• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.161-184
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• 2001

Rock masses usually contain such features as bedding planes, faults, fissures, fractures, joints and other mechanical defects which, although formed from a wide range of geological processes, posses the common characteristics of low shear strength, negligible tensile strength and high fluid conductivity compared with the surrounding rock material. In the engineering context here, the discontinuities can be the single most important factor governing the deformability, strength and permeability of the rock mass. Moreover, a particularly large and persistent discontinuity could critically affect the stability of any surface or underground excavation. For these reasons, it is necessary to develop a thorough understanding of the geometrical, mechanical and hydrological properties of discontinuities and the way in which these will affect rock mechanics and hence rock engineering.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.62-69
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• 2004

The objective of this study is to estimate the distribution of a zone disturbed by excavation (EDZ) around tunnels that have been excavated at about 500 m depth in pre-Tertiary hard sedimentary rock. One of the most important tasks is to evaluate changes in the dynamic stability and permeability of the rock around the tunnels, by investigating the properties of the rock after the excavation. We performed resistivity and acoustic tomography using two boreholes, 5 m in length, drilled horizontally from the wall of a tunnel in pre-Tertiary hard conglomerate. By these methods, we detected a low-resistivity and low-velocity zone 1 m in thickness around the wall of the tunnel. The resulting profiles were verified by permeability and evaporation tests performed at the same boreholes. This anomalous zone matched a high-permeability zone caused by open fractures. Next, we performed resistivity monitoring along annular survey lines in a tunnel excavated in pre-Tertiary hard shale by a tunnel-boring machine (TBM). We detected anomalous zones in 2D resistivity profiles surrounding the tunnel. A low-resistivity zone 1 m in thickness was detected around the tunnel when one year had passed after the excavation. However, two years later, the resistivity around the tunnel had increased in a portion, about 30 cm in thickness, of this zone. To investigate this change, we studied the relationship between groundwater flow from the surroundings and evaporation from the wall around the tunnel. These features were verified by the relationship between the resistivity and porosity of rocks obtained by laboratory tests on core samples. Furthermore, the profiles matched well with highly permeable zones detected by permeability and evaporation tests at a horizontal borehole drilled near the survey line. We conclude that the anomalous zones in these profiles indicate the EDZ around the tunnel.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.117-127
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effect of in-situ rock stresses on the deformability and permeability of fractured rocks. Geological data were taken from the site investigation at Forsmark, Sweden, conducted by Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Man-agement Company (SKB). A set of numerical experiments was conducted to determine the equivalent mechanical properties (essentially, elastic moduli and Poisson's ratio) and permeability, using a Discrete Fracture Network-Discrete Element Method (DFN-DEM) approach. The results show that both mechanical properties and permeability are highly dependent on stress because of the hyperbolic nature of the stiffness of fractures, different closure behavior of fractures, and change of fluid pathways caused by deformation. This study shows that proper characterization and consideration of in-situ stress are important not only for boundary conditions of a selected site but also for the understanding of the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of fractured rocks.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.585-594
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• 2019

In-situ leaching could be one of the promising mining methods to extract the minerals from deep fractured rock mass. Constrained by the low permeability at depth, however, the performance does not meet the expectation. In fact, the rock mass permeability mainly depends on the pre-existing natural fractures and therefore play a crucial role in in-situ leaching performance. More importantly, fractures have various characteristics, such as aperture, persistence, and density, which have diverse contributions to the promising method. Hence, it is necessary to study the variation of fluid rate versus fracture parameters to enhance in-situ leaching performance. Firstly, the subsurface fractures from the depth of 1500m to 2500m were mapped using the discrete fracture network (DFN) in this paper, and then the numerical model was calibrated at a particular case. On this basis, the fluid flow through fractured rock mass with various fracture characteristics was analyzed. The simulation results showed that with the increase of Fisher' K value, which determine the fracture orientation, the flow rate firstly decreased and then increased. Subsequently, as another critical factor affecting the fluid flow in natural fractures, the fracture transmissivity has a direct relationship with the flow rate. Sensitive study shows that natural fracture characteristics play a critical role in in-situ leaching performance.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.299-306
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• 2023

Environmental pollution problems are occurring due to the negative treatment of basalt waste in Jeju Island. This study identifies the characteristics of permeable block with basalt with physical and chemical adsorption mechanisms and examines their applicability and functionality as building materials. This experiment is basic data for evaluating the functionality of the permeable block by analyzing flexural strength, compressive strength, permeability coefficient, carbon dioxide, and fine dust adsorption rate by producing a permeable block using a basalt waste rock. As the basalt waste stone replacement rate increased, the flexural strength and compressive strength tended to decrease, and as the replacement rate increased, the water permeability coefficient, absorption rate, carbon dioxide, and fine dust adsorption rate tended to increase. Therefore, it is judged that the permeable block using the basalt waste rock is superior to the existing permeable block.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 1991

9 nuclear power plants are presently in operation in Korea. They produce radioactive waste of which the most long-lived radioactive elements need to be safely stored for hundreds of thousands of years, isolated from humanity and the environment. The safe disposal of high level radioactive waste in mined cavities requires knowledge of the mechanical. thermal and fluid flow characteristics of rock as perturbed by a thermal pulse The literature review was performed to assemble data on the following properties: modulus tensile strength compressive strength thermal expansion specific heat, thermal conductivity thermal diffusivity and permeability.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.287-296
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• 2011

