• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.125-148
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• 1993

Groundwater flow in fractured rock masses is controlled by combined effects of fracture networks, state of geostafic stresses and crossflow between fractures and rock matrix. Furthermore the scaie dependent, anisotropic properties of hydraulic parameters results mainly from irregular paftems of fracture system, which can not be evaluated properly with the methods available at present. The basic assumpfion of discrete fracture network model is that groundwater flows only along discrete fractures and the flow paths in rock mass are determined by geometric paftems of interconnected fractures. The characteristics of fracture distribution in space and fracture hydraulic parameters are represented as the probability density functions by stochastic simulation. The discrete fracture network modelling was aftempted to characterize the groundwater flow in the vicinity of existing large cavems located in Wonjeong-ri, Poseung-myon, Pyeungtaek-kun. The fracture data of $1\textrm{km}^2$ area were analysed. The result indicates that the fracture sets evaluated from an equal area projection can be grouped into 6 sets and the fracture sizes are distributed in longnormal. The conductive fracture density of set 1 shows the highest density of 0.37. The groundwater inflow into a carvem was calculated as 29ton/day with the fracture transmissivity of $10^{-8}\textrm{m}^2/s$. When the fracture transmissivity increases in an order, the inflow amount estimated increases dramatically as much as fold, i.e 651 ton/day. One of the great advantages of this model is a forward modelling which can provide a thinking tool for site characterization and allow to handle the quantitative data as well as qualitative data.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.1 s.66
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• pp.32-42
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• 2007

Severe damage can occur around deposition holes due to complex interaction of thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) loading during the long term operation of high level radioactive waste repository. Many candidate sites for repository are located in crystalline rock mass, therefore mechanism of damage follows the form of brittle fracture and failure. This paper briefly introduces major outcomes from 15 years international collaborative project, DECOVALEX, and presents major study results for current ongoing benchmark test study from DECOVALEX-THMC, to evaluate the effect of THM loading to rock mass in excavation damaged zone (EDZ) near deposition holes. Through benchmark test model by simplifying THM loading to boundary loading obtained numerical results are compared, and discrete fracture interaction after up to 1 million years operation is discussed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.447-456
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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 mass. 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 distributions. 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 did 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$_1$ value 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.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.248-260
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• 2004

Damage in brittle rock due to stress increase starts from initiation of microcracks, and then results in failure by forming macro failure planes due to propagation and coalescence of these discrete cracks. Conventionally, continuum approaches using macro-failure criteria or a number of elasto-plastic models have been major solution to implement rock damage and failure. However, actual brittle failure processes can be better described in phenomenological approach if initiation and propagation of discrete fractures are explicitly considered. This study presents damage and failure process of rock using a boundary element code, FRACOD, which has been developed to model fracturing process of rocks. Through a series of numerical uniaxial compressive tests, the feasibility of the developed model was verified, and realistic rock failure process was reproduced considering scale effects in rocks. In addition, the fracturing process and the corresponding rock damage in the vicinity of deep shaft in rock mass were presented as an application of this approach. This approach will be expected to contribute to finding better engineering solutions for the analysis of stability problems in brittle rock masses.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.251-265
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• 1995

One of the most important matters in stress measurement by hydraulic fracturing technique is the determination of the breakdown pressure, reopening pressure, and shut-in pressure, since these values are the basic input data for the calculation of the in-situ stress. The control of the fracture propagation is also important when the hydraulic fracturing technique is applied to the development of groundwater system, geothermal energy, oil, and natural gas. In this study, a laboratory scale hydraulic fracturing device was built and a series of model tests were conducted with cube blocks of Machon gabbro. A new method called 'flatjack method' was adopted to determine shut-in pressure. The initial stress calculated from the shut-in pressure measured by flatjack method showed much higher accuracy than the stress determined by the conventional method. The dependency of the direction of fracture propagation on the state of the initial stresses was measured by introducin g artificial slots in the borehole made by water jet system. Numerical modeling by BEM was also performed to simulate the fracture propagation process. Both results form numerical and laboratory tests showed good agreement. From this study which provides the extensive results on the determination of shut-in pressure and the control of fracture propagation which are the critical issue in the recent hydraulic fracturing, it is conclued that in-situ stress measurement and the control of fracture propagation could be achived more accurately.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.220-229
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• 2001

This study was performed to evaluate the fracture resistance of three improved die stone materials according to water/powder ratio. There are lots of handling conditions which affect the physical properties of improved dental stone, and it's well known that the water/powder ratio significantly affect the strength of die stone. If water/power ratio was incorrect, following disadvantages were showed : (1) susceptibility to dimensional change due to abrasion, (2) limited reproduction of fine detail, (3) lack of strength. The maxillary master casts were made of additional silicone impressions(Exaflex, GC America. Inc. USA). Three type IV die stones such as Fuji Rock (GC Europe Intreleuvenlaan, Leuven, Belgium), Velmix(Kerr, Manufacturing company, USA), and Crytal Rock( Maruishi Gypsum Co. Ltd, Japan) were tested. A total of 160 casts were prepared, separated, and tested on the Instron Testing Machine(Model 4201, Co. USA). The obtained results of this study were as follows : 1. Fuji Reck and Velmix less 3ml than the water/power ratio of manufacturer's instruction showed the highest resistance to fracture. According to increasing water/powder ratio, fracture resistance was significantly increased(P<0.05). Crystal Rock showed the highest fracture value when it was mixed with the water/power ratio of manufacturer's instruction. 2. Water/powder ratio of the manufacturer's instructions and less 3ml than that showed lower fracture value of hand mix than that of vacuum mix. Water/powder ratio of more 3ml, 6ml than manufacturer's instructions was not significantly different between hand mix and vacuum mix(p>0.05). 3. Velmix had the highest viscoelastic value among three die materials when it was mixed with the manufacturer's instruction. Viscoelasticity was decreased according to increasing water/powder ratio.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

