• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.771-783
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• 2017

Using a transparent fracture replica with aperture size and water-cement ratio (w/c), the factors affecting the penetration behavior of rock grouting were investigated through laboratory experiments. In addition, the waterproof efficiency was estimated by the reduction of water outflow through the fractures after the grout curing process. Penetration behavior shows that grout penetration patterns present similarly radial forms in all experimental cases; however, velocity of grout penetration showed clear differences according to the aperture sizes and water-cement ratio. It can be seen that the waterproof efficiency increased as the aperture size and w/c decreased. During grout injection or curing processes, air bubbles formed and bleeding occurred, both of which affected the waterproof ability of the grouting. These two phenomena can significantly prevent the successful performance of rock grouting in field-scale underground spaces, especially at deep depth conditions. Our research can provide a foundation for improving and optimizing the innovative techniques of rock grouting.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.221-226
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• 2000

In this study, the characteristics of gas-water relative permeability curves in a single fractured-plate according to the various aperture size were analyzed by using the Hele-Shaw type glass plate model. The plate was made of glasses for the observation of the two-phase flow pattern, and seven cases were set up based on the aperture size in the range of field scale from 30 to $120\mum$. The experiment was conducted by steady-state method, and the water saturation was determined more accurately by the developed digital image process technique. The empirical equations of relative permeability to gas and water for single fractured-plate were correlated by using the aperture size which directly affects the two-phase flow pattern and critical saturation.

• 한국석유지질학회:학술대회논문집
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• autumn
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• pp.6-22
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• 2001

A study of the fracture systems in outcrops of southern onshore Vietnam revealed two kinds of fracture groups according to their origin: cooling fractures and deformation related fractures. Cooling of magma introduced extensive fractures in the batholiths with wide spacing and narrow aperture. They are found widespread in all magmatic bodies, but result in poor reservoir quality due to low bulk porosity and narrow aperture. Cooling fractures are often reactivated during later stress regimes. Deformation related fractures, especially 'fault damage zones' and 'hanging wall deformation' is thought to form the most important reservoir type in the fractured basement rock. The porosity formed by intense fracturing and fault breccia along minor fault zones is thought to be the producing zones in the producing fields of Cuu Long basin. They are found along major faults and widespread in hanging wall blocks.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.55-66
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• 2021

Hydraulic-mechanical (H-M) coupled numerical modeling was used to evaluate the evolution of hydrogeological properties in response to the installation and expansion of a borehole. A domain with a discrete fracture network was adopted for discontinuum modeling to simulate changes in fracture apertures. Comparison with real hydraulic test data shows that the effects of principal stress direction and expansion of borehole diameter were reasonably simulated by H-M coupled numerical modeling. The modeling confirmed that aperture changes depended on the principal stress direction, with an increase in aperture size due to vertical displacement being the dominant effect. A concentration of shear dilation around the borehole had an additional, subsidiary, effect on the hydrogeological evolution. These results show that the permeability of fractured rock can be increased by changing the hydraulic properties of a fracture through stress redistribution caused by the installation and expansion of a borehole.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.176-188
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• 1995

A particle tracking scheme was developed in order to model radionuclide transport through a tortuous flow Held in a rock fracture. The particle tacking method may be used effectively in a heterogeneous flow field such as rock fracture. The parallel plate representation of the single fracture fails to recognize the spatial heterogeneity in the fracture aperture and thus seems inadequate in describing fluid movement through a real fracture. The heterogeneous flow field une modeled by a variable aperture channel model after characterizing aperture distribution by a hydraulic test. To support the validation of radionuclide transport models, a radionuclide migration experiment was performed in a natural fracture of granite. $^3$$H_2O$ and $^{131}$ I are used as tracers. Simulated results were in agreement with experimental result and therefore support the validity of the transport model. Residence time distributions display multipeak curves caused by the fast arrival of solutes traveling along preferential fracture channels and by the much slower arrival of solutes following tortous routes through the fracture. Results from the modelling of the transport of nonsorbing tracer through the fracture show that diffusion into the interconnected pore space in the rock mass has a significant effect on retardation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2021

In this study, a new approach using electrical resistivity measurement was proposed to detect grout penetration and to evaluate the grouting performance for such as waterproof efficiency in single rock fracture. For this purpose, an electrical resistivity monitoring system was designed to collect multi-channel data in real time. This was applied to a system for grout injection/penetration using a transparent fracture replica with various aperture sizes and water-cement mix ratio. The electrical resistivity was measured under various grout penetration conditions in real time, which results were directly compared to the visual observation images of grout penetration/distribution. Moreover, the grouting success status after the curing process was evaluated by measuring the electrical resistivity in relation to changes in frequency in fracture cells where grout injection and penetration were completed. Consequently, it was determined that the electrical resistivity monitoring system could be applied effectively to the detection of successful penetration of grouting into a target area and to actual field evaluation of the grouting performance and long-term stability of underground rock structures.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2004

