• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.167-174
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• 2000

Profiles of discontinuities through scanline method were investigated for the analysis of rock slope stability. Lower hemispheric projection method was used to evaluate the geometric stability and failure potential of these discontinuities. Also, safety factor was evaluated for the discontinuities of failure potential using by limit equilibrium analysis. Then, displacements of rock block due to the discontinuities were displayed by using the program UDEC(Universal Distinct Element Code) which applied the Distinct Element Method. When we determine the cut-slope in design, the characteristics of discontinuities is not represented only by strength parameters of intact rock. Therefore it is more reasonable method in assuring stability that first, construction would be preceded by the cut-slope of preliminary design, and then, cut-slope would be redetermined by elaborate site investigation in processing construction.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.109-125
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• 2023

Disposal repository for high-level radioactive waste secures its safety by means of engineered and natural barriers. The performance of these barriers should be tested and verified through various aspects in terms of short and/or long-term. KAERI has been conducting various in-situ demonstrations in KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel). After completing previous experiment, a conceptual design of an improved in-situ experiment, i.e. K-COIN (KURT experiment of THMC COupled and INteraction), was established and detailed planning for the experiment is underway. Preliminary characterizations were conducted in KURT for siting a K-COIN test site. 15 boreholes with a depth of about 20 m were drilled in three research galleries in KURT and intact rock specimens were prepared for laboratory tests. Using the specimens, physical measurements, uniaxial compression, indirect tension, and triaxial compression tests were conducted. As a result, specific gravity, porosity, elastic wave velocities, uniaxial compressive strength, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, Brazilian tensile strength, cohesion, and internal friction angle were estimated. Statistical analyses revealed that there did not exist meaningful differences in intact rock properties according to the drilled sites and the depth. Judging from the uniaxial compressive strength, which is one of the most important properties, all the specimens were classified as very strong rock so that mechanical safety was secured in all the regions.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.977-995
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• 2017

It is well accepted that rock failure mechanism influence the cutting efficiency and determination of optimum cutting parameters. In this paper, an attempt was made to research the factors that affect the failure mechanism based on discrete element method (DEM). The influences of cutting depth, hydrostatic pressure, cutting velocity, back rake angle and joint set on failure mechanism in rock-cutting are researched by PFC2D. The results show that: the ductile failure occurs at shallow cutting depths, the brittle failure occurs as the depth of cut increases beyond a threshold value. The mean cutting forces have a linear related to the cutting depth if the cutting action is dominated by the ductile mode, however, the mean cutting forces are deviate from the linear relationship while the cutting action is dominated by the brittle mode. The failure mechanism changes from brittle mode with larger chips under atmospheric conditions, to ductile mode with crushed chips under hydrostatic conditions. As the cutting velocity increases, a grow number of micro-cracks are initiated around the cutter and the volume of the chipped fragmentation is decreasing correspondingly. The crack initiates and propagates parallel to the free surface with a smaller rake angle, but with the rake angle increases, the direction of crack initiation and propagation is changed to towards the intact rock. The existence of joint set have significant influence on crack initiation and propagation, it makes the crack prone to propagate along the joint.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.86-96
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• 2004

Rock mass classification methods such as RMR, Q system and GSl have been widely adopted with certain modifications for the design of mine openings. The GSI system is the only rock mass classification system that is related to Mohr-Coulomb and Hoek-Brown strength parameters and gives a simple method to calculate the engineering properties of rock masses which can be useful input parameters for a numerical analysis. A detailed surveying for GSI mapping as well as far calculating RMR values was undertaken at Daesung and Pyunghae underground limestone mining sites. RQD values were determined for row locations in these two mining sites. Based on GSI values and intact rock strength properties, the rock mass strength modulus of elasticity as well as the Mohr-Coulomb strength parameter c$_{m}$ and $\phi$$_{m}$ were determined. GSI and RMR are correlated.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2017

Behavior of rock mass depend on the mechanical properties of intact rock and geometrical property of discontinuity distributed in rock mass. In case of rock slope, particularly, location of slope failure surface and behavior after failure are changed due to discontinuities. In this study, two 3D slope stability analysis methods were developed for two different failure types which are circular failure and planar failure, considering that failure type of rock slope is dependent on scale of discontinuity which was then applied to real rock slope to review the applicability. In case of circular failure, stable condition was maintained in natural dry condition, which however became unstable when the moisture content of the surface was increased by rainfall. In case of planar failure, rock slope become more unstable comparing to dry condition which is attributable to decrease in friction angle of discontinuity surface due to rainfall. Viewing analysis result above, analysis method proved to have well incorporated the phenomenon occurred on real slope from the analysis result, demonstrating its applicability to reviewing the slope stability as well as to maintaining the slope.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.350-363
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• 1999

