• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.267-278
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• 2019

Variety of tunnel ahead prediction methods have been performed for safe tunnel construction during tunnel excavation. Pole-pole array among the electrical resistivity survey, which is one of the tunnel ahead prediction method, has been utilized to predict water-bearing sediments or weak zone located within 5 times of tunnel diameter. One of the most important processes is the estimation of virgin ground resistivity and it can be obtained from the following process: 1) calculation of contact area between the electrodes and the medium, and 2) assumption of the electrodes as equivalent spherical electrodes which have a same surface area with the electrodes. This assumption is valid in a small contact area and sufficient distance between the electrodes. Since the measured resistance, in general, varies with the electrode size, shape, and distance between the electrodes, it is necessary to evaluate the influence of these factors. In this study, theoretical equations were derived and experimental tests were conducted considering the electrode size, shape, and distance of cylindrical electrodes which is the most commonly utilized electrode shape. Through this theoretical and experimental study, it is known that one should be careful to use the assumption of the equivalent half-spherical electrode with large ratio between the penetrated depth and radius of the cylindrical electrode, as the error may get larger.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.13-30
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• 2003

In this paper, a new systematic method will be introduced, in which a Rock-mass Prediction System(RPS) predicts the geological conditions and rock mass movements before tunnel excavation and the appropriate counter-measures are taken in the expected weak zones during tunnel construction. The Rock-mass Prediction System(RPS) consists of the LIM, a horizontal core drilling and a seismic exploration method(TSP/HSP). In the Rock-mass Prediction System(RPS), the seismic exploration method (TSP/HSP) gives information on the locations of the weak zones such as major faults and voids in wide-range, and the horizontal core drillings are utilized to find exact location and widths of the faults or voids near the weak zones which was predicted by the seismic exploration method (TSP/HSP). The LIM is used to find the hardness of the rock mass and small weak zones near the excavation face. The Rock-mass Prediction System (RPS) was successfully applied to the Sol-An Tunnel and the effectiveness of the system was verified.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.14 no.6 s.53
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• pp.440-449
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• 2004

Rock mass includes natural discontinuities such as joints and faults during its formation. Discontinuities are also referred as planes of weakness because of their weak mechanical characteristics. In the design of underground structures, it is necessary to consider the properties of discontinuities to insure the stability. During the excavation of a tunnel, these discontinuities have to be identified as early as possible so that proper change in excavation method or support design can be made accordingly. The excavation of the tunnel in a stable rock mass causes a 3-dimensional arching effect around the excavation face. It was revealed by previous studies that the existence of a weak zone or a fault zone ahead of tunnel foe induces a typical displacement tendency of convergence. For better understanding of the meaning of influence/trend lines of various displacement components, three-dimensional numerical analyses were conducted while varying deformation moduli, thicknesses and orientations of discontinuities. Numerical results showed that the changes in influence/trend lines of various displacement components were very similar to those by measurements. The discrepancies from the expected values were dependent on the physical properties, thicknesses and orientations of discontinuities.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.99-112
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• 1999

When there exists a fault zone ahead of the tunnel face and a tunnel is excavated without perceiving its existence, it will cause stress concentration in the region between the tunnel face and the fault zone because of the influence of the fault zone on the arching phenomena. Because the underground structure has many unreliable factors in the design stage, the prediction of a fault zone ahead of the tunnel face by monitoring plans during tunnel construction and the rapid establishment of appropriate support system are required for more economical and safer tunnel construction. Recent study shows that longitudinal displacement changes during excavation due to the change of rock property, and if longitudinal displacement and settlement, which are measured in the field, are considered together in displacement analysis, the prediction of change in rock mass property is possible. This study provided the method for the prediction of fault zones by analyzing the changes of L/C and (Ll-Lr)/C ratio (L= longitudinal displacement at crown, C = settlement at crown, Ll = longitudinal displacement at left sidewall, Lr = longitudinal displacement at right sidewall) and the stereographic projection of displacement vectors which were obtained from the 3-D numerical analysis of hybrid method in various initial stress conditions.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.855-867
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• 2018

When a weak zone exists ahead of tunnel face, the stress in the adjacent area would increase due to the longitudinal arching effect and the stability of the tunnel is affected. Therefore, it is critical to prepare a countermeasure through the investigation of the frontal weakness zone of the excavated face. Although there are several researches to predict the existence of weak zone ahead of tunnel face, such as geophysical exploration, numerical analysis and tunnel support, lack of studies on the relaxation zone depending on the width or distance from the vulnerable area. In this study, the impact of the weak zone on the formation of the relaxation zone was investigated. For this purpose, a series of laboratory test were carried out varying the width of the weak zone and the separation distance between tunnel face and weak zone. In the model test, sand with a water content of 3.8% was used to form a model ground. The model weak zone was constructed with dry sand curtains. The tunnel face was adjusted to allow a sequential excavation of upper and lower half part. load cells were installed on the bottom of the foundation and the tunnel face and measuring instruments for displacement were installed on the surface of the model ground to measure the vertical stress and surface displacements due to tunnel excavation respectively. The test results show that the width of weak zone did not affect the ground settlement while the ground subsidence drastically increased within 0.25D. The vertical stress and horizontal stress increased from 0.5D or less. In addition, the longitudinal arching effect is likely within the 1.0D zone ahead of the tunnel face, which may reduce the vertical stress in the ground following tunneling direction.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.483-492
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• 2009

