• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.313-324
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• 2022

Rock properties are important in the design of mines and civil engineering excavations to prevent the imminent failure of slopes and collapse of underground excavations. However, the time, cost, and expertise required to perform experiments to determine those properties are high. Therefore, empirical models have been developed for estimating the mechanical properties of rock that are difficult to determine experimentally from properties that are less difficult to measure. However, the inherent variability in rock properties makes the accurate performance of the empirical models unrealistic and therefore necessitate the use of soft computing models. In this study, Gaussian process regression (GPR), artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface method (RSM) have been proposed to predict the static and dynamic rock properties from the P-wave and rock density. The outcome of the study showed that GPR produced more accurate results than the ANN and RSM models. GPR gave the correlation coefficient of above 99% for all the three properties predicted and RMSE of less than 5. The detailed sensitivity analysis is also conducted using the RSM and the P-wave velocity is found to be the most influencing parameter in the rock mechanical properties predictions. The proposed models can give reasonable predictions of important mechanical properties of sedimentary rock.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.259-268
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• 2020

The synthetic rock mass (SRM) were used to investigate the influence of specimen size on the mechanical properties of jointed rock mass. The SRM were established based on parallel bond model (PBM) and smooth joint model (SJM) and the scaled rock specimens were sampled in two SRMs considering three sampling locations. The research results show that the smaller the initial fracture density is, the greater the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), elastic modulus (E) is when compared with the same sampling location. The mechanical properties of rock specimens obtained by different sampling methods in different SRMs have different scale effects. The strength of rock specimens with more new cracks is not necessarily less than that of rock specimens with fewer new cracks and the failure of rock is caused by the formation of macro-fracture surface.

• 한국터널공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.348-358
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• 2005

Although the evaluation of the mechanical properties and behavior of discontinuous rock masses is very important for the design of underground openings, it has always been considered the most difficult problem. One of the difficulties in describing the rock mass behavior is assigning the appropriate constitutive model. This limitation may be overcome with the progress in discrete element software such as PFC, which does not need the user to prescribe a constitutive model for rock mass. Instead, the micro-scale properties of the intact rock and joints are defined and the macro-scale response results from those properties and the geometry of the problem. In this paper, a $30m{\times}30m{\times}30m$ jointed rock mass of road tunnel site was analyzed. A discrete fracture network was developed from the joint geometry obtained from core logging and surface survey. Using the discontinuities geometry from the DFN model, PFC simulations were carried out, starting with the intact rock and systematically adding the joints and the stress-strain response was recorded for each case. With the stress-strain response curves, the mechanical properties of discontinuous rock masses were determined and compared to the results of empirical methods such as RMR, Q and GSI. The values of Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and peak strength are almost similar from PFC model and Empirical methods. As expected, the presence of joints had a pronounced effect on mechanical properties of the rock mass. More importantly, the mechanical response of the PFC model was not determined by a user specified constitutive model.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.184-193
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• 1998

In order to dispose radioactive wastes safely, it is needed to understand the mechanical, thermal, fluid behavior of rockmass and physico-chemical interactions between rockmass and water. Also, the knowledge about mechanical and hydraulic properties of rocks is required to predict and to model many conditions of geological structure, underground in-situ stress, folding, hot water interaction, intrusion of magma, plate tectonics etc. This study is based on researches about rock mechanics issues associated with a waste disposal in deep rockmass. This paper includes the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of rocks in varying temperature conditions, thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling analysis in rock mass and deformation behavior of discontinuous rocks. The mechanical properties were measured with Interaken rock mechanics testing systems and hydraulic properties were measured with transient pulse permeability measuring systems. In all results, rock properties were sensitive to temperature variation.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.571-581
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• 2016

To understand the mechanical properties of fault rocks, data from 584 in situ and laboratory tests on fault rocks from 33 tunnels were analyzed. The unit weights of the fault rocks range from 17.3 to $28.2kN/m^3$ and the cohesion and friction angles vary from 5 to 260 kPa and $14.7^{\circ}$ to $44.0^{\circ}$, respectively. The modulus of deformation and elasticity were generally < 200 MPa. In most cases, the uniaxial compressive strength was < 0.5 MPa, and Poisson's ratios were mainly 0.20-0.35. The mechanical properties of individual rock types were analyzed using box plots, revealing that the cohesion values and friction angles of shale and phyllite have relatively wide inter-quartile ranges and that the modulus of deformation and elasticity of shale have the lowest values of all rock types. In the analysis of mechanical properties by components of fault rocks, the largest values were shown in damage zones of individual rock types.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 1997

