• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.41-57
• /
• 2022

A workflow is presented to estimate the size of a representative elementary volume and 3-D hydraulic conductivity tensor based on fluid flow analysis for a discrete fracture network (DFN). A case study is considered for a Cretaceous granitic rock mass at Gijang in Busan, Korea. The intensity and size of joints were calibrated using the first invariant of the fracture tensor for the 2-D DFN of the study area. Effective hydraulic apertures were obtained by analyzing the results of field packer tests. The representative elementary volume of the 2-D DFN was determined to be 20 m square by investigating the variations in the directional hydraulic conductivity for blocks of different sizes. The directional hydraulic conductivities calculated from the 2-D DFN exhibited strong anisotropy related to the hydraulic behavior of the study area. The 3-D hydraulic conductivity tensor for the fractured rock mass of the study area was estimated from the directional block conductivities of the 2-D DFN blocks generated for various directions in 3-D. The orientations of the principal components of the 3-D hydraulic conductivity tensor were found to be identical to those of delineated joint sets in the study area.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.464-477
• /
• 2022

DFN (discrete fracture network) models that take account of spatial variability and correlation between rock fractures have been demanded for analysis of fractured rock mass behavior for wide areas with high reliability, such as that of underground nuclear waste repositories. In this regard, this report describes the spatial distribution characteristics of fracture networks, and the DFN modeling methodologies that aim to represent such characteristics. DFN modeling methods have been proposed to represent the spatial variability of rock fractures by defining fracture domains (Darcel et al., 2013) and the spatial correlation among fractures by genetic modeling techniques that imitate fracture growth processes (Davy et al., 2013, Libby et al., 2019, Lavoine et al., 2020).These methods, however, require further research for their application to field surveys and for modeling in-situ rock fracture networks.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.31-41
• /
• 2016

A program code was developed to calculate block hydraulic conductivity of the 2-D DFN(discrete fracture network) system based on equivalent pipe network, and implemented to examine the effect of joint orientation distribution on the hydraulic characteristics of fractured rock masses through numerical experiments. A rock block of size $32m{\times}32m$ was used to generate the DFN systems using two joint sets with fixed input parameters of joint frequency and gamma distributed joint size, and various normal distributed joint trend. DFN blocks of size $20m{\times}20m$ were selected from center of the $32m{\times}32m$ blocks to avoid boundary effect. Twelve fluid flow directions were chosen every $30^{\circ}$ starting at $0^{\circ}$. The directional block conductivity including the theoretical block conductivity, principal conductivity tensor and average block conductivity were estimated for generated 180 2-D DFN blocks. The effect of joint orientation distribution on block hydraulic conductivity and chance for the equivalent continuum behavior of the 2-D DFN system were found to increase with the decrease of mean intersection angle of the two joint sets. The effect of variability of joint orientation on block hydraulic conductivity could not be ignored for the DFN having low intersection angle between two joint sets.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.100-108
• /
• 2017

As a measure of the combined effect of fracture geometry, the fabric tensor parameters could quantify the status of the connected fluid flow paths in discrete fracture network (DFN). The correlation analysis between fabric tensor parameters and hydraulic properties of the 2-D DFN was performed in this study. It is found that there exists a strong nonlinear relationship between the directional conductivity and the fabric tensor component estimated in the direction normal to the direction of hydraulic conductivity. The circular radial plots without significant variation of the first invariant ($F_0$) of fabric tensor for different sized 2-D DFN block are a necessary condition for treating representative element volume (REV) of a fractured rock mass. The relative error (ER) between the numerically calculated directional hydraulic conductivity and the theoretical directional hydraulic conductivity decreases with the increase in $F_0$. A strong functional relation seems to exist between the $F_0$ and the average block hydraulic conductivity.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.325-330
• /
• 2016

The second phase of low- and intermediate-level waste (LILW) disposal facility is under planned on the sedimentary rock in unsaturated zone. In this study, we created two meshes which were a matrix continuum mesh and a fracture continuum mesh to carry out 2 dimensional numerical modeling for groundwater flow in the unsaturated zone containing fractures focused on the second phase of LILW disposal facility. Two continuum meshes were developed using MINC in meshmaker module of TOUGH2 code. A fracture continuum mesh was included the k-field distribution of the permeability derived from the Discrete Fractured Network (DFN) modeling. To apply the unsaturated zone for the modeling, the gridding steps to generate mesh were developed. Each step to generate a mesh consisted of definition of materials, setting the initial conditions and creating grids using MINC. The methodology development of meshes in this study will be applied for more precise modeling of groundwater flow and mass transport.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.271-285
• /
• 2020

