• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.219-231
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• 2011

Waste fills resulting from coal mining should consist of large, free-draining sedimentary rocks fragments. The successful performance of these fills is related to the strength and durability of the individual rock fragments. When fills are made of shale fragments, some fragments will be durable and some will degrade into soil particles resulting from slaking and inter-particle point loads. The degraded material fills the voids between the intact fragments, and results in settlement. A laboratory program with point load and slake durability tests as well as thin section examination of sixty-eight shale samples from the Appalachian region of the United States revealed that pore micro-geometry has a major influence on degradation. Under saturated and unsaturated conditions, the shales absorb water, and the air in their pores is compressed, breaking the shales. This breakage was more pronounced in shales with smooth pore boundaries and having a diameter equal to or smaller than 0.060 mm. If the pore walls were rough, the air-pressure breaking mechanism was not effective. However, pore roughness (measured by the fractal dimension) had a detrimental effect on point load resistance. This study indicated that the optimum shales to resist both slaking as well as point loads are those that have pores with a fractal dimension equal to 1.425 and a diameter equal to or smaller than 0.06 mm.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.459-468
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• 2018

In this paper, the effect of non-persistent joints was determined on the behavior of concrete specimens subjected to biaxial loading through numerical modeling using particle flow code in two dimensions (PFC2D). Firstly, a numerical model was calibrated by uniaxial, Brazilian and triaxial experimental results to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical model's response. Secondly, sixteen rectangular models with dimension of 100 mm by 100 mm were developed. Each model contains two non-persistent joints with lengths of 40 mm and 20 mm, respectively. The angularity of the larger joint changes from $30^{\circ}$ to $90^{\circ}$. In each configuration, the small joint angularity changes from $0^{\circ}$ to $90^{\circ}$ in $30^{\circ}$ increments. All of the models were under confining stress of 1 MPa. By using of the biaxial test configuration, the failure process was visually observed. Discrete element simulations demonstrated that macro shear fractures in models are because of microscopic tensile breakage of a large number of bonded discs. The failure pattern in Rock Bridge is mostly affected by joint overlapping whereas the biaxial strength is closely related to the failure pattern.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1045-1055
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• 2017

Tensile strength is considered key properties for characterizing rock material in engineering project. It is determined by direct and indirect methods. Point load test is a useful testing method to estimate the tensile strengths of rocks. In this paper, the effects of rock shape on the point load index of gypsum are investigated by PFC2D simulation. For PFC simulating, initially calibration of PFC was performed with respect to the Brazilian experimental data to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical models response. In second step, nineteen models with different shape were prepared and tested under point load test. According to the obtained results, as the size of the models increases, the point load strength index increases. It is also found that the shape of particles has no major effect on its tensile strength. Our findings show that the dominant failure pattern for numerical models is breaking the model into two pieces. Also a criterion was rendered numerically for determination of tensile strength of gypsum. The proposed criteria were cross checked with the results of experimental point load test.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.299-311
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• 2022

Water-resisting key stratum (WKS) between coal seams is an important barrier that prevents water inrush from goaf in roof under multi-seam mining. The occurrence of water inrush can be evaluated effectively by analyzing the fracture of WKS in multi-seam mining. A "long beam" water inrush mechanical model was established using the multi-seam mining of No. 2+3 and No. 8 coal seams in Xiqu Mine as the research basis. The model comprehensively considers the pressure from goaf, the gravity of overburden rock, the gravity of accumulated water, and the constraint conditions. The stress distribution expression of the WKS was obtained under different mining distances in No. 8 coal seam. The criterion of breakage at any point of the WKS was obtained by introducing linear Mohr strength theory. By using the mechanical model, the fracture of the WKS in Xiqu Mine was examined and its breaking position was calculated. And the risk of water inrush was also evaluated. Moreover, breaking process of the WKS was reproduced with Flac3D numerical software, and was analyzed with on-site microseismic monitoring data. The results showed that when the coal face of No. 8 coal seam in Xiqu Mine advances to about 80 m ~ 100 m, the WKS is stretched and broken at the position of 60 m ~ 70 m away from the open-off cut, increasing the risk of water inrush from goaf in roof. This finding matched the result of microseismic analysis, confirming the reliability of the water inrush mechanical model. This study therefore provides a theoretical basis for the prevention of water inrush from goaf in roof in Xiqu Mine. It also provides a method for evaluating and monitoring water inrush from goaf in roof.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2016

