• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.89-102
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• 2012

The buffer and backfill are important components of the engineered barrier system in a high-level waste repository, which should be constructed in a hard rock formation at a depth of several hundred meters below the ground surface. The primary function of the buffer and backfill is to seal the underground excavation as a preferred flow path for radionuclide migration from the deposited high-level waste. This study investigates the hydraulic conductivity and swelling pressure of Kyungju Ca-bentonite, which is the candidate material for the buffer and backfill in the Korean reference high-level waste disposal system. The factors that influence the hydraulic conductivity and swelling pressure of the buffer and backfill are analyzed. The factors considered are the dry density, the temperature, the sand content, the salinity and the organic carbon content. The possibility of deterioration in the sealing performance of the buffer and backfill is also assessed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.561-577
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• 2021

The compacted bentonite buffer in a geological repository for high-level radioactive waste disposal is saturated due to groundwater inflow. Saturation of the bentonite buffer results in bentonite swelling and bentonite penetration into the rock discontinuities present around the disposal hole. The penetrated bentonite is exposed to groundwater flow and can be eroded out of the repository, resulting in bentonite mass loss which can affect the physical integrity of the engineered barrier system. Hence, the evaluation of buffer-rock interactions and coupled behavior due to groundwater inflow and bentonite penetration is necessary to ensure long-term disposal safety. In this study, the effects of the bentonite penetration and swelling on the physical properties of jointed rock mass were evaluated using the quasi-static resonant column test. Jointed rock specimens with bentonite penetration were manufactured using Gyeongju bentonite and hollow cylindrical granite rock discs obtained from the KAERI underground research tunnel. The effects of vertical stress and saturation were assessed using the P-wave and S-wave velocities for intact rock, jointed rock and jointed rock with bentonite penetration specimens. The joint normal and joint shear stiffnesses of each joint condition were inferred from the wave velocity results assuming an equivalent continuum. The joint normal and joint shear stiffnesses obtained from this study can be used as input factors for future numerical analysis on the performance evaluation of geological waste disposal considering rock discontinuities.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.13-20
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• 2023

Tunnelling through the geological anomalies has widely known to have many difficulties such as bottom heave, crack of lining, squeezing and so on. To stabilize the tunnel during the construction or after construction, various reinforcing methods have been introduced and applied such as micropiling at the bottom of tunnel to prevent the bottom heave. In this study, long-term behavior of tunnel in the presence of geological anomalies was predicted using numerical analyses. To this end, material properties for swelling rock model capable of representing the rock swelling behavior was obtained using matching process with measured data to validate the adopted model. After the model validation, simulations were performed to predict the long-term behavior of tunnel in the geological anomalies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.1-15
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• 2002

동복터널의 현장지질은 편마암과 석탄층(Coal Beds)이 협재된 암질이 매우 불량한 편암으로 구성되어 있으며, 설계 시에는 석탄층의 발달이 확인되지 않아 그 영향을 충분히 고려되지 않았다. 석탄층(두께 2~8m)은 편암의 Rock Cleavage와 같은 방향과 45~55도의 경사를 가지며 pinch out and swelling 형태로 발달이 불규칙하다. 하행선굴착 중 약 290m구간에 걸쳐 석탄층이 나타났으며, 90m 구간은 천단 및 측벽부에서 집중 발달되어 쳐대일변위가 20mm이상인 지점이 발생하는 등 상반굴착 시 111.2mm의 수평방향 내공변위가, 하반굴착 시에는 최대 127.8mm의 내공변위가 발생하였고 하반관통이후 수렴되었다. 내공변위 과다발생에 대한 대책으로 지보타입을 하향 조정하였고 측벽부는 하향 록볼트를 포함한 추가록볼트 보강을 실시하였다. 한편 터널 바닥부의 석탄층은 도로포장 후 침하문제가 예상되어 인버트를 기존 강지보공과 H-beam으로 연결.폐합한 후 콘크리트로 치환(140m구간)하여 추가변위를 최소화하였으며 무근콘크리트로 설계된 라이닝은 철근콘크리트 라이닝으로 변경 시공하였다.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.89-93
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• 2003

The failure of rock slopes were influenced by weathering, which causes change in the shear strength. The weathering is also directly related to slaking and swelling characteristics. In the paper, the core of diameter loom was obtained by digging on rock slope of Kong-ju in Korea and then EDX(Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometer) analysis was carried out to verified element of chief rock-forming minerals. Uniaxial compression tests, slaking tests, and point load test are performed to study engineering characteristics of conglomerate and red shale. As a results of slaking test, slaking index of conglomerate indicate range of 85.11-99.58 and shale indicate 58.37-99.23. Therefore, it is recognized that the resistance of shale to weathering decreases in shallow depth and it greatly influences the strength of rock. The result of uniaxial compression test and Point load test show that the strength of sedimentary such as conglomerate and red shale has an influence on both weathering and saturation.

