• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.203-218
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• 2022

A hydro-mechanical study was performed to analyze the relationship between the magnitude of injection-induced seismicity and shut-in. In hydraulic analysis, the suspension of fluid injection makes the pore pressure gradient smaller while the pore pressure at the pressure front can reach the critical value for several hours after shut-in, which leads to the additional slip with wider area than during injection. The hydro-mechanical numerical analysis was performed to model the simplified fault system, and simulated the largest magnitude earthquake during shut-in stage. The effect of the abrupt suspension of fluid injection on the large magnitude earthquake was investigated in comparison with the continuous injection. In addition to the pore pressure distribution, it was found that the geometry of multiple faults and the stress redistribution are also important in evaluating the magnitude of the induced seismicity.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.219-230
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• 2022

The Geo-Reservoir Experimental Analogue Technology (GREAT) cell was designed to recreate the thermal-hydro-mechanical conditions of deep subsurface in the laboratory. This apparatus can generate a polyaxial stress field using lateral loading elements, which rotate around the longitudinal axis of a sample and is capable of performing a fluid flow test for samples containing fractures. In the present study, numerical simulations were carried out for triaxial compression tests using the GREAT cell and the mechanical behavior of samples under different conditions of lateral loading was investigated. We simulated an actual case, in which triaxial compression tests were conducted for a polymer sample without fractures, and compared the results between the numerical analysis and experiment. The surface strain (circumferential strain) of the sample was analyzed for equal and non-equal horizontal confining pressures. The results of the comparison showed a good consistency. Additionally, for synthetic cases with a fracture, we investigated the effect of the friction and type of fracture surface on the deformation behavior.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.411-434
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• 2022

In deep geological disposal concept for spent nuclear fuel, it is well-known that rock mass at near-field experiences the thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) coupled behavior. The mechanical properties of rock changes during the coupled process, and it is important to consider the changes into the analysis of numerical simulation and in-situ tests for long-term stability evaluation of nuclear waste disposal repository. This report collected the previous studies on indirect coupled behaviors of rock. The effects of water saturation and temperature on some mechanical properties of rock was considered, while the change in hydraulic conductivity of rock due to stress was included in the indirect coupled behavior.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.478-490
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• 2022

TBM disc cutter, which is the main cutting tool of tunnel boring machine (TBM), is replaced when it is excessively worn during the boring process. Disc cutters are usually monitored by workers at cutterhead chamber, and they check the status and wear amount of cutters. Because cutterhead chamber is usually in dangerous circumstance due to high pressure and instability of excavation surface, the measurement by manpower occasionally results in inaccuracy of measurement result. In order to overcome the limitations, the real-time disc cutter monitoring techniques have been developed in some foreign countries. This paper collected the current status of disc cutter monitoring system from the literature. Several types of sensors are used to measure the cutter wear, and it is believed that the collected information can be useful reference when similar domestic technologies are developed in the future.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.586-597
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• 2022

In this study, a model was developed for the estimating the locational thickness information of the upper clay layer to be used for the consolidation vulnerability evaluation in the Nakdong river estuary. To estimate ground layer thickness information, we developed four spatial estimation models using machine learning algorithms, which are RF (Random Forest), SVR (Support Vector Regression) and GPR (Gaussian Process Regression), and geostatistical technique such as Ordinary Kriging. Among the 4,712 borehole data in the study area collected for model development, 2,948 borehole data with an upper clay layer were used, and Pearson correlation coefficient and mean squared error were used to quantitatively evaluate the performance of the developed models. In addition, for qualitative evaluation, each model was used throughout the study area to estimate the information of the upper clay layer, and the thickness distribution characteristics of it were compared with each other.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.558-567
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• 2022

The evolution of temperature and thermal stress in a granite specimen is studied via heating experiment in the context of a high-level radioactive waste repository. A heating condition based on the decay-induced heat is applied to a cubic granite specimen to measure the temperature and stress distributions and their evolution over time. The temperature increases quickly due to heat conduction along the heated surfaces, but a significant amount of thermal energy is also lost through other surfaces due to air convection and conduction into the loading machine. A three-dimensional finite element-based model is used to numerically reproduce the experiment, and the thermo-mechanical coupling behavior and modeling conditions are validated with the comparison to the experimental results. The most crucial factors influencing the heating experiment are analyzed and summarized in this paper for future works.

• 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.32 no.4
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• pp.243-253
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• 2022

In this study, the cutting efficiency of TBE (Tunnel Boring Extender) was evaluated by using rotary cutting tester. In the rotary cutting test, a specimen which has a drilled hollow hole at the center was made of rock-like material. The specimen was cut by UDC (undercutting disc cutter) with spiral cutting path to simulate the cutting process of TBE. The cutting forces and specific energy were evaluated under different cutting conditions. The results indicated that the cutter forces of UDC linearly increased with the vertical and radial penetration depths. Among the three directional cutter forces, the normal force is larger than other force components. While the specific energy decreased with the two penetration depths, in particular, it was presumed that the specific energy was minimized at a certain value of the ratio of radial to vertical penetration depth.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.10-28
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• 2023

Long-term shear behavior of the rock discontinuities should be analyzed and its stability should be evaluated to ensure the long-term stability of a high-level radioactive waste disposal repository. The long-term shear behavior of the discontinuities can be modeled with creep and RSF models. The shear creep test, velocity step test, and slide-hold-slide test can be performed to determine their model parameters or analyze the shear behavior by experiments under various conditions. Testing apparatuses for direct shear, triaxial compression, and biaxial shear were mainly used and improved to reproduce the thermo-hydro-mechanical conditions of local bedrock, and it was confirmed that the shear behavior could vary. In order to design a high-level radioactive waste disposal site in Korea, the long-term behavior of rock discontinuities should be investigated in consideration of rock types, thermo-hydro-mechanical conditions, metamorphism, and restoration of shear resistance.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.244-254
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• 2023

The disc cutter mounted on the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) is subjected to cutting forces in three dimensions during rock excavation process. It is widely known that the cutting forces increased with the strength of the rock mass, while the rolling force can be significantly increased when the disc cutter encounters abnormal rotation. Therefore, the cutting force acts on the disc cutter provides important information because it represents the conditions of the rock mass and the disc cutter. For these reasons, several studies have been conducted to measure the cutter forces in real-time. This paper introduces the current status of research on the cutter force measurement of TBM disc cutters, which has been reported in the literature. It is judged that this paper can be a useful reference material when similar technologies are developed in Korea in the future.