• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.16 no.3 s.62
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• pp.259-276
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• 2006

In rock mass subject to high in-situ stresses, the failure process of rock is dominated by the stress-induced fractures growing parallel to the excavation boundary. When the ratio of in situ stresses compared to rock strength is greater than a certain value, progressive brittle failure which is characterized by popping and spatting of rock debris occurs due to stress concentration. Traditional constitutive model like Mohr-Coulomb usually assume that the normal stress dependent frictional strength component and the cohesion strength component are constant, therefore modelling progressive brittle failure will be very difficult. In this study, a series of numerical analyses were conducted for surrounding rock mass near crude oil storage cavern using CW-FS model which was known to be efficient for modelling brittle failure and the results were compared with those of linear Mohr-Coulomb model. Further analyses were performed by varying plastic shear strain limits on cohesion and internal friction angle to find the proper values which yield the matching result with the observed failure in the oil storage caverns. The obtained results showed that CW-FS model could be a proper method to characterize essential behavior of progressive brittle failure in competent rock mass.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.2 s.67
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• pp.139-151
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• 2007

Stereophotogrammetry is a method to extract information of an interested area by constructing a stereo-image from two or more photos. In this study, the stereophotogrammetry was adopted to obtain the joint orientation and trace length from a sampling window and its measurements were compared with the result by a clinocompass and measuring tape to evaluate the applicability of the stereophotogrammetry to rock joint survey. A commercial stereophotogrammetry program, ShapeMetriX 3D, was used for this purpose. Firstly, the accuracy of the measuring method using ShpaeMetrix 3D was evaluated by a model test. Secondly, joint orientations on a rock slope and tunnel were obtained by using ShapeMetriX 3D and compared with the measurement by a clinocompass. Finally. the effect of base-depth ratio in photographing was evaluated by comparing images with various base-depth ratios, and the usefulness of closed-up photographing on a rock exposure to increase the measurement accuracy was tested. The dip and dip direction of each model plane obtained by ShapeMetriX 3D showed an error ranged between $-5^{\circ}\;and\; 5^{\circ}$ on the basis of the results by the measuring tape. Base-depth ratio proved not to influence the analysis result by ShapeMetriX 3D if all the images were taken without any hidden area. The close-up photographing turned out useful to obtain the detailed images and therefore precise result when ShapeMetriX 3D was adopted.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.2 s.67
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• pp.109-118
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• 2007

The excavation damaged zone (EDZ) is an area around an excavation where in situ rock mass properties, stress condition. displacement. groundwater flow conditions have been altered due to the excavation. Various studies have been carried out on EDZ, but most studies have been focused on the mechanical bahavior of EDZ by in situ experiment. Even though the EDZ could potentially form a high permeable pathway of groundwater flow, only a few studies were performed on the analysis of groundwater flow in EDZ. In this study, the' hydraulic EDZ' was defined as the rock Lone adjacent to the excavation where the hydraulic aperture has been changed due to the excavation. And hydraulic EDZ (hydraulic aperture changed zone) estimated by two-dimensional DEM program was considered in three-dimensional DFN model. From this approach the groundwater flow characteristics corresponding to hydraulic aperture change were examined. Together. a parametric study was performed to examine the boundary conditions that frequently used in DFN analysis such as constant head or constant flux condition. According to the numerical analysis, hydraulic aperture change induced by the hydraulic-mechanical interaction becomes one of the most important factors Influencing the hydraulic behavior of jointed rock masses. And also from this study, we suggest the proper boundary condition in three-dimensional DFN model.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.235-252
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• 2016

This study presents a methodology to reproduce the mechanical behavior of isotropic or transversely isotropic rock using the polygonal grain-based distinct element model. A numerical technique to monitor the evolution of micro-cracks during the simulation was developed in the present study, which enabled us to examine the contribution of tensile cracking and shear cracking to the progressive process of the failure. The numerical results demonstrated good agreement with general observations from rock specimens in terms of the behavior and the evolution of micro-cracks, suggesting the capability of the model to represent the mechanical behavior of rock. We also carried out a parametric study as a fundamental work to examine the relationships between the microscopic properties of the constituents and the macroscopic behavior of the model. Depending on the micro-properties, the model exhibited a variety of responses to the external load in terms of the strength and deformation characteristics. In addition, a numerical technique to reproduce the transversely isotropic rock was suggested and applied to Asan gneiss from Korea. The behavior of the numerical model was in good agreement with the results obtained in the laboratory-scale experiments of the rock.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.3 s.68
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• pp.165-174
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• 2007

The technique, which reproduces the figures of objects from measured data of the objects using 3-D laser scanner, is called reverse engineering. Recently, research studies into applications of reverse engineering to rock engineering are increasing in number, in the discontinuity surveys for rock slopes out of man's reach, or rapid discontinuity surveys for wide range areas. For analysis of discontinuity using reverse engineering, a program for processing point clouds data from the 3-D laser scanner, for sampling from these point clouds data, and finally analyzing the discontinuity is needed. However, existing programs rarely have sufficient functions to properly analyze the discontinuities. In this study, a program was developed, which can automatically sample discontinuities from the point clouds data which measured in a rock slope using a 3-D laser scanner, and which can also undertake statistical analysis of the discontinuities. This developed program was verified by the application of discontinuity surveys in a rock slope and a tunnel. By undertaking the discontinuity survey using a 3-D laser scanner and the developed program, the feasibility and rapidity of such surveys is expected to improve in areas out of man's reach in geotechnical surveys. Taking into consideration the fact that the international level of related techniques is at a rudimentary stage, the possibility of prior occupation of a broad market is also expected.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.276-283
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• 2012