Earthquake can change underground stress condition around the hypocenter and affect the fracture systems of the rocks. In Korea, the M5.8 Gyeongju earthquake on September 12, 2016 and M5.4 Pohang earthquake on November 15, 2017 occurred inside the Yangsan fault zone and possibly affected the fracture systems in the Yangsan fault zone and nearby rock masses. In this study, the characteristics of the fracture system (fracture orientation, number of the fractures, fracture spacing and aperture, dip angle, fracture density along depth, and relative rock strength) of the rocks in the low/intermediate level radioactive waste repository site located in the coastal area of the East Sea are analyzed by the impact of the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes using acoustic televiewer data taken from the boreholes at the radioactive waste repository site in 2005 and 2018. As a result of acoustic televiewer logging analysis, the fracture numbers, fracture aperture, and fracture density along depth overall increased in 2018 comparing to those in 2005. This increase tendency may be due to changes in the fracture system due to the impact of the earthquakes, or due to weathering of the wall of the boreholes for a long period longer than 10 years after the installation of the boreholes in 2005. In the borehole KB-14, on the whole, the orientation of the fractures and the average fracture spacing are slightly different between 2005 and 2018, while dip angle and relative rock strength in 2005 and 2018 are similar each other.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2021

It is important to evaluate the fracture network in a rock volume because fractures control the ground conditions and fluid flow characteristics. Therefore, various attempts have been made to quantify fracture networks to better understand ground and flow conditions. The use of fracture density alone (a quantitative parameter based on geometric analysis) does not fully explain the evolution of fracture networks, or quantify the spatial relationship (e.g. connectivity) of fractures in a rock mass. Therefore, the need for fracture network characterization based on topological analysis has recently emerged. In Korea however, the topological analysis of fracture networks within a rock mass has rarely been studied. As such, the definition of the topological analysis of fracture networks and the graph theory related to the topological analysis are briefly summarized in this study. We also introduce an application method for these analyses to fracture characterization. If the topological method is used for the analysis of fracture networks, it can also be adopted to analyze fluid flow characteristics of groundwater, characterize petroleum reservoirs, and analyze the evolution of a fracture network. In addition, topological analysis can be useful for site selection of major facilities such as nuclear waste disposal sites because it can be used to evaluate the stability of the potential sites.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2021

The hydraulic fracturing developed to improve permeability of tight reservoir is one of key stimulation technologies for developing unconventional resources such as shale gas and deep geothermal energy. The experimental study was conducted to improve disadvantage of hydraulic fracturing which has simple fracture pattern and poor fracturing efficiency. The fracturing experiments was conducted for tight rock using various fracturing fluids, water, N2, and CO2 and the created fracture pattern and fracturing efficiency was analyzed depending on fracturing fluids. The borehole pressure increased rapidly and then made fractures for hydraulic fracturing with constant injection rate, however, gas fracturing shows slowly increased pressure and less fracture pressure. The 3D tomography technic was used to generate images of induced fracture using hydraulic and gas fracturing. The stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) was estimated increment of 5.71% (water), 12.72% (N2), and 43.82% (CO2) respectively compared to initial pore volume. In addition, permeability measurement was carried out before and after fracturing experiments and the enhanced permeability by gas fracturing showed higher than hydraulic fracturing. The fracture conductivity was measured by increasing confining stress to consider newly creating fracture and closing induced fracture right after fracturing. When the confining stress was increased from 2MPa to 10MPa, the initial permeability was decreased by 89% (N2) and 50% (CO2) respectively. This study shows that the gas fracturing makes more permeability enhancement and less reduction of induced fracture conductivity than hydraulic fracturing.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.237-249
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• 2019

The roughness changes on a fracture surface were analyzed via a multi-stage compression test under high temperatures to assess how the cracks in a rock mass affect groundwater movement. The analyzed samples consist of coarse granitic rocks from approximately 40 and 270 m depth, and fine granitic rocks from 500 m depth. The compression test was conducted on $20{\times}40{\times}5mm$ samples using a loading system where the pressure increases in 10 MPa increments to 120 MPa. A high-resolution 3D confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) was used to observe the surface changes, including the roughness changes, at each pressure step. The roughness change was calculated based on the roughness factor. The experimental results indicate that the roughness of the fracture surface varies with rock type under the stepwise pressure conditions. These data provide a basis for predicting groundwater flow along rock fractures.