• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.52-58
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• 2012

A TBM launching shaft in DTL2 Contract 915 site is located in a typical hard Bukit Timah granite formation and lots of blasting work is required for shaft sinking. The original blast design used the electric detonator and ANFO blasts consisting of 30 holes per one blast with 1.5 m depth of drilling hole. However, significant delay of work and poor progress were expected due to the limitation of the number of blasting hole and strict vibration regulation on retaining systems. To overcome such constraints, an efficient new blasting method which can improve productivity and satisfy vibration limit was required. The revised blast design, using triple-deck blasts with electronic detonators and cartridge emulsion explosives, gives better construction performance and can reduce construction time. Such a new blasting technique can be effectively used for similar underground projects in the future where the volume of rock blasting is significant.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2015

As TBM construction method is widely applied to construct underground transmission lines, increasing attention has been drawn to SFRC(steel fiber reinforced concrete) segment with respect to structural characteristics. Health hazards of electromagnetic wave which the underground transmission lines emit has emerged, and there is a concern that electromagnetic wave can be amplified because a segment characteristic such as electrical conductivity is changed by steel fibers. In order to analyze correlation between steel fiber dosage and electromagnetic wave, the specimens were fabricated on three conditions to perform experimental tests. From the measured data, it is proven that there is no correlation between the electromagnetic wave and steel fiber reinforced concrete.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.321-339
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• 2014

This paper concerns the development of a knowledge-based tunnel design system within the framework of artifical neural networks(ANNs). The system is aimed at expediting a routine tunnel design works such as computation of segment lining body forces and stability analysis of selected cross section. A number of sub-modules for computation of segment lining body forces and stability analysis were developed and implemented to the system. It is shown that the ANNs trained with the results of 3D numerical analyses can be generalized with a reasonable accuracy, and that the ANN based tunnel design concept is a robust tool for tunnel design optimization. The details of the system architecture and the ANNs development are discussed in this paper.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.401-408
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• 2005

Recently shield TBM tunnellings are being applied to subway construction in Korean cities. Generally these kinds of tunnellings have the problems in the stability of ground such as subsidence because urban subway is constructed in the shallow depth. A sinkhole occurred on the road just above the tunnel during tunneling in Kwangju, so a survey for upper layer of the tunnel was needed. But conventional Ground Probing Radar can't be applicable due to the presence of steel-mesh screen in the shield segment, so no existent geophysical method is applicable in this site. Because the outer surface of each shield segment is electrically insulated, dipole-dipole resistivity method which is popular in engineering site investigation, was tried to this survey for the first time. Specially manufactured flexible ring-type electrodes were installed into the grouting holes at an interval of 2.4 m on the ceiling. The K-Ohm II system which has been developed by KIGAM and tested successfully in many sites, was used in this site. The system consists of 1000Volt-1Ampere constant-current transmitter, optically isolated 24 bit sigma-delta A/D conversion receiver - maximum 12 channel simultaneous measurements, and graphical automatic acquisition software for easy data quality check in real time. Borehole camera logging with circular white LED lighting was also done to investigate the state of the layer. Measured resistivity data lack of some stations due to failing opening lids of holes, shows general high-low trend well. The dipole-dipole resistivity inversion results discriminate (1) one approximately 4 meter diameter cavity (grouted but incompletely hardened, so low resistivity - less than $30{\Omega}m$), (2) weak zone (100-200${\Omega}m$), and (3) hard zone (high resistivity - more than 1000${\Omega}m$) very well for the distance of 320 meters. The 2-D inversion neglects slight absolute 3-D effect, but we can get satisfactory and useful information. Acquired resistivity section and video tapes by borehole camera logging will be reserved and reused if some problem occurs in this site in the future.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.931-946
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• 2018

In line with the increased usability of utility pipe conduits in urban areas, construction and R&D activities of utility tunnel, incorporated with the shield TBM method, are actively under way. The utility tunnels are installed through underground excavation, and thus are relatively weak in terms of construction safety. However, hazards associated with the utility tunnel construction have not been properly identified, despite the introduction of a policy to the 'Design for Safety' for the purpose of reducing accident rates in the construction industry. Therefore, in this study, following the derivation of hazards associated with utility tunnel, these hazards were then used as the basis to uncover key safety hazards requiring extensive management in a field, which were then used to conduct a risk assessment having applied the matrix method so that the results can be utilized in risk assessment during the stages of utility tunnel planning, design, and construction, while also serving as a data reference.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.93-104
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• 2019