Hydraulic conductivity along rock fracture is mainly dependent on fracture geometries such as orientation, aperture, roughness and connectivity. Therefore, it needs to consider fracture geometries sufficiently on a fracture model for a numerical analysis to calculate permeability coefficient in a fracture. This study performed new type of numerical analysis using a homogenization analysis method to calculate permeability coefficient accurately along single fractures with several fracture models that were considered fracture geometries as much as possible. First of all, fracture roughness and aperture variation due to normal stress applied on a fracture were directly measured under a confocal laser scaning microscope (CLSM). The acquired geometric data were used as input data to construct fracture models for the homogenization analysis (HA). Using the constructed fracture models, the homogenization analysis method can compute permeability coefficient with consideration of material properties both in microscale and in macroscale. The HA is a new type of perturbation theory developed to characterize the behavior of a micro inhomogeneous material with a periodic microstructure. It calculates micro scale permeability coefficient at homogeneous microscale, and then, computes a homogenized permeability coefficient (C-permeability coefficient) at macro scale. Therefore, it is possible to analyze accurate characteristics of permeability reflected with local effect of facture geometry. Several computations of the HA were conducted to prove validity of the HA results compared with the empirical equations of permeability in the previous studies using the constructed 2-D fracture models. The model can be classified into a parallel plate model that has fracture roughness and identical aperture along a fracture. According to the computation results, the conventional C-permeability coefficients have values in the range of the same order or difference of one order from the permeability coefficients calculated by an empirical equation. It means that the HA result is valid to calculate permeability coefficient along a fracture. However, it should be noted that C-permeability coefficient is more accurate result than the preexisting equations of permeability calculation, because the HA considers permeability characteristics of locally inhomogeneous fracture geometries and material properties both in microscale and macroscale.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.227-241
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• 1999

Groundwater flow in a fractured rock mass is related to the geometric characteristics of the fracture system. The objective of this study aims to analyze the probabilistic density function of fracture properties md their relations to the hydraulic conductivity in volcanic rocks of the northern Yosu area. Fracture characteristics were investigated by core logging and acoustic televiewer logging in four boreholes and the hydraulic conductivity was obtained from the constant pressure injection and fall-off tests. The 303 fractures were grouped into three sets by their orientation and three fracture types by the degree of opening in aperture. As a result of the study, the hydraulic conductivity in the test section intersected by open and semi-open fractures, conductive fractures, and set 1 fractures was very high, while closed fractures did rarely affect the hydraulic conductivity. It was recognized that the hydraulic conductivity in a fractured rock mass was preferentially affected by the aperture size of conductive fractures and fracture intersection frequency and size, secondly.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.17-28
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• 2023

Laboratory-scale hydraulic fracturing experiments were conducted on granite specimens at various viscosities and injection rates of the fracturing fluid. A series of cross-sectional computed tomography (CT) images of fractured specimens was obtained via a three-dimensional X-ray CT imaging method. Pixel-level fracture segmentation of the CT images was conducted using a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based Nested U-Net model structure. Compared with traditional image processing methods, the CNN-based model showed a better performance in the extraction of thin and complex fractures. These extracted fractures extracted were reconstructed in three dimensions and morphologically analyzed based on their fracture volume, aperture, tortuosity, and surface roughness. The fracture volume and aperture increased with the increase in viscosity of the fracturing fluid, while the tortuosity and roughness of the fracture surface decreased. The findings also confirmed the anisotropic tortuosity and roughness of the fracture surface. In this study, a CNN-based model was used to perform accurate fracture segmentation, and quantitative analysis of hydraulic stimulated fractures was conducted successfully.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.231-234
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• 2001

When constructing subsurface structures and/or wells, the precise estimates of hydraulic parameters must be obtained for operating safety and/or for developing necessary quantity of groundwater. Hydraulic conductivity is mainly subjected to the characteristics of fracture network in the fractured media such as fracture orientation and angle, fracture aperture and frequency, fracture length, interconnectivity of fractures, and filling material, feature of fracture plane. In this study we conducted water injection test at afferent depths on six boreholes drilled in granite of Mt. Geumjeong. hydraulic conductivity was calculated using Moye and Hvorslev methods. The relation between hydraulic conductivity and fracture frequency data obtained from acoustic televiewer and core log were analyzed. The result shows that the correlation between the hydraulic conductivity and the fracture frequency data obtained from acoustic televiewer is better than that with the core log.