• Journal of Korean Society of societal Security
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.75-83
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• 2009

When the exposed surface of rock slopes investigated, various factors have not been considered. The factors required to be considered include the vlume swelling of rock caused by stress release at the fault zone, unexposed discontinuities in the earth and so on. Also, rock slope failure occurs sometimes due to these factors. In this paper, we intend to help engineers to judge about the stability of similar new cutting-slopes or the maintenance of already cut-slope, so that they can consider these factors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1990.10a
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• pp.35-50
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• 1990

This paper describes the importance of incorporating the titre-dependent deformation behaviour in the design and construction of tunnels in swelling rocks. Two tunnel projects, in which authors got involved in Canada, are chosen to demonstrate the importance. In diversion tunnels for Oldman River Dan Projects time-dependent deformation characteristics of the mudrocks obtained from teat tunnel program were neglected in the design and construction of the tunnels and several sectional of concrete lining in tunnels were cracked extensively. In SABNGS No.3 Projects an extensive experimental program was carried out to study time-dependent deformation behaviour of highly swelling Queenston shale, with the air of establishing the constitutional relationship for the rock-structure time interaction analysis.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.296-306
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• 1998

Ongoing huge Bakun Hydropower project is including the construction of a 210 m height hydroelectric rockfill dam with an installed capacity of 2,520 MW and a power transmission system connecting to the existing networks between Sarawak and peninsula Malaysia. In order to allow the main dam construction during the dry season, the Ballui river will have to be detoured through 3 concrete lined diversion tunnels with an internal diameter of 12 m and a length of 1,400 m each. The geology of Bakun site belongs to the several thousand meters thick Belaga formation deposited from the late Cteteceous to the early Teriary in the Northwest Borneo geosyncline. The orientation of the bedding plane, strike at N55$^{\circ}$E to N70$^{\circ}$E and dip at 50$^{\circ}$SE to 70$^{\circ}$SE, is developed uniformly in Bakun sedimentary rocks. Rock mechanical characteristics of Bakun site have been classified into 4 rock mass types(RMT) depending on the degree of weathering and the occurrence of rock jointing with RMR. Graywacke(Sandstone) as well as Shale can take place together in the same rock mass type if their rock mass properties are similar. It was summarized the rock support type and support system design of underground diversion tunnels in view of rock mechanics.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.38-51
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• 2019

Barcelona Basic Model (BBM) can describe not only swelling owing to decrease in effective stress, but also wetting-induced swelling due to decrease in suction. And the BBM can also consider increase in cohesion and apparent preconsolidation stress with suction, and decrease in the apparent preconsolidation stress with temperature. Therefore, the BBM is widely used all over the world to predict and to analyze coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of bentonite which is considered as buffer materials at the engineered barrier system in the high-level radioactive waste disposal system. However, the BBM is not well known in Korea, so this paper introduce the BBM to Korean rock engineers and geotechnical engineers. In this study, Modified Cam Clay (MCC) model is introduced before all, because the BBM was first developed as an extension of the MCC model to unsaturated soil conditions. Then, the thermo-elasto-plastic version of the BBM is described in detail.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.439-455
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• 2019

A buffer is the major component of a high level radioactive waste repository. Due to their thermal conductivity and low permeability, bentonites have been considered as a key component of a buffer system in most countries. The deep geological condition generates ground water inflow and results in swelling pressure in the buffer and backfill. Investigation of swelling pressure of bentonite buffer is an important task for the safe disposal system. The swelling pressure that can be critical is affected by mechanical and hydro properties of the system. Therefore, in this study, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the effect of hydro-mechanical (HM) behaviors in the MX-80 bentonite. Based on the results of the swelling pressure generation with HM model parameters, a coupled HM analysis of an unsaturated buffer and backfill in a deep geological repository was also carried out to investigate the major factor of the swelling pressure generation.