Anomalies and/or fractured grounds not detected by the surface geophysical and geological survey performed during design stage may cause significant problems during tunnel excavation. Many studies on prediction methods of the ground condition ahead of the tunnel face have been conducted and applied in tunneling construction sites, such as tunnel seismic profiling and probe drilling. However, most such applications have focused on the drill and blast tunneling method. Few studies have been conducted for mechanized tunneling because of the limitation in the available space to perform prediction tests. This study aims to predict the ground condition ahead of the tunnel face in TBM tunneling by using an electrical resistivity tomography survey. It compared the characteristics of each electrode array and performed an investigation on in-situ tunnel boring machine TBM construction site environments. Numerical simulations for each electrode array were performed, to determine the proper electrode array to predict anomalies ahead of the tunnel face. The results showed that the modified dipole-dipole array is, compared to other arrays, the best for predicting the location and condition of an anomaly. As the borehole becomes longer, the measured data increase accordingly. Therefore, longer boreholes allow a more accurate prediction of the location and status of anomalies and complex grounds.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.325-337
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• 2021

On the road and rail tunnels, the evacuation pathway and facilities such as smoke-control and fire suppression system are essential in tunnel fire. In the long twin tunnels, the cross-connection tunnel is usually designed to evacuate from the tunnel where the fire broke out to the other tunnel. In twin shield tunnels, the segment lining has to be demolished to construct the cross-connection tunnel. Considering the modern shield TBM is mostly the closed chamber type, the exposure of underground soil induced by removal of steel segment lining is the most danger construction step in the shield tunnel construction. This case study introduces the excavation method using the thrust of large steel pipe and reviews the measured data after the construction. The large steel pipe thrust method for the cross-connection tunnel can stabilize the excavated face with the two mechanisms. Firstly, the soil in front of excavated face is cylindrically pre-supported by the large steel pipe. Secondly, the excavated face is supported by the plugging effect caused by the soil pressed into the steel pipe. It was reviewed that the large steel pipe thrust method in the cross-connection tunnel is enough to secure the construct ability and stability in soil from the measurement results about the deformation and stress of steel pipe.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1125-1146
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• 2018

Segment lining applied to the TBM tunnel is mainly made of concrete, and it requires sufficient structural capacity to resist loads received during the construction and also after the completion. When segment lining is design to the Limit State Design, both Ultimate Limit State (ULS) and Service Limit State (SLS) should be met for the possible load cases that covers both permanent and temporary load cases - such as load applied by TBM. When design segment lining, it is important to check structural capacity at the joints as both temporary and permanent loads are always transferred through the segment joints, and sometimes the load applied to the joint is high enough to damage the segment - so called bursting failure. According to the various design guides from UK (PAS 8810, 2016), compression stress at the joint surface can generate bursting failure of the segment. This is normally from the TBM's jacking force applied at the circumferential joint, and the lining's hoop thrust generated from the permanent loads applied at the radial joint. Therefore, precast concrete segment lining's joints shall be designed to have sufficient structural capacity to resist bursting stresses generated by the TBM's jacking force and by the hoop thrust. In this study, bursting stress at the segment joints are calculated, and the joint's structural capacity was assessed using Leonhardt (1964) and FEM analysis for three different design cases. For those three analysis cases, hoop thrust at the radial joint was calculated with the application of the most widely used limit state design codes Eurocode and AASHTO LRFD (2017). For the circumferential joints bursting design, an assumed TBM jack force was used with considering of the construction tolerance of the segments and the eccentricity of the jack's position. The analysis results show reinforcement is needed as joint bursting stresses exceeds the allowable tensile strength of concrete. This highlights that joint bursting check shall be considered as a mandatory design item in the limit state design of the segment lining.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.735-747
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• 2019

Due to the lack of ground space by urbanization, the demand of utility tunnels for laying social facilities is increasing. During the construction of a utility tunnel in downtown area using a shield TBM, various problems may occur when difficult ground is encountered such as mixed ground and cobbly ground. Thus, in this study, using MIDAS GTS NX (Ver. 280), a numerical analysis was performed on characteristics of difficult ground, reinforced area, depth of cover and groundwater level to analyze the optimal ground reinforced area according to combination of parameters. As a result, it was difficult to secure stability in unconstrained excavation cases on both the mixed ground and the cobbly ground. However, when ground reinforcement grouting as much as 2.0D is applied, convergence occurred within the allowable limit, except for mixed ground with a depth of cover 30 m. In addition, excessive leakage occurred during excavation of both the mixed ground and the cobbly layers. It was able to secure stability after applying waterproof grouting.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.543-552
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• 2014

This research covers correlation analysis between the machine data measured from EPB Shield TBM construction site and the ground condition during excavation, and figures out how the machine data are affected by the change of ground conditions through single and mixed parameter analysis. It was found that when the ground is changed from hard rock to soft rock, the ratio of the cutter torque to thrust force increases. The relationship between the ratio of the cutter torque to thrust force and the penetration rate shows that the ratio has a certain range of values for hard rock; on the other hand, it increases for soft rock. It means that we can recognize a sign of appearance of weak zone by assessing the ratio of the cutter touque to thrust force according to each penetration rate. Multiple regression analysis of the machine data showed that the cutter torque increases with the increases of the total thrust force, and it decreases with the increase of the uniaxial compressive strength of the ground.