• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.518-529
• /
• 2022

In Task C of the DECOVALEX-2023 project, nine institutes from six nations are developing their numerical codes to simulate thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled behavior for the FE experiment performed at Mont Terri underground rock laboratory, Switzerland. Currently, Step 1 for comparing the simulation results to field data is the ongoing stage, and we used the OGS-FLAC simulator for a series of numerical simulations. As a result, temperature increase depending on the heating hysteresis was well simulated, and saturation variation in the bentonite depending on phase change was observed. However, due to the suction overestimation, relative humidity and temperature change in the bentonite and the pressure variation in the Opalinus clay showed a difference compared to the field data. From the observation, it is confirmed that the effect of the bentonite capillary pressure is dominant to the flow analysis in the disposal system. We further plan to draw improved results considering tunnel support material and accurate initial water pressure distribution. Additionally, the thermal, hydrological, and mechanical anisotropy of the Opalinus clay was well simulated. From the simulation results, we confirmed the applicability of the OGS-FLAC simulator in the disposal system analysis.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2017

Bifurcation refers to wye division of penstock to divide the flow symmetrically or unsymmetrically into two units of turbine for maintaining economical, technical and geological substrates. Particularly, water shows irrelevant behavior when there is a sudden change in flow direction, which results into the transition of the static and dynamic behavior of the flow. Hence, special care and design considerations are required both hydraulically and structurally. The transition induced losses and extra stresses are major features to be examined. The research on design and analysis of bifurcation is one of the oldest topics related to R&D of hydro-mechanical components for hydropower plants. As far as the earlier approaches are concerned, the hydraulic designs were performed based on graphical data sheet, head loss considerations and the mechanical analysis through simplified beam approach. In this paper, the multi prospect approach for design of Bifurcation, incorporating the modern day's tools and technology is identified. The hydraulic design of bifurcation is a major function of dynamic characteristics of the flow, which is performed with CFD analysis for minimum losses and better hydraulic performances. Additionally, for the mechanical design, a simplified conventional design method as pre-estimation and Finite Element Method for a relevant result projections were used.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.25-36
• /
• 2008

When constructing subsea underground structures, the influence of high water and seepage pressure acting on the structures can not be neglected. Thus hydro-mechanical coupled analysis should be performed to estimate the behavior of the structures precisely In practice, relaxed rock load is generally used for the design of tunnel concrete lining. A method based on the distribution of local safety factor around a tunnel was proposed for the estimation of a height of relaxed rock mass ($H_{relaxed}$). In this study, the validation of the suggested method is investigated in the framework of hydro-mechanical coupled analyses. It was suggested that inducing inflow by pumping through a drainage well gave more reliable results than inducing inflow with shotcrete hydraulic characteristics in case of rock condition of Class III. In this study, therefore, inducing inflow by pumping through a drainage well are adopted in estimating $H_{relaxed}$ due to a tunnel excavation with the rock condition of Class I, III, and V. Also the estimated $H_{relaxed}$ results are compared with those of the existing suggested methods. As the result of this study, it is confirmed that estimating $H_{relaxed}$ based on the distribution of local safety factor around a tunnel can be effectively used even for the case of hydro-mechanical coupled analysis. It is also found that inducing inflow pumping through a drainage well gives more precise and consistent Hrelaxed of a subsea structure.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 1999

A finite element code was developed to analyze coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical phenomena. This code is based on the finite element formulation provided by Noorishad et al. (1984) and Joint behavior was simulated Goodman's joint constitutive model. The developed code was applied for T-H-M coupling analysis for two kinds of shaft models, with a joint or without a joint respectively. For a model without a joint, temperature increased from the shaft wall to outward evidently. The radial displacement showed opposite directions of outward and inward at some distance from shaft wall. For a model with a joint, closure of joint was found due to thermal expansion. The temperature distribution along a joint showed relatively lower than that of rock matrix because of low thermal conductivity and high specific heat of water. And it could be concluded that effects of thermal flow to joint were more than that of hydraulic flow in a rock mass.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.183-200
• /
• 2014