In this study, a numerical experiment related to the stress-strain analysis was performed on 3-D discrete fracture network(DFN) systems based on the distinct element method to evaluate the effect of joint geometry on deformability of jointed rock masses. Using one or two joint sets with deterministic orientation, a total of 12 3-D DFN blocks having 10m cube domain were generated with different joint density and size distribution. Directional deformation modulus of the DFN cube blocks were estimated along the axis directions of 3-D cartesian coordinate. In addition, deviatoric stress directions were chosen at every 30° of trend and plunge in 3-D for some DFN blocks to examine the variability of directional deformation modulus with respect to joint geometry. The directional deformation modulus of the DFN block were found to reduce with the increase of joint size distribution. The increase in joint density was less likely to have a significant effect on directional deformation modulus of the DFN block in case of the effect of rock bridges was relatively large because of short joint size distribution. It, however, was evaluated that the longer the joint size, the increase in the joint density had a more significant effect on the anisotropic deformation modulus of the DFN block. The variation of the anisotropic deformation modulus according to the variations in joint density and size distribution was highly dependent on the number of joint sets and their orientation in the DFN block. Finally, this study addressed a numerical procedure for stress-strain analysis of jointed rock masses considering joint geometry and discussed a methodology for practical application at the field scale.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.59-72
• /
• 2022

This study employed a 3-D numerical analysis based on the distinct element method to estimate the strength and deformability of a Cretaceous biotite granitic rock mass at Gijang, Busan, Korea. A workflow was proposed to evaluate the scale effect and the representative elementary volume (REV) of mechanical properties for fractured rock masses. Directional strength and deformability parameters such as block strength, deformation modulus, shear modulus, and bulk modulus were estimated for a discrete fracture network (DFN) in a cubic block the size of the REV. The size of the mechanical REV for fractured rock masses in the study area was determined to be a 15 m cube. The mean block strength and mean deformation modulus of the DFN cube block were found to be 52.8% and 57.7% of the intact rock's strength and Young's modulus, respectively. A constitutive model was derived for the study area that describes the linear-elastic and orthotropic mechanical behavior of the rock mass. The model is expected to help evaluate the stability of tunnels and underground spaces through equivalent continuum analysis.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.30 no.4A
• /
• pp.353-359
• /
• 2010

Cementitious matrix based composites are vulnerable to the drying shrinkage crack during the curing process. In this study, the drying shrinkage induced fracture behavior of the fiber reinforced concrete is simulated and the effects of the fiber reinforcement conditions on the fracture characteristics are analysed. The numerical model is composed of conduit elements and rigid-body-spring elements on the identical irregular lattice topology, where the drying shrinkage is presented by the coupling of nonmechanical-mechanical behaviors handled by those respective element types. Semi-discrete fiber elements are applied within the rigid-body-spring network to model the fiber reinforcement. The shrinkage parameters are calibrated through the KS F 2424 free drying shrinkage test simulation and comparison of the time-shrinkage strain curves. Next, the KS F 2595 restrained drying shrinkage test is simulated for various fiber volume fractions and the numerical model is verified by comparison of the crack initiating time with the previous experimental results. In addition, the drying shrinkage cracking phenomenon is analysed with change in the length and the surface shape of the fibers, the measurement of the maximum crack width in the numerical experiment indicates the judgement of the crack controlling effect.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.13 no.6
• /
• pp.465-475
• /
• 2003

Groundwater inflow into the caverns constructed in fractured rock mass was simulated by numerical modeling, NAPSAC (DFN, discrete fracture network model) and NAMMU (CPM, continuous porous media model), a finite-element software package for groundwater flow in 3D fractured media developed by AEA Technology, UK. The input parameters for modeling were determined on surface fracture survey, core logging and single hole hydraulic test data. In order to predict the groundwater inflow more accurately, the anisotropic hydraulic conductivity was considered. The anisotropic hydraulic conductivities were calculated from the fracture network properties. With a minor adjustment during model calibration, the numerical modeling is able to reproduce reasonably groundwater inflows into cavern and the travel length and times to the ground surface along the flow paths in the normal, dry and rainy seasons.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.111-115
• /
• 1997

Discrete fracture model has become one of the alternatives for the classical continuum model to simulate the irregular aspects of the fluid flow and the solute transport in fractured rocks. It is based on the assumptions that the discharge in a single fracture is proportional to the cube of the aperture and the fractured rock can be represented by the statistical assemblage of such single fractures. This study is intended to evaluate the effect of the fracture junction on the cubic law. Numerical solution of flow in junction system was obtained by using the Boundary-Fitted Coordinate System (BFCS) method. Results with different intersection angles in crossing fractures show that the geometry of the junction affects the discharge pattern under the same simulation conditions. Therefore, strict numerical and experimental examinations on this subject are required.