• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.693-698
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• 2024

As there are various types of discontinuities developing along with various rock types, the orientation and density of each type of discontinuities were measured to analyze the behavior of groundwater within the rock mass. Among the orientations of discontinuities, the strike was measured in azimuth and expressed as a discontinuity trajectory, and the density of discontinuities was quantified as the sum of the lengths of discontinuities developed per unit area. The overall discontinuity trajectory in the study area is predominantly in the northeast direction, the north-south and east-west directions are dominant in the igneous rock distribution area, and the east-west and northeast directions are dominant in the sedimentary rock distribution area. Among the types of discontinuities, they show discontinuity trajectories similar to the northeast direction, which is the dominant orientation of stratum boundaries, stratification, and foliation. The discontinuity density ranges from 0.1 m^-1 to 1,000 m^-1. The density distribution of discontinuities was expressed in the form of discontinuity contour diagrams. As a result, the crushed rock near Demiseam in the southern and southwestern part of the study area, the igneous rock area around Maryeong-myeon, the igneous rock area near Yongdam Dam in the northeast, and the igneous rock area near Unilam and Banilam in the northwest showed the highest density of discontinuities at over 100m^-1., the sedimentary rock area near Maisan Mountain showed relatively low values. It suggests that the results of geophysical exploration and drilling survey data in the existing study area, as well as the geological structure and density and trajectory of discontinuities, may be important factors in the behavior of groundwater in rock mass in the future.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.397-410
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• 2022

The safety of the disposal repository for high level radioactive waste should be guaranteed for a quite long period so that the precise evaluations are required. The site characteristics of the discontinuities are essential part of the safe repository design including engineered barrier and natural barrier systems. The discontinuities act like weak planes and at the same time, they act as flow paths so that their features should be investigated thoroughly. RQD (Rock Quality Designation) is one of the most widely applied characterizing methods due to its simplicity, however, modified designations have been proposed because RQD has some drawbacks, such as its directivity and dependence on the threshold length. This study aims to evaluate the applicability of the modified designations by applying them to the rock mass around KURT and to produce fundamental database that will be utilized in future studies.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.364-372
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• 1999

In this paper, mechanical characteristics of micro-defects in granitic rock was studied. Crack spacing and length were investigated by scanline survey in specimen of granite. To estimate the direction and distribution of potential microcrack in granite, thin sections were made for three direction of Rift, Grain and Hardway axis of the rock specimen. The density and length of microcrack were investigated quantitatively. Three directions of microcracks are comparatively perpendicular. Crack density varies as direction differs, but crack length doesn't show influence of direction.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.63-70
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• 2000

The quantitative analyses and the mechanical interpretation of discontinuity planes are the most important factor for the study of strength and deformation properties of rock masses containing discontinuity planes. However, the relationship between the factors investigated in the field and the actual mechanical properties of discontinuity planes is not fully understood. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of density, length, and spacing of joints on elastic modulus of rock masses as these values vary. A new parameter which has a direct relation with the elastic modulus of discontinuity planes is also preposed in this study. The combination of finite element methods and homogenization methods has been used for the numerical analyses of a uintcell with discontinuity planes, which is generated using random-number generation methods. The elastic modulus of the discontinuity plane is found from the numerical analyses. The final results propose not only the relation between the investigation parameters of discontinuity planes and the elastic modulus of rock masses but also a new parameter, an effect area ratio having a linear relation with the elastic modulus of rock masses.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.52-63
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• 2003

Discontinuities such as faults, fractures and joints in rock mass play the dominant role in the mechanical and hydraulic properties of the rock mass. The key factors that influence on the flow of groundwater are hydraulic and geometric characteristics of discontinuities and their connectivity. In this study, a program that analyzes groundwater flow in the 3D discontinuity network was developed on the assumption that the discontinuity characteristics such as density, trace length, orientation and aperture have particular distribution functions. This program generates discontinuities in a three-dimensional space and analyzes their connectivity and groundwater flow. Due to the limited computing capacity In this study, REV was not exactly determined, but it was inferred to be greater than 25$\times$25$\times$25 ㎥. By calculating the extent of aperture that influences on the groundwater flow, it was found that the discontinuities with the aperture smaller than 30% of the mean aperture had little influence on the groundwater flow. In addition, there was little difference in the equivalent hydraulic conductivity for the the two cases when considering and not considering the boundary effect. It was because the groundwater flow was mostly influenced by the discontinuities with large aperture. Among the parameters considered in this study, the length, aperture, and orientation of discontinuities had the greatest influence on the equivalent hydraulic conductivity of rock mass in their order. In case of existence of a fault in rock mass, elements of the equivalent hydraulic conductivity tensor parallel to the fault fairly increased in their magnitude but those perpendicular to the fault were increased in a very small amount at the first stage and then converged.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.226-241
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• 2020

