• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2003

Field investigations of the orientations of discontinuity planes inside the borehole for designing the underground rock structures have been depend solely on the borehole image-taking techniques. But, borehole image-taking has to be processed after the completion of drilling operation and also requires the handling of highly expensive apparatus so that practical application is very restricted. In this study Discontinuity Orientation Measurement (DOM) drilling system and discontinuity analysis model RoSA-DOM are developed to acquire the reliable information of rock structure by analyzing the characteristics of joint distribution. DOM drilling system retrieves the rock core on which the reference line of pre-fixed drilling orientation is engraved. Coordinates of three arbitrary points on the joint surface relative to the position of reference line are assessed to determine the orientation of joint plane. The position of joint plane is also allocated by calculating the location of core axis at which joint plane is intersected. Then, the formation of joint set is analyzed by utilizing the clustering algorithm. Total and set spacings are calculated by considering the borehole axis as the scanline. Engineering applicability of in-situ rock mass around the borehole is also estimated by calculating the total and regional RQDs along the borehole axis.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.301-310
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• 2001

Gypsum blocks with sixteen flaws have been prepared and tested in uniaxial compression. Results from these experiments are compared with observations from the same material with two and three flaws. The results indicate that the cracking pattern observed in specimens wish multiple flaws is analogous to the pattern obtained in specimens with two and three flaws such as initiation and propagation of wing, and secondary cracks and coalescence. Wing cracks initiate at an angle with the flaw and propagate in a stable manner towards the direction of maximum compression. Secondary cracks initiate and propagate in a stable manner. As the load is increased, secondary cracks may propagate in an unstable manner and produce coalescence. Two types of secondary cracks are observed: quasi-coplanar, and oblique secondary cracks. Coalescence is produced by the linkage of two flaws: wing and/or secondary cracks. From the sixteen flaws test, four types of coalescence are observed. Observed types of coalescence and initiation stress of wing and secondary crackle depend on flaw geometries, such as spacing, continuity, flaw inclination angle, ligament angle, and steppings.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.151-163
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• 2011

The LCM test is one of the most powerful and reliable methods for designing the disc cutter and for predicting the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) performance. It has an advantage to predict the actual load on disc cutter from the laboratory test on the real-size large rock samples, however, it also has a disadvantage to transport and/or prepare the large rock samples and to need an extra cost for experiment. Moreover it is not easy to execute the test for jointed rock mass, and sometimes the design model estimated from the test can not be applied to the real design of disc cutter. In order to break this critical point, lots of numerical studies have been performed. PFC2D can simulate crack propagation and rock fragmentation effectively, because it is useful in particle flow analysis. Consequently, in this study, the PFC2D has been adopted for numerical analysis on cutting power of disc cutter according to the different angle of joint, the different direction of joint, and the different space of joint with jointed rock mass models. From the numerical analyses, it was concluded that the bigger cutting power of disc cutter was needed for reverse cutting direction to joint rather than for forward direction, and the cutting power of disc cutter was increased with decreasing the dip angle of joint and decreasing the space of joints in reverse cutting direction. The more precise numerical model for disc cutter can be developed from comparison between the numerical results and LCM test results, and the resonable guideline is expected for prediction of TBM performance and disc cutter.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.287-295
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• 1998

Limit equilibrium method is widely used for the stability analysis of soil slopes. In jointed rock slopes however, the failure of the slope is largely dependent upon the strength and deformability of the joints in the rock mass and quite often failure occurs along the joints. This paper describes the use of ubiquitous joint model for the stability analysis of the jointed rock slopes. This model is essentially an anisotropic elasto-plastic model and can simulate two sets of joint in arbitrary orientations. Validation of the developed with the factor of safety equal to unity was selected when the shape of the failure plane is assumed log spiral. Then the factor of safety of the rock slope having two perpendicular joint sets was calculated while rotating joint orientations. Rusults were compared with limit equilibrium solutions on soil slopes having equivalent soil properties when plane sliding was assumed. Developed model predicted the factor of safety of jointed rock slope in a reasonable accuracy when joint spacing is sufficiently small.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.81-90
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• 2019

In this study, the effects of fracture tensor component and first invariant on block hydraulic behaviors are evaluated in the 2-D DFN(discrete fracture network) systems. A series of regression analysis is performed between connected fracture tensor components and block hydraulic conductivities estimated at every $30^{\circ}$ hydraulic gradient directions for a total of 36 DFN systems having various joint density and size distribution. The directional block hydraulic conductivity seems to have strong relation with the fracture tensor component estimated in direction perpendicular to it. It is found that an equivalent continuum approach could be acceptable for the 2-D DFN systems under condition that the first invariant of fracture tensor is more than 2.0~2.5. The first invariant of fracture tensor seems highly correlated with average block hydraulic conductivity and can be used to evaluate hydraulic characteristics of the 2-D DFN systems. Also, a possibility of upscaling using the first invariant of fracture tensor for the DFN system is addressed through this study.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2006