The expansivity of clayey soils is a complicated phenomenon which may affect the stability of geotechnical structures and geo-environmental projects. In all common factors for the monitoring of soil expansion, less attention is given to anion type of pore space solutions. Therefore, this paper is concerned with the impact of various concentrations of different inorganic salts including NaCl, $Na_2SO_4$, and $Na_2CO_3$ on the macro and microstructure behavior of the expandable smectite clay. Comparison of the responses of the smectite/NaCl and smectite/$Na_2SO_4$ mixtures indicates that the effect of anion valance on the soil engineering properties is not very pronounced, regardless of the electrolyte concentration. However, at presence of carbonate as potential determining ions (PDIs) the swelling power increases up to 1.5 times compared to sulfate or chloride ions. The samples with $Na_2CO_3$ are also more deformable and show lower osmotic compressibility than the other mixtures. This demonstrates that the barrier performance of smectite greatly decreases in case of anions with the non-specific adsorption (e.g., $Cl^-$ and $SO{_4}^{2-}$) as the salinity of solution increases. Based on the results of the X-ray diffraction and sedimentation tests, the high soil volumetric changes upon exposure to carbonate is attributed to an increase in the repulsive forces between smectite basic unit layers due to the PDI effect of $CO{_3}^{2-}$ and increasing the pH level which enhance the buffering capacity of smectite. The study concluded that the nature of anion through its influence on the re-arrangement of soil microstructure and osmotic phenomena governs the hydro-mechanical parameters of expansive clays. It seems not coinciding with the double layer theory of the Gouy-Chapman double layer model.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.4
• /
• pp.570-581
• /
• 2018

Recently, a software program has been used in nuclear power plants (NPPs) to digitalize many instrumentation and control systems. To guarantee NPP safety, the reliability of the software used in safetycritical instrumentation and control systems must be quantified and verified with proper test cases and test environment. In this study, a software testing method using a simulation-based software test bed is proposed. The test bed is developed by emulating the microprocessor architecture of the programmable logic controller used in NPP safety-critical applications and capturing its behavior at each machine instruction. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated via a case study. To represent the possible states of software input and the internal variables that contribute to generating a dedicated safety signal, the software test cases are developed in consideration of the digital characteristics of the target system and the plant dynamics. The method provides a practical way to conduct exhaustive software testing, which can prove the software to be error free and minimize the uncertainty in software reliability quantification. Compared with existing testing methods, it can effectively reduce the software testing effort by emulating the programmable logic controller behavior at the machine level.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.573-588
• /
• 2021

The interaction of cracks and water significantly affects the fracture mechanism of rocks. In this study, laboratory tests were conducted using sandstone samples containing a single fissure to explore the hydro-mechanical behaviors in the failure process of pre-cracked rocks. The internal crack characteristics were also analyzed using X-ray CT scanning. The results show that the confining pressure has the greatest effect on the mechanical properties (e.g., strengths, elastic modulus, and Poisson's ratio), followed by the fissure inclination and water pressure. At a lower fissure inclination, the confining pressure may control the type main cracks that form, and an increase in the water pressure increases the number of anti-wing cracks and the length of wing cracks and branch cracks. However, the fracture behaviors of samples with a higher fissure inclination are only slightly affected by the confining pressures and water pressures. The effect of fissure inclination on the internal crack area is reduced with the propagation from the fissure tips to the sample ends. The fissure inclination mainly affects the value of permeability but not affect the trend. The impact of pre-existing fissure on permeability is smaller than that of confining pressure and water pressure.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.167-183
• /
• 2021

It is essential to understand the complex thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) coupled behavior in the engineered barrier system and natural barrier system to secure the high-level radioactive waste repository's long-term safety. The heat from the high-level radioactive waste induces thermal pressurization and vaporization of groundwater in the repository system. Groundwater inflow affects the saturation variation in the engineered barrier system, and the saturation change influences the heat transfer and multi-phase flow characteristics in the buffer. Due to the complexity of the coupled behavior, a numerical simulation is a valuable tool to predict and evaluate the THMC interaction effect on the disposal system and safety assessment. To enhance the knowledge of THMC coupled interaction and validate modeling techniques in geological systems. DECOVALEX, an international cooperation project, was initiated in 1992, and KAERI has participated in the projects since 2008 in Korea. In this study, we introduced the main contents of all tasks in the DECOVALEX-2023, the current DECOVALEX phase, to the rock mechanics and geotechnical researchers in Korea.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.183-202
• /
• 2019

For design and performance assessment of a high-level radioactive waste (HLW) disposal system, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behavior. However, in previous studies for the Korean Reference HLW Disposal System (KRS), thermal analysis was performed to determine the spacing of disposal tunnels and interval of disposition holes without consideration of the coupled THM behavior. Therefore, in this study, TOUGH2-MP/FLAC3D is used to conduct THM modeling for performance assessment of the Korean Reference HLW Disposal System (KRS). The peak temperature remains below the temperature limit of $100^{\circ}C$ for the whole period. A rapid rise of temperature caused by decay