Changes in rock properties due to freezing and thawing cycles ranging from $-20^{\circ}C$ to $10^{\circ}C$ were checked for the typical Korean rocks: granite (weathered), limestone, sandstone, tuff, shale and basalt. The porosity, seismic velocity, shore hardness and specific gravity were measured every 10 cycles for each type of rock up to 40 cycles. The specific gravity was rarely changed. Granite (w), shale and basalt decreased gradually in their shore hardness and seismic velocity values, these values for limestone, sandstone and tuff changed only a very little. The porosity increased in the granite (w), shale and basalt, whereas in the others it did not change. Due to the low tensile strength with high porosity, granite (w), shale and basalt were susceptible to the F-T cycles. A linear regression equation was calculated based on the experiment results according to properties and types of rock. The relationship between the freeze-thaw sensitivity (=initial porosity/initial tensile strength) and the coefficients of the regression equation was examined. With additional experimental data, the coefficients of the regression equation can be estimated using the F-T sensitivity. This makes it possible to predict the properties of rock as affected by freeze-thaw weathering by only measuring the initial properties without knowledge of the regression equation coefficients for each type of rock.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2011

Geothermal energy is believed to be an important source among the renewable energy sources to provide the base load electricity. Although there has been a drastic increase in the use of geothermal heat pump in Korea, there is no geothermal power plant in operation in Korea. Fortunately, the first EGS (Enhanced Geothermal System) Project in Korea has started in Dec 2010. This five year project is divided into two stages; two years for exploration and drilling of 3 km depth to confirm the minimum target temperature of 100 degrees, and another three years composed drilling 5 km doublet, hydraulic stimulation of geothermal reservoir with expected temperature of 180 degrees (40 kg/s) and construction of MW geothermal power plant in the surface. This EGS project would be a landmark effort that invited a consortium of industry, research institutes and university with expertises in the fields of geology, hydrogeology, geophysics, geomechanics and plant engineering.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.227-242
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• 2012

Youngju multipurpose dam is planned to minimizing the damage by flood and obtaining the water for industrial use in Nakdong river region. Faults in rock mass have strong influences on the behaviors of dam structure. Thus, it is very important to analyse for the characteristics of fault rocks in dam design. However, due to the limitation of geotechnical investigation in design stages, engineers have to carry out the additional geological survey including directional boring to find the distribution of faults and the engineering properties of faults for stability of dam. Especially, the selection of location of dam and type of dam considering fault zone must be analyzed through various experimental and numerical analysis. In this study, various geological survey and field tests were carried out to analyse the characteristics of the large fault zone through the complex dam is designed in foundation region. Also, the distribution of structural geology, the shape of faults and the mechanical properties of fault rock were studied for the reasonable design of the location and type of dam for long-term stability of the complex dam.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.352-359
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• 2010

Stability of twin tunnels depends on the pillar width and the ground condition. In this study, large scale model tests were conducted for investigating the influence of the pillar width of twin tunnels on their behavior in the regular horizontal jointed rock mass. Jointed rocks was composed of concrete blocks. Pillar width of twin tunnels varied in 0.29D, 0.59D, 0.88D and 1.18D, where D is the tunnel width. During the test, pillar stress, lining stress, tunnel distortion, and ground displacement were measured. Lateral earth pressure coefficient was kept in a constant value 1.0. As a result, it was found that the pillar stress and the displacement of the ground and tunnel were increased by decreasing pillar width. The maximum displacement rate was measured just after the upper excavation in each construction sequence. And the maximum influence position was the right shoulder of the preceeding tunnel at the pillar side. It was also found that for the stability assessment the inner displacement was more critical than the crown displacement. The influence zone was formed at the pillar width 0.59D~0.88D that was smaller than 0.8D~2.0D, which was proposed by experience for a good ground condition. And it would be concluded that horizontal joints could also influence on the stability of the twin tunnels.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.344-351
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• 2010

Slip along a frictional fracture can be approached as initiation and propagation of a mode II crack along its own plane. Fracture mechanics theories predict that under pure mode II loading initiation will occur when the energy release rate of the fracture attains a critical value ($G_{IIC}$), which is generally taken as a material property. For the past few years the rock mechanics group at Purdue University has investigated experimentally the dependence of $G_{IIC}$ on normal stress and on the frictional characteristics of a fracture. A number of experiments has been conducted first on acrylic, a material that, using photoelastic methods, allows visualization of the stress field ahead of the fracture tip; and later on gypsum, a rock model material with relatively low unconfined compression strength. The experimental investigation has been expanded to include other frictional materials with higher unconfined compression strength. Direct shear tests have been conducted on specimens made with cement paste. New observations together with previous experiments indicate that $G_{IIC}$ can only be considered a material property when the peak friction angle of the discontinuity is similar to the residual friction angle; otherwise the critical energy release rate increases with normal stress.