Rock mass classification systems such as RMR and Q system have been widely served as a simple empirical approach for the design of various rock mass structures in the stage of site survey as well as under the construction. For the RQD determination, the boring is partially carried out and what is more, the survey boring is not normally carried out under construction. Therefore RQD is frequently determined by empirical method or indirect method. Since it is difficult to determine the discontinuity characteristics such as RQD, spacing, persistence, filling and so on, it is essential to develop suitable and simple systems without drilled core and a cert 없 n number of representative parameters. One of the primary objectives of the classification systems for a practicing engineer has been to make it simple to use as a preliminary design tool for the structures in rock mass. In the present study, the modifications for both the RMR and GSI system are suggested by authors to introduce new classification system as well as to improve the scope of some of the existing classification systems for a practicing engineer.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.58-68
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• 2017

According to the development of optical technology, the capacity of LIDAR equipments has been greatly improved to get rock mass characteristics precisely and accurately enough and it has been lightened and popularized so that it can be easily used in the field. In this study, we examined the applicability of roughness measurement for joints in a rock slope using LIDAR technique. A triangular irregular network was constructed using LIDAR and a patch, which is a plane structure of discontinuity on rock mass measured from LIDAR scanning, was extracted to estimate the roughness of the rock slope. Four different kinds of roughness parameters were analyzed to find out their correlation with JRC for various point intervals. Among them, $R_s$ parameter was used to measure the roughness of a patch. Regression analysis between four roughness parameters and JRC with respect to point interval was performed. All the roughness parameters decreased with the increase of point interval. In addition, the parameter value showed greater decrease for rougher surfaces. A method of roughness measurement using $R_s$ parameter on rock slope discontinuities was suggested which showed slight overestimation of the real roughness value.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.388-396
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• 2009

Rock bolt is one of the most important supports for tunnelling to prevent excessive ground relaxation at the primary tunnel excavation stage. It forms a ground arch band by confining the ground around a tunnel. Rock bolt has various effects, such as support or hanging effect, internal pressure effect, arching effect, ground improvement effect etc. Most studies on rock bolt focused on the concept of support, but only a few researches on the ground reinforcing effect by pre-tensioning a rock bolts. In this study, large scale model tests are performed to investigate the ground reinforcing effect of rock bolts for regularly jointed rocks. Simple beam model was built to find out the reinforcing effect of jointed rocks, which was reinforced by pre-tensioned rock bolts. Settlement of model beam was analyzed through measuring its sagging for various installation intervals.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.229-238
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• 2002

This paper introduces the surface roughness parameter, Rs to the characterization of joint roughness and quantitatively illustrates the influence of joint roughness on the joint shear strength. A new peak shear strength criterion for rock joints using Rs is suggested. The results show that the surface roughness parameter, Rs can appropriately reflect the degree of roughness for the rock joint surfaces tested in this study A measuring interval of 2mm and profile length of 5cm can be used to characterize the joint roughness of the rock core size surfaces; however, the scale of fluctuation, $\delta_\alpha$ should be considered to extend the surface roughness parameter, Rs to the large-scale field rock joint surfaces. For the smooth joint roughness, sliding of the rock cores is the principal shear mechanism; however, the breakage of roughness from the rock cores is inferred for rougher joint roughness.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

Earthquake can change underground stress condition around the hypocenter and affect the fracture systems of the rocks. In Korea, the M5.8 Gyeongju earthquake on September 12, 2016 and M5.4 Pohang earthquake on November 15, 2017 occurred inside the Yangsan fault zone and possibly affected the fracture systems in the Yangsan fault zone and nearby rock masses. In this study, the characteristics of the fracture system (fracture orientation, number of the fractures, fracture spacing and aperture, dip angle, fracture density along depth, and relative rock strength) of the rocks in the low/intermediate level radioactive waste repository site located in the coastal area of the East Sea are analyzed by the impact of the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes using acoustic televiewer data taken from the boreholes at the radioactive waste repository site in 2005 and 2018. As a result of acoustic televiewer logging analysis, the fracture numbers, fracture aperture, and fracture density along depth overall increased in 2018 comparing to those in 2005. This increase tendency may be due to changes in the fracture system due to the impact of the earthquakes, or due to weathering of the wall of the boreholes for a long period longer than 10 years after the installation of the boreholes in 2005. In the borehole KB-14, on the whole, the orientation of the fractures and the average fracture spacing are slightly different between 2005 and 2018, while dip angle and relative rock strength in 2005 and 2018 are similar each other.