• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.271-281
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• 2013

Freeze-thaw experiments were conducted to evaluate changes in surface roughness and physical properties in samples of granite from Ilgwang and Imki mines, Korea. The temperature range in the experiments was $-20^{\circ}C$ to $40^{\circ}C$, based on typical summer and winter temperatures in Korea, and the surface was observed every 20 cycles. One cycle comprised 1 hour of heating or cooling of the samples and 1 hour during which the target temperature was maintained. With increasing repetitions of the freeze-thaw experiment, porosity increased by 0.05%-0.15% in the two samples and the dry weight increased, whereas the volume of the soil and saturation weight decreased. Observations by confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) revealed that line and surface roughness parameters showed a tendency to increase and decrease, respectively, with elapsed time. Changes in surface roughness were apparent on the CLSM images.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.237-249
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• 2019

The roughness changes on a fracture surface were analyzed via a multi-stage compression test under high temperatures to assess how the cracks in a rock mass affect groundwater movement. The analyzed samples consist of coarse granitic rocks from approximately 40 and 270 m depth, and fine granitic rocks from 500 m depth. The compression test was conducted on $20{\times}40{\times}5mm$ samples using a loading system where the pressure increases in 10 MPa increments to 120 MPa. A high-resolution 3D confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) was used to observe the surface changes, including the roughness changes, at each pressure step. The roughness change was calculated based on the roughness factor. The experimental results indicate that the roughness of the fracture surface varies with rock type under the stepwise pressure conditions. These data provide a basis for predicting groundwater flow along rock fractures.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.299-311
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• 2022

Rocks exposed to the surface are subject to long-term weathering, and such effects weaken their engineering stability. Especially as weathering progresses, the surface of rocks will be changed by weathering, and such surface changes will affect the engineering safety of the rock mass. In addition, the chemical species produced in the weathered rock have a direct effect on the surrounding environment or on the structure. In areas where rocks are exposed, such as mining areas, chemical species produced by weathering can have a serious impact on the surrounding natural environment. In this study, accelerated weathering experiments using freeze/thaw system were conducted on rocks that had already been weathered and fresh rocks, and surface changes of each rock were observed with confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), and chemical species were analyzed using IC/ICP-MS. As the weathering progressed, the surface roughness decreased, and the amount of chemical species produced increased. The results of this study can be used as basic data for evaluating engineering/environmental safety in areas where rocks are exposed.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.587-593
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• 2019

This study were subjected to accelerated weathering test under freeze-thaw and pressure conditions to observe initiation and propagation of cracks using CLSM. Applied stress was set at 50 MPa, 55 MPa, 70 MPa for 3 samples each by using compressor and freeze-thaw experiment was conducted while samples maintained that condition. In freeze-thaw experiments, a temperature range was set to -20~40℃ which was 1 cycle for 6 hours. The freeze-thaw cycle was composed of time which reached to set temperature for 1 hour and holding time for 2 hours. On the basis of this cycle, surface of samples was observed by CLSM after each 20 freeze-thaw cycle. From this research, according to increase freeze-thaw cycle, there were 7, 10, 19 each cracks and High pressured sample's accumulate length was longer than low pressured sample's. High pressured sample's crack velocities were also faster than low pressured sample's which were calculated by accumulate length and freeze-thaw cycle.