The precision cyclic shear test system was established to investigate the mechanical characteristics of rough rock joints under cyclic loading conditions. Laboratory cyclic shear tests were conducted for saw-cut joints and artificial rough rock joints using Hwangdeung granite and Yeosan marble. Surface roughness and aperture characteristics of specimens were examined by measuring surface topography using the laser profilometer. Peak shear strength, phase difference during loading and unloading, and anisotropic shear behavior were investigated throughout the cyclic shear test results. These features and their subsequent variations in each loading cycle are significantly dependent upon the second order asperities and the strength of intact rock. It was observed that degradation of asperities for rough rock joints under cyclic shear loading followed the exponential degradation laws of asperity angle and that the mechanism for asperity degradation would be different depending upon the normal stress level, roughness of joint surface and the loading stage.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.212-223
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• 2014

In this study, the stability analyses for metal mine roadways at a great depth were performed. In-situ stress measurements using hydrofracturing, numerous laboratory tests for rock cores and GSI & RMR classifications were conducted in order to find the physical properties of both intact rock and in-situ rock mass distributed in the studied metal mine. Through the scenario analysis and probabilistic assessment on the results of rock mass classification, the in-situ ground conditions of mine roadways were divided into the best, the average and the worst cases, respectively. The roadway stabilities corresponding to the respective conditions were assessed by way of the elasto-plastic analysis. In addition, the appropriate roadway shapes and the support patterns were examined through the numerical analyses considering the blast damaged zone around roadway. It was finally shown to be necessary to reduce the radius of roadway roof curvature and/or to install the crown reinforcement in order to enhance the stability of studied mine roadways.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.220-228
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• 2002

Thermal flow through jointed rock mass was analyzed by numerical methods. The effect of a single set of joints on the heat conduction was analyzed by one-dimensional model and compared with the analytical solution. When a joint is completely dry, the joint behaves as a thermal break inducing jumps in temperature distribution even at steady state. Therefore when joints are completely dry, individual joint has to be taken into consideration to get a good result. When joints are partially or fully saturated, the thermal conductivity of the joints increases drastically and the jumps in temperature distribution become less severe. Therefore the effect of joint in heat conduction can be well absorbed by continuum anisotropic model whose thermal properties represent overall thermal properties of the intact part and the discontinuities. Since the effect of joints becomes less important as the degree of the saturation increases, the overall thermal response of the rock mass also becomes close to isotropic. Therefore it can be concluded that a great effort has to be made to obtain a precise in-situ thermal properties in order to get a good prediction of the thermal response of a jointed rock mass.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.158-166
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• 2009

As a basic study for investigating the development of the stress-induced crack in Hoek-Brown rock, a homogenization technique of elastic cracks is proposed. The onset of crack is monitored by Hoek-Brown empirical criterion, while the orientation of the crack is determined by the critical plane approach. The concept of volume averaging in stress and strain component was invoked to homogenize the representative rock volume which consists of intact rock and cracks. The formulation results in the constitutive relations for the homogenized equivalent anisotropic material. The homogenization model was implemented in the standard FEM code COSMOSM. The numerical uniaxial tests were performed under plane strain condition to check the validity of the propose numerical model. The effect of friction between the loading plate and the rock sample on the mode of deformation and fracturing was examined by assuming two different contact conditions. The numerical simulation revealed that the homogenized model is able to capture the salient features of deformation and fracturing which are observed commonly in the uniaxial compression test.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.289-296
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• 2014

A simple analytical approach for stability assessment of underground storage caverns against ground uplift of overburden rock above the rock caverns for high pressurized fluid such as compressed air energy storage (CAES) and compressed natural gas (CNG) was developed. In the developed approach, we assumed that failure plane of the overburden is straight upward to ground surface, and factor of safety can be calculated from a limit equilibrium analysis in terms of this cylindrical shape failure model. The frictional resisting force on the failure plane was estimated by Hoek-Brown strength criterion which replaces with Mohr-Coulomb criterion such that both intact rock strength and rock mass conditions can be considered in the current approach. We carried out a parametric sensitivity analysis of strength parameters under various rock mass conditions and demonstrated that the factor of safety againt ground uplift was more sensitive to Mohr-Coulomb strength criterion rather than Hoek-Brown criterion.