• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.161-177
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• 2017

This paper presents the design considerations and field applications on inflatable structure system to protect rapidly flooding damages in large section tunnel. This inflatable structure system is very valuably used to protect passively and rapidly the possibilities of tunnel damages by flooding threats and unusual leakage to be occurred during and after underground infrastructure. In particular, this system should be necessary in subsea tunnel. The predominant factors in the design of inflatable structure system are the leakage and friction characteristics between the inflater and tunnel liner. The analytical and experimental studies are performed to develop the design considerations and to examine the design parameters of the inflatable structure system. The analytical solutions are developed using membrane theory to suggest the design considerations. The relative friction tests of several fabric materials are also carried out to determine the friction characteristics according to the different friction conditions between inflater and tunnel surface. The test results show that the friction coefficients in wet surface condition are about 20% lower than the values in dry surface condition. In addition, virtual design of tunnel protection system for two virtual subsea tunnel sites which is under reviewing in Korea, is carried out based on this research. It is expected that the results of this research will be very useful to understand the inflater structure design and development the technology of tunnel protection structures in the future.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.195-211
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• 2016

This paper concerns a study of a knowledge-based NATM tunnel lining design for subsea tunnels. Concept for tunnel automation designing system, the development of Artificial Neural Network based technology of the tunnel design system, the learning process and verification of the technology forecasting member forces were described. The design system is the series of process which can predict segmental lining member forces by ANN(artificial neural network system), analyze suitable section for the designated ground, construction and tunnel conditions using a FEM(finite element analysis). The lining member forces are predicted based on the ANN quickly and it helps designers determine its segmental lining dimension easily.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.336-348
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• 2010

The Single-channel seismic survey with the source of bubble pulser and drilling survey was carried out in 2008 and 2009 for the site survey of Daecheon-Wonsando area, which was a proposed area of Korea-China subsea tunnel. The goal of this study is to analyze the depth and characteristics of acoustic basement for the stability assessment and tunnel design in this proposed area through combining drilling data with this single-channel seismic data after detailed processing. For this purpose, among the data processing schemes which are usually applied to multi-channel seismic data, we applied the F-K filtering to eliminate the AC(alternating current) noise and the post-stack depth migration to produce depth section. As a result, we verified that the improved depth section could be obtained from single-channel seismic data, and the distribution and characteristics of basement could be analyzed in survey area through the combined analysis with drilling data. However, we could not interpret the detailed structures, fault and fracture zone, due to the quality of bubble pulser source and single-channel data. We expect that those detailed structures can be analyzed when higher resolution seismic data is provided. Therefore, we recommend some items for future seismic survey of subsea tunnel to obtain the high resolution seismic data.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.716-724
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• 2008

In the case of subsea tunnels, hydro-mechanical coupled analysis is necessary for an exact design and construction. The consideration of the overstretched ground condition is also required because they are usually located at the great depth unlike the usual tunnels. Many researches have been performed on the estimation of relaxed rock mass height. However, there have been no researches on the estimation of relaxed rock mass height under overstretched ground conditions. In this study, therefore, hydro-mechanical coupled analyses were performed under the overstressed ground conditions and the relaxed rock mass heights were estimated based on the contour of the local safety factor around a tunnel.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.109-117
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• 2016

This paper is focused on the determination of friction parameter which is a predominant factor in the design of inflatable structure system. This inflatable structure system is very valuably used to protect passively and rapidly the possibilities of tunnel damages by flooding threats and unusual leakage to be occurred during and after underground infrastructure construction. In particular, this system should be necessary in subsea tunnel. This study presents the experimental results obtained from the relative friction characteristics tests of the fabric materials that constitute the inflatable structure. In order to evaluate the relative friction behaviour of the inflatable structure system, friction tests and scaled model tunnel friction tests are carried out. The friction tests are carried out to determine the friction coefficient for different surface conditions between tunnel and inflatable structure. These friction coefficients are then evaluated and compared with the result obtained from the model tunnel friction tests. Interaction behaviours between tunnel and system are also reviewed and described in this study. The results clearly show that the friction coefficients derived from scaled model slippage tests are about 12% lower than values obtained from the friction tests. In addition, this study will be necessary to verify the real friction behaviour with prototype tests before applying in practice.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2008