The stability of underground mine cavity is closely related with pillar strength. The vulnerability of pillars can be judged and reinforced if the pillar strength is known. The pillar strength is affected by characteristics of discontinuities and shape of a pillar. The change of pillar strength due to a discontinuity passing through the center of a pillar, width-to-height ratio of a pillar and small joints existing within a pillar was analyzed using PFC 3D. The result showed that the pillar strength is influenced by dip angle of a discontinuity and it increases as width-to-height ratio of a pillar increases. The pillar strength decreases as the number of contained joints increases. The relationship between total trace length observable from the pillar surface and the pillar strength was regressed with exponential function. The correlation coefficient of the regression was high enough so that pillar strength can be predicted using total trace length if a joint set exists in a pillar. Lastly, the method to estimate the strength of a pillar that includes two joint sets was proposed if the joint dip angles are 60°, 30°. The method also need total trace lengths of two joint sets.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.317-327
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• 2024

When a non-persistent joint system is formed in a large-scale rock slope, slope failure may occur due to presence of a the stepped sliding surface. Such a surface can be divided into joint-to-joint sliding surfaces or joint-to-rock bridge sliding surfaces. In the latter case, the rock bridge provides shear resistance parallel to the joint and tensile resistance perpendicular to the joint. The load of the sliding rock can lead to failure of the rock bridge, thereby connecting the two joints at each ends of the bridge and resulting in step-path failure of the slope. If each rock bridge on a slope has the same length, the tensile strength is lower than the shear strength, resulting in the rock bridges oriented perpendicular to the joint being more prone to failure. In addition, the smaller the ratio of discontinuity spacing to length, the greater the likelihood of step-path failure. To assess the risk of stepped sliding on a rock slope with non-persistent joints, stability analysis can be performed using limit equilibrium analysis or numerical analysis. This involves constructing a step-path failure surface through a systematic discontinuity survey and analysis.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.133-141
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• 2007

The excavation damaged zone (EDZ) is an area around an excavation where in situ rock mass properties, stress condition, displacement, groundwater flow conditions have been altered due to the processes induced by the excavation. Various studies have been carried out on EDZ, but most studies have focused on the mechanical bahavior of EDZ by in situ experiment. Even though the EDZ could potentially form a high permeable pathway of groundwater flow, only a few studies were performed on the analysis of groundwater flow in EDZ. In this study, the 'hydraulic EDZ' was defined as the rock zone adjacent to the excavation where the hydraulic aperture has been changed due to the excavation by using H-M coupling analysis. Fundamental principles of distinct element method (DEM) were used in the analysis. In the same groundwater level, the behavior of hydraulic aperture near the cavern was analyzed for different stress ratios, initial apertures, fracture angles and fracture spacings by using a two-dimensional DEM program. We evaluate the excavation induced hydraulic aperture change. Using the results of the study, hydraulic EDZ was defined as an elliptical shape model perpendicular to the joint.

• 한국방재학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.02a
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• pp.589-592
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• 2008

National Road No.24 connects Ulju-gun in Ulsan Metropolitan City and Milyang city in south Gyongsang Province. The width of the road is small and narrow and many of the dangerous cut slopes are distributed along the way. In 2002, the government officer carried on the brief exploration about road cut slopes, and KICT conduct a detailed additionally investigations 57 dangerous cut slope sites of them. We gained a variety of information of the each slope such as length, slope, discontinuites et al.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.42-58
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• 2001

In order to protect the environment from waste disposal activities, the prediction of the flux and flow paths of the contaminants from underground facilities should be assessed as accurately as possible. Especially, the prediction of the pathways and travel times of the nuclides from high level radioactive wastes in a deep repository to biosphere is one of the primary tasks for assessing the ultimate safety and performance of the repository. Since the contaminants are mainly transported with groundwater along the discontinuities developed within rock mass, the characteristics of groundwater flow through discontinuities is important for the prediction of contaminant fates as well as safety assessment of a repository. In this study, the actual fracture network could be effectively generated based on in situ data by separating geometric parameter and hydraulic parameter. The calculated anisotropic hydraulic conductivity was applied to a 3D porous medium model to calculate the path flow and travel time of the large studied area with the consideration of the complex topology in the area. Using the model, the pathways and travel times for groundwater were analyzed. From this study, it was concluded that the suggested techniques and procedures for predicting the pathways and travel times of groundwater from underground facilities to biosphere is acceptable and those can be applied to the safety assessment of a repository for radioactive wastes.