We performed a numerical modeling study of thermodynamic and multiphase fluid flow processes associated with underground compressed air energy storage (CAES) in a lined rock cavern (LRC). We investigated air tightness performance by calculating air leakage rate of the underground storage cavern with concrete linings at a comparatively shallow depth of 100 m. Our air-mass balance analysis showed that the key parameter to assure the long-term air tightness of such a system was the permeability of both concrete linings and surrounding rock mass. It was noted that concrete linings with a permeability of less than $1.0{\times}10^{-18}\;m^2$ would result in an acceptable air leakage rate of less than 1% with the operational pressure range between 5 and 8 MPa. We also found that air leakage could be effectively prevented and the air tightness performance of underground lined rock cavern is enhanced if the concrete lining is kept at a higher moisture content.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2021

The hydraulic fracturing developed to improve permeability of tight reservoir is one of key stimulation technologies for developing unconventional resources such as shale gas and deep geothermal energy. The experimental study was conducted to improve disadvantage of hydraulic fracturing which has simple fracture pattern and poor fracturing efficiency. The fracturing experiments was conducted for tight rock using various fracturing fluids, water, N2, and CO2 and the created fracture pattern and fracturing efficiency was analyzed depending on fracturing fluids. The borehole pressure increased rapidly and then made fractures for hydraulic fracturing with constant injection rate, however, gas fracturing shows slowly increased pressure and less fracture pressure. The 3D tomography technic was used to generate images of induced fracture using hydraulic and gas fracturing. The stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) was estimated increment of 5.71% (water), 12.72% (N2), and 43.82% (CO2) respectively compared to initial pore volume. In addition, permeability measurement was carried out before and after fracturing experiments and the enhanced permeability by gas fracturing showed higher than hydraulic fracturing. The fracture conductivity was measured by increasing confining stress to consider newly creating fracture and closing induced fracture right after fracturing. When the confining stress was increased from 2MPa to 10MPa, the initial permeability was decreased by 89% (N2) and 50% (CO2) respectively. This study shows that the gas fracturing makes more permeability enhancement and less reduction of induced fracture conductivity than hydraulic fracturing.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.187-187
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• 2009

Opening of fractures induced by shear dilation or normal deformation can be a significant source of fracture permeability change in fractured rock, which is important for the performance assessment of geological repositories for spent nuclear fuel. As the repository generates heat and later cools the fluid-carrying ability of the rocks becomes a dynamic variable during the lifespan of the repository. Heating causes expansion of the rock close to the repository and, at the same time, contraction close to the surface. During the cooling phase of the repository, the opposite takes place. Heating and cooling together with the, virgin stress can induce shear dilation of fractures and deformation zones and change the flow field around the repository. The objectives of this work are to examine the contribution of thermal stress to the shear slip of fracture in mid- and far-field around a KBS-3 type of repository and to investigate the effect of evolution of stress on the rock mass permeability. In the first part of this study, zones of fracture shear slip were examined by conducting a three-dimensional, thermo-mechanical analysis of a spent fuel repository model in the size of 2 km $\times$ 2 km $\times$ 800 m. Stress evolutions of importance for fracture shear slip are: (1) comparatively high horizontal compressive thermal stress at the repository level, (2) generation of vertical tensile thermal stress right above the repository, (3) horizontal tensile stress near the surface, which can induce tensile failure, and generation of shear stresses at the comers of the repository. In the second part of the study, fracture data from Forsmark, Sweden is used to establish fracture network models (DFN). Stress paths obtained from the thermo-mechanical analysis were used as boundary conditions in DFN-DEM (Discrete Element Method) analysis of six DFN models at the repository level. Increases of permeability up to a factor of four were observed during thermal loading history and shear dilation of fractures was not recovered after cooling of the repository. An understanding of the stress path and potential areas of slip induced shear dilation and related permeability changes during the lifetime of a repository for spent nuclear fuel is of utmost importance for analysing long-term safety. The result of this study will assist in identifying critical areas around a repository where fracture shear slip is likely to develop. The presentation also includes a brief introduction to the ongoing site investigation on two candidate sites for geological repository in Sweden.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.145-154
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• 2022

Complex geological conditions have a great influence on the mining of coalbed methane (CBM), which affects the extraction efficiency of CBM. This investigation analyzed the complicated geological conditions in the Liujia CBM block of Fuxin. A geological model of heterogeneities CBM reservoirs was established to study the influence of strike direction of igneous rocks and fault structures on horizontal well layout. Subsequently, the dual-porosity and dual-permeability mathematical model was established, which considers the dynamic changes of porosity and permeability caused by gas adsorption, desorption, pressure change. The results show that the production curve is in good agreement with the actual by considering gas seepage in matrix pores in the model. Complicated geological structures affect the pressure expansion of horizontal wells, especially, the closer to the fault structure, the more significant the effect, the slower the pressure drop, and the smaller the desorption area. When the wellbore extends to the fault, the pressure expansion is blocked by the fault and the productivity is reduced. In the study area, the optimal distance to the fault is 70 m. When the horizontal wellbore is perpendicular to the direction of coal seam igneous rock, the productivity is higher than that of parallel igneous rock, and the horizontal well bore should be perpendicular to the cleat direction. However, the well length is limited due to the dense distribution of igneous rocks in the Liujia CBM block. Therefore, the horizontal well pumping in the study area should be arranged along the direction of igneous rock and parallel plane cleats. It is found that the larger the area surrounded by igneous rock, the more favorable the productivity. In summary, the reasonable layout of horizontal wells should make full use of the advantages of igneous rock, faults and other complex geological conditions to achieve the goal of high and stable production.