• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.217-224
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• 2010

Three relatively homogeneous granitic rocks were studied to investigate the relationship between their microstructural properties and fracture toughness. Fracture toughness and ultrasonic velocity were varied with the orientation of mineral's long axis and microcrack, obtained from optical microscope. The lowest fracture toughness values are obtained, when the fracture propagates parallel to weakness planes which have the orientation of mineral's long axis and microcrack, in other words, when weakness planes develop perpendicular to the direction of tensile stress agrees with that of rift plane. The fracture toughness values, measured with the short rod method, varied from 1.63 to 2.62 MPa $m^{0.5}$, and their values are related with the average grain size and average microcrack length.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.18 no.3E
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• pp.145-150
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• 2006

An experiment with the objective of providing guidelines for joint depth determination and timing of contraction joint sawcutting to avert uncontrolled cement concrete pavement cracking has been conducted. Theoretical analysis and laboratory tests were performed to help in understanding and analyzing the field observation. Using two-dimensional elastic fracture mechanics, the influence of several parameters on crack propagation was delineated by a parametric study, involving initial notch ratio, joint spacing, Young's modulus and thermal expansion coefficient of concrete, temperature gradient, and modulus of subgrade reaction. Bimaterials made of rock plus cement mortar and rock plus polymer mortar were applied to the concrete in a field test section, and they were subjected to fracture tests. These tests have shown that fracture mechanics is a powerful tool not only in judging the quality of the jointed cement concrete pavement but also in providing a criterion for crack propagation and delamination. Based on fracture mechanics, a method is proposed to determine the joint depth, sawcut timing, and spacing of the jointed cement concrete pavement. This method has successfully been applied to a test section in Seohaean expressway. This study also summarizes the research results obtained from a field test for jointed plain concrete pavement, which was also carried out on the Seohaean expressway.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 2007.03a
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• pp.372-392
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• 2007

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 2009.03a
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• pp.21-26
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• 2009

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.227-236
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• 2000

The fracture toughness can be measured by the two testing methods using chevron-notched specimen according to the ISRM Working Group of Commission of Testing Methods. They are chevron bend (CB) test and short rod (SR) test. In this study, the suggested methods (Level I tests) were conducted on the CB and SR specimens of Chuncheon granite. In addition. the J-integral analysis was combined with an acoustic emission technique to determine the fracture toughness. The results from two telling methods were analyzed in terms of the anisotropy and the acoustic emission characteristics.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 1994

The hydraulic fracturing in a field site was performed for the measurement of in-situ stresses. For the estimation of the effect of a preexisting inclined fracture, the test on a preexisting fracture zone was also conducted. From the measurements at three shallow depths, the ratios of max. to min. horizontal stress showed the range of 1.19-1.56 and the K values showed the range of 2.62-3.86. In case of a preexisting fracture with the inclination of 15 degrees, the stresses calculated as upper bound values by considering it. It seemed from this that the inclination less than 15 degrees had small effect on the stress calculation.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.415-427
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• 2021

This technical report briefly introduced the rock cutting splitting method under development. This method is a method of excavating the rock by splitting the block after the rock cutting process. After designing the cutting geometry of the rock face, the chisel is press-fitted to remove the rock block. At this time, when the cutting block is properly designed, the tensile crack propagates smoothly at the bottom of the rock block. An analytical solution was devised to estimate the indentation force required for splitting rock blocks using fracture toughness mode 1 required for tensile crack growth. The impact force of the hydraulic breaker of the excavator was analyzed, and the grade of the excavator that can be constructed according to the rock block design geometry was analyzed.

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

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.567-574
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• 2019

In order to study the effect of stress and water pressure on the permeability of fractured rock mass under three-dimensional stress conditions, a single fracture triaxial stress-seepage coupling model was established; By using the stress-seepage coupling true triaxial test system, large-scale rock specimens were taken as the research object to carry out the coupling test of stress and seepage, the fitting formula of permeability coefficient was obtained. The influence of three-dimensional stress and water pressure on the permeability coefficient of fractured rock mass was discussed. The results show that the three-dimensional stress and water pressure have a significant effect on the fracture permeability coefficient, showing a negative exponential relationship. Under certain water pressure conditions, the permeability coefficient decreases with the increase of the three-dimensional stress, and the normal principal stress plays a dominant role in the permeability. Under certain stress conditions, the permeability coefficient increases when the water pressure increases. Further analysis shows that when the gob floor rock mass is changed from high stress to unloading state, the seepage characteristics of the cracked channels will be evidently strengthened.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 2000.09a
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• pp.201-210
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• 2000

Rock bridge in rock masses can be considered as one of several types of opening-mode fractures, and also it has been known to have a great influence on the stability of structures in rock mats. In the beginning of researching a rock bridge it used to be studied only in characteristics of its behavior, as considering resistance of material itself. However the distribution pattern of rock bridges, which can affect the stability of rock structures, is currently researched with a fracture mechanical approach in numerical studies. For investigating the effect of rock bridges on the development pattern of hydraulic fractures, the author analyzed numerically the stress state transition in rock bridges and their phenomena with a different pattern of the rock bridge distributons. From the numerical studies, a two-crack configuration could be defined to be representative of the most critical conditions for rock bridges, only when cracks are systematic and same in their length and angle. Moreover, coalescence stresses and onset of propagation stresses could be known to increase with decreasing s/L ratio or increasing d/L ratio. The effect of pre-existing crack on hydraulic fracturing was studied also in numerical models. Different to the simple hydraulic fracturing modeling in which the fractures propagated exactly parallel to the maximum remote stress, the hydraulic fractures with pre-existing cracks dial not propagate parallel to the maximum remote stress direction. These are representative of the tendency to change the hydraulic fractures direction because of the existence of pre-existing crack. Therefore s/L, d/L ratios will be identical as a function effective on hydraulic fractures propagation, that is, the $K_{I}$ vague increase with decreasing s/L ratio or increasing d/L ratio and its magnification from onset to propagation increases with decreasing s/L ratio. The scanline is a commonly used method to estimate the fracture distribution on outcrops. The data obtained from the scanline method can be applied to the evaluation of stress field in rock mass.s.