During construction of a tunnel and underground structure, it is very important to acquire accurate information of the rock mass will be excavated. In this study, the drill monitoring method was applied for rapid prediction of geological condition ahead of the tunnel face. Mechanical data(speed, torque and feed pressure) from drilling process using a hydraulic drilling machine were analyzed to assess rock mass characteristics. Rock mass information acquired during excavation from drilling monitoring were compared with results from horizontal boring and tunnel seismic profiling(TSP). As the result, the drilling monitoring method is useful to assess rock mass condition such as geological structures and physical properties ahead of the tunnel face.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2013

We conducted a Tunnel Seismic Prediction (TSP) survey in a spillway tunnel at Juam Dam to predict the locations of major discontinuities ahead of the tunnel face. We compared the results of the TSP survey with those from pre-construction inspections (including a surface resistivity survey and borehole investigations) as well as with direct tunnel-face mapping during excavation. The TSP method predicted the locations of major fracture zones that were unnoticed in the pre-construction inspections. The reinforcement patterns planned on the basis of pre-construction inspections were changed on the basis of the TSP results. The results demonstrate that TSP surveys are a cost-effective and reliably accurate method of predicting the locations of fracture zones. Although the TSP method has some limitations, these results suggest that the method is generally useful for predicting geological conditions prior to tunnel face construction.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.149-160
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• 2014

The objective of this study is the application of the harmony search (HS) algorithm and verification of the accuracy of inverse analysis to predict the location, thickness and electrical properties of anomalous zone ahead of tunnel face when utilizing the electrical resistivity survey using electrical resistivity of the ground. The relationship correlating the characteristic values of the anomalous zone with the electrical resistance values was derived using Gauss' laws and Ohm's laws. Inverse analysis program was developed to predict anomalous zone by using electrical resistivity based on HS algorithm. Electrical resistance measuring system is devised to obtain the electrical resistivity of the ground, and laboratory tests were performed on anomalies to verify the proposed HS algorithm. The test results show that the characteristics of the anomalies are predicted reasonably well resulting in less than 5% error when predicting the location and thickness of the anomaly.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.393-401
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• 2016

In the present study, fault attitudes and the locations of appearance of faults in tunnel faces were predicted by analyzing the trajectory of the maximum longitudinal displacement immediately before the appearance of faults through three-dimensional finite element analysis. A total of 28 fault attitude models were used in the analysis. Those faults that have drives with dip appear first in the upper part of tunnel faces as tunnel excavation progresses and their maximum longitudinal displacement shows a tendency to move from the middle part to the upper part of tunnel faces. Those faults that have drives against dip appear first in the lower part of tunnel faces as tunnel excavation progresses and their maximum longitudinal displacement shows a tendency to move from the middle part or middle upper part to the lower part of tunnel faces. In addition, when the dip of faults is larger the maximum longitudinal displacement moves from the left upper part toward the wall part in the case of drive with dip models and from the left lower part toward the wall part in the case of drives against dip models. Therefore, it was indicated that the attitudes of faults distributed ahead of tunnel faces and the locations where faults appear in tunnel faces can be predicted by analyzing the longitudinal displacement trajectory of tunnel faces following excavation.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.561-571
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• 2019

Drilling and charging of the blast holes during NATM tunneling works take more than 30% of construction time among the whole tunneling work process. Prediction of ground condition ahead of tunnel face has been studied by several researchers by correlating percussion pressure and drilling speed during tunneling work with the ground condition and/or RMR values. However, most of the previous researches were conducted in the granite rock condition which is the most representative igneous rock in the Korean peninsula. In this study, drilling speeds in igneous rocks were analyzed and compared with those in sedimentary rocks (most dominantly composed of conglomerates, sandstones, and shales) under the similar RMR ranges; it was identified that the drilling speed is pretty much affected by rock types even in a similar RMR range. Under the similar RMR values, the drilling speed was faster in sedimentary rocks compared with that in igneous rock. Moreover, while the drilling speed was not much affected by change of the RMR values in igneous rocks, it became faster in sedimentary rocks as the RMR values got lower.