It is necessary to minimize ground vibration and noise due to blasting work in urban environment. The blast induced ground vibration and noise are generally generated by a portion of detonation energy, where most of the energy is utilized for rock breakage and movement of rock mass. Recently a blast method utilizing U-shaped steel charge holder was suggested to reduce the ground vibration without decreasing destructive power toward the free surface. In this study, single hole blasting utilizing U-shaped steel charge holder were simulated and the stress waves caused by the detonation of explosives were monitored using AUTODYN software. In order to examine the fragmentation efficiency of the U-shaped steel charge holder, one free face blasting models which adapt the blast induced stress waves were simulated by dynamic fracture process analysis (DFPA) code. In addition, the general blasting models were also simulated to investigate the fragmentation effectiveness of the U-shaped steel charge holder in rock blasting.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.39-54
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• 2009

Large scale direct shear tests were carried out to analyze the shear behavior of crushed rocks at local representative quarries. Shear strength for each specimen was derived and the effects on shear behavior induced by the variation of factors such as particle size, water immersion, density, uniformity coefficient, and particle breakage were evaluated and quantitatively compared with previous studies. The opportunity was also taken to identify stress-dilatancy relation of crushed rocks following the energy-based theory and friction coefficients at critical state as well as peak friction angles and dilation angles were estimated. As a result of tests it was found that uniaxial compressive strength and particle breakage of the parent rocks have crucial effect on internal friction angles; in addition, dilatancy at the failure showed strong relationship as well.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.387-392
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• 2017

Recently, road cave-ins, also referred to as ground sinking, have become a problem in urban environments. Public utility facilities such as sewage pipelines, communications pipes, gas pipes, power cables, and other types of underground structures are installed below the roads. It was reported that cave-ins are caused by the aging and lack of proper maintenance of underground facilities, as well as by construction problems. A road cave-in is first initiated by the formation of cavities typically induced by the breakage of underground pipelines. The cavities then grow and reach the base of the pavement. The traffic load applied at the surface of the roads causes an abrupt plastic deformation. This type of accident can be considered as a type of disaster. A road cave-in can threaten both human safety and the economy. It may even result in the loss of human life. In the city of Seoul, efforts to prevent damage before cave-ins occur have been prioritized, through a method of discovering and repairing joints through the 3D GPR survey.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.229-234
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• 2002

Nowadays, the blast method is mainly operated in the fields of the rock excavation accompanied by construction site in Korea. Blast method has many merits such as improvement of workability, reducement of operation period, and etc. However, blast operation also create much loss and troubles with the neighbours for the environmental pollutions such as the noise, blast vibration, fly rocks and dusts. Thus, the non-vibration and shallow vibration methods have been used but they have also another problems in the view of the economy and the efficiency in operation. In this study, we had made laboratory tests for the breaking of the various Rock types by White Light Thermal Stress. The tests shows that one unit consuming 500kilowatts of electricity, would go 90 feet a day in tunneling if the tunnel was 16 feet by 16 feet. Also, if a faster rate of tunneling could be handled, other white light units could be added.

• Carbon letters
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• v.2 no.3_4
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• pp.159-164
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• 2001

In this study, the effects of carbon black (CB) content and anodic oxidation treatment with $AgNO_3$ on positive temperature coefficient (PTC) behavior of CB/HDPE nanocomposites were investigated. Also, the addition of elastomer as a toughing agent was studied. The 20~50 wt% of CB, 0~5 wtt% of elastomer, and 1 wt% of $AgNO_3$-filled HDPE nanocomposites were prepared using the internal mixer in 60 rpm at $160{\circ}C$ and the compression-molded at $180{\circ}C$ for 10 min. As a result, the room temperature resistivity and PTC intensity of the composites were dependent, to a large extent, on the content of CB, addition of elastomer, and surface chemical properties that were controlled in the relative arrangements of the carbon black aggregates in a polymeric matrix. Moreover, the composites with relatively low room temperature resistivity and suitable PTC intensity could be achieved by treatment of $AgNO_3$. Consequently, it was noted that PTC effect was due to the deagglomeration or the breakage of the conductive networks caused by thermal expansion or crystalline melting of the polymeric matrix.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.55-64
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• 2010

Since various weathered soils are encountered in many domestic construction sites, it is necessary to estimate characteristics of natural weathered soils. However, the remolded sample of weathered soils are commonly used to estimate their characteristics because it is very difficult to sample weathered soils in undisturbed states. However, it is well known that the behavior of remolded sample is different from that of the undisturbed sample particularly in the dynamic response, because the particle structure of undisturbed sample maintains its original structure from the mother rock. Thus, to evaluate the influence of sampling method and preparation method on stress-strain behavior, the resonant column tests were performed on the block, tube samples, remolded samples with static compression and remolded samples with tamping of the weathered granite soils. The shear modulus of the remolded sample with tamping is larger than the other samples presumably due to the high tamping pressure enough to induce particle breakage. The tube samples show larger damping ratios than other samples. Furthermore, one-dimensional ground response analysis was performed to compare the results qualitatively.