It is necessary to study on thermo-hydro-mechanical effect at rock mass performing project such as radiowaste disposal in deep rock mass. In this study, thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling analysis which is considered interaction and the variation of rock properties induced by temperature increase was performed for the circular shaft when appling temperature of 20$0^{\circ}C$ at the shaft wall. The shaft is diameter of 2 m and under hydrostatic stress of 5 MPa. In the cases, thermal expansion by temperature increase progress from the wall to outward and thermal expansion could induce tensile stress over the tensile strength of rock mass at the wall. When rock properties were given as a function of temperature, thermal expansion increased, tensile stress zone expanded. Lately, water flow is activated by increase of permeability and decrease of viscosity.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.291-298
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• 2019

In order to study the mechanical properties of rock salt, triaxial compression tests under different temperatures and confining pressure are carried out on rock salt specimens, the influence of temperature and confining pressure on the mechanical properties of rock salt was studied. The results show that the temperature has a deteriorative effect on the mechanical properties of rock salt. With the increase of temperature, the peak stress of rock salt decreases visibly; the plastic deformation characteristics become much obvious; the internal friction angle increases; while the cohesion strength decreases. With the increase of confining pressure, the peak stress and peak strain of rock salt will increase under the same temperature. Based on the test data, the Duncan-Chang constitutive model was modified, and the modified Duncan-Chang rock salt constitutive model considering the effect of temperature and confining pressure was established. The stress-strain curve calculated by the modified model was compared with the stress-strain curve obtained from the test. The close match between the test results and the model prediction suggests that the modified Duncan-Chang constitutive model is accurate in describing the behavior of rock slat under different confining pressure and temperature conditions.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.23-41
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• 2023

Coupled thermo-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) processes are essential for the long-term performance of deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. In this study, a numerical sensitivity analysis was performed to analyze the effect of rock properties on THM responses after the execution of the heater test at the Kamaishi mine in Japan. The TOUGH-FLAC simulator was applied for the numerical simulation assuming a continuum model for coupled THM analysis. The rock properties included in the sensitivity study were the Young's modulus, permeability, thermal conductivity, and thermal expansion coefficients of crystalline rock, rock salt, and clay. The responses, i.e., temperature, water content, displacement, and stress, were measured at monitoring points in the buffer and near-field rock mass during the simulations. The thermal conductivity had an overarching impact on THM responses. The influence of Young's modulus was evident in the mechanical behavior, whereas that of permeability was noticed through the change in the temperature and water content. The difference in the THM responses of the three rock type models implies the importance of the appropriate characterization of rock mass properties with regard to the performance assessment of the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.85-99
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• 2022

Rock discontinuities, as weak interfaces in rock, control mechanical properties of rock mass. Presence of discontinuities complicates the engineering properties of rock, which is the root of anisotropy and heterogeneity that have nonnegligible influences on the rock engineering. Morphological characteristics of discontinuities in natural rock are an important factor influencing the mechanical properties, particularly roughness, of discontinuities. Therefore, the accurate measurement and characterization of morphologies of discontinuities are preconditions for studying mechanical properties of discontinuities. Taking discontinuities in red sandstone as research objects, the research obtained three-dimensional (3D) morphologies of discontinuities in natural rock by carrying out 3D morphological scanning tests. The waviness and roughness were separated from 3D morphologies of rock discontinuities through wavelet transform. In addition, the calculation method for the overall slope root mean square (RMS) as well as slope RMSs of waviness and roughness of 3D morphologies of discontinuities considering the shear direction was proposed. The research finally determined an evaluation method for 3D morphologies of discontinuities by quantitatively characterizing 3D morphologies with the mean value of the three slope RMSs.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2015

In this technical report we summarize the observational data on thermal and mechanical properties of rocks reported by over 70 best published papers. The experimental results reported individually are integrated and presented in tables and figures here, which will provide fundamental data to fairly determine and evaluate the rock properties at the initial design stage of underground structures exposed to high temperature environment.