When constructing subsea underground structures, the influence of high water and seepage pressure acting on the structures can not be neglected. Thus hydro-mechanical coupled analysis should be performed to estimate the behavior of the structures precisely In practice, relaxed rock load is generally used for the design of tunnel concrete lining. A method based on the distribution of local safety factor around a tunnel was proposed for the estimation of a height of relaxed rock mass ($H_{relaxed}$). In this study, the validation of the suggested method is investigated in the framework of hydro-mechanical coupled analyses. It was suggested that inducing inflow by pumping through a drainage well gave more reliable results than inducing inflow with shotcrete hydraulic characteristics in case of rock condition of Class III. In this study, therefore, inducing inflow by pumping through a drainage well are adopted in estimating $H_{relaxed}$ due to a tunnel excavation with the rock condition of Class I, III, and V. Also the estimated $H_{relaxed}$ results are compared with those of the existing suggested methods. As the result of this study, it is confirmed that estimating $H_{relaxed}$ based on the distribution of local safety factor around a tunnel can be effectively used even for the case of hydro-mechanical coupled analysis. It is also found that inducing inflow pumping through a drainage well gives more precise and consistent Hrelaxed of a subsea structure.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2009

When constructing a subsea tunnel in discontinuous rock mass, fluid flow in joints has a great influence on the behavior of the tunnel so that hydro-mechanical coupled analysis should be performed for the stability estimation. In practice, relaxed rock load is generally used for the design of tunnel concrete lining. In a continuum analysis, a method based on the distribution of local safety factor around a tunnel was proposed for the estimation of a potential relaxed zone. However, in the case of discontinuous rock mass in which joints are developed, the whole stability of tunnels depends on the behavior of the joints. In this study, therefore, a method is proposed for the estimation of a potential relaxed zone occurred by the excavation of a tunnel in discontinuous rock mass. The suggested method is validated by sensitivity analysis and the comparison with the results of continuum analysis.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1147-1159
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• 2018

This study focuses on the verification of a rapid protection automation system using an inflatable structure. The inflatable structure is an automatic rapid protection system against human and material damage when the subsea tunnel is flooded. Especially, it is essential for construction and operation of subsea tunnels. In this study, we have experimentally verified the rapid protection automation system using the inflatable structure designed for this problem. In order to verify this, a model tunnel with a 40: 1 reduction ratio was constructed, and air pressure of 0.1 bar and 0.15 bar was injected to divide the tunnel according to the expansion rate at 10 sec and 20 sec. According to the results of the study, the protection efficiency was better at 0.15 bar than 0.1 bar when the expansion structure was expanded, and the protection efficiency and influent control efficiency were different according to the pneumatic injection time of the inflating structure. As a result of this study, it was found that the higher the internal air pressure of the inflated structure and the faster the inflation of rate, the more effectively the inflated structure was inflated. As a result of this study, it is necessary to further study the wedge type structure which is useful for the storage method of expansion structure, shape and expansion derivative, inhibition of expansion structure during protection and control of inflow water.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.145-160
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• 2018

Long subsea tunnel is subject to many restrictions in terms of spatial limitation when vertical or inclined shafts are built for tunnel ventilation. So, the construction of some artificial island is required to provide ventilation. But, because of construction difficulty and cost increase, it is necessary to minimize the artificial island construction. As a result, ventilation distance become longer and supply airflow becomes excessive due to air leakage, So, duct mounting for temporary ventilation is impossible or fan pressure and power increase exponentially. Therefore, in order to build a long subsea tunnel, it is necessary to overcome these practical problems and to develop technical solution that can keep the comfortable condition of tunnel environment during construction. In previous study, we have found that air leakage is the key factor in solving these problems and experimental results show that the new connection method has a leakage rate of about $1.46mm^2/m^2$ (Jo et al., 2017). In this study, we present the experimental results of the measurement of the leakage rate of the prototype with the new connection method, and analyze experimentally the improvement of the leakage rate when applying the flexible cover inside the duct to improve the leakage performance of the existing connection method.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.235-244
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• 2016

Grouting is frequently used before the construction of subsea tunnels to mitigate problems that can occur in weak ground zones such as joints, faults or unconsolidated settlements during construction. The grout material injected into rock mass often flows through the discontinuities present in the host rock and hence, joint properties such as its distribution, roughness and thickness greatly affect the properties of grouting-improved rocks. The grouting-improved zones near subsea tunnels are also subjected to high water pressures that can cause long-term weathering in the form of changes in grout microstructure and crack formation and lead to subsequent changes in ground properties. Therefore, an assessment method is needed to accurately measure changes in the grouting-improved zones near subsea tunnels. In this study, the elastic wave propagation characteristics in grouting-improved rocks were tested for various axial stress levels, curing time, joint roughness and thickness conditions under laboratory conditions and the results were compared with wave velocity standards in different Korean rock mass classification systems to provide a basis for inferring improvement in grouted rock-mass.