deep rockmass. This paper includes the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of rocks in varying temperature conditions, thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling analysis in rock mass and deformation behavior of discontinuous rocks. The mechanical properties were measured with Interaken rock mechanics testing systems and hydraulic properties were measured with transient pulse permeability measuring systems. In all results, rock properties were sensitive to temperature variation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.85 no.2
• /
• pp.247-263
• /
• 2023

The paper deals with the study of the mechanical time-harmonic forced vibration of the hydro-piezoelectric system consisting of the piezoelectric plate and compressible viscous fluid with finite depth. The exact equations of motion of the theory of linear electro-elasticity for piezoelectric materials are employed for describing the plate motion, however, the fluid flow is described by employing the linearized Navier-Stokes equations for a compressible (barotropic) viscous fluid. The plane-strain state in the plate and the plane flow of the fluid are considered and the corresponding mathematical problems are solved by employing the Fourier transform with respect to the space coordinate which is on the coordinate axis directed along the platelying direction. The expressions of the corresponding Fourier transform are determined analytically, however, the inverse transforms are found numerically. Numerical results on the interface pressure and the electrical potential are obtained for various PZT materials and these results are discussed. According to these results, in particular, it is established that the electromechanical coupling effect can significantly decrease the interface pressure.

• Coupled systems mechanics
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.125-145
• /
• 2020

In this paper, we present a 3D thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled discrete beam lattice model of structure built of the nonisothermal saturated poro-plastic medium subjected to mechanical loads and nonstationary heat transfer conditions. The proposed model is based on Voronoi cell representation of the domain with cohesive links represented as inelastic Timoshenko beam finite elements enhanced with additional kinematics in terms of embedded strong discontinuities in axial and both transverse directions. The enhanced Timoshenko beam finite element is capable of modeling crack formation in mode I, mode II and mode III. Mode I relates to crack opening, mode II relates to in-plane crack sliding, and mode III relates to the out-of-plane shear sliding. The pore fluid flow and heat flow in the proposed model are governed by Darcy's law and Fourier's law for heat conduction, respectively. The pore pressure field and temperature field are approximated with linear tetrahedral finite elements. By exploiting nodal point quadrature rule for numerical integration on tetrahedral finite elements and duality property between Voronoi diagram and Delaunay tetrahedralization, the numerical implementation of the coupling results with additional pore pressure and temperature degrees of freedom placed at each node of a Timoshenko beam finite element. The results of several numerical simulations are presented and discussed.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.397-404
• /
• 2008

Excessive amount of groundwater flowed into tunnel, while constructing Incheon international airport railway. Tunnel passes under subway line no. 2 with only 1.76 m below. To protect the existing structure, TRcM excavation method was applied. As station and construction shaft are already constructed, which are located back and forth of TRcM section, 86.4 ton per day of groundwater inflow is against expectation. To identify mechanism of excessive water inflow, hydraulic back analyses were performed. Then, hydro-mechanical coupled analysis were also performed with the hydrogeologic parameters identified, whose results are investigated for checking the stability of adjacent structures to the tunnel under construction. And a number of mechanical analyses were also performed to check the hydro-mechanical coupling effect. The result from the mechanical analysis shows that subsidence and tunnel ceiling displacement will be 0.85 mm and 1.32 mm. The result of hydro-mechanical couple analysis shows that subsidence and maximum tunnel ceiling displacement will be 1.2 mm and 1.72 mm. Additional displacements caused by groundwater draw down were identified, however, displacement is minute.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
• /
• 2007.10a
• /
• pp.227-237
• /
• 2007

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

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.423-436
• /
• 2016

Currently, there is a great interest in the coupling between multiphase fluid flow and geomechanical effects in hydrocarbon reservoirs and surrounding rocks. The ideal solution for this coupled problem is to introduce the geomechanical effects through the stress analysis solution and implement an algorithm, which assures that the equations governing the flow and stress analyses are obeyed in each time step. This paper deals with the implementation of a program (FORTRAN90 interface code), which was developed to couple conventional reservoir (ECLIPSE) and geomechanical (ABAQUS) simulators, using a partial coupling algorithm. The explicit coupled hydro-mechanical behavior of Iranian field during depletion and $CO_2$ injection is studied using the soils consolidation procedure available in ABAQUS. Time dependent reservoir pressure fields obtained from three dimensional compositional reservoir models were transferred into finite element reservoir geomechanical models in ABAQUS as multi-phase flow in deforming reservoirs cannot be performed within ABAQUS. The FEM analysis of the reservoir showed no sign of plastic strain under production and $CO_2$ injection scenarios in any part of the reservoir and the stress paths do not show a critical behavior.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.149-157
• /
• 1999

A powerful numerical method that can be used for that purpose is the Discontinuous Deformation Analysis (DDA) method developed by Shi in 1988. In this method, rock masses are treated as systems of finite and deformable blocks. Large rock mass deformations and block movements are allowed. Although various extensions of the DDA method have been proposed in the literature, the method is not capable of modeling water-block interaction that is needed when modeling surface or underground excavation in fractured rock. This paper presents a new extension to the DDA method. The extension consists of hydro-mechanical coupling between rock blocks and water flow in fractures. A example of application of the DDA method with the new extension is presented. The results of the present study indicate that fracture flow could have a destabilizing effect on the tunnel stability.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.265-280
• /
• 2023

Water leakage in tunnels is a defect that can affect tunnel stability and the ground movement by changing the stress and pore water pressure of the surrounding ground. Long-term or large-scale water leaks may lead to damage of tunnel structure and the surrounding environment, such as tunnel lining instability and ground surface settlement. The present study numerically investigated the effects of water leakage on the structural stability of a tunnel and the ground behavior. The tunnel was assumed to be under undrained conditions for preventing the inflow of the surrounding water and leaks occurred in the concrete lining after completion of the tunnel construction. A coupled hydro-mechanical analysis using a TOUGH-FLAC simulator developed in Python was conducted for assessing the leakage induced-behavior of the tunnel structure and ground under different conditions of the amount and location of water leak. Additionally, the effect of hydro-mechanical coupling terms on the results of coupled response was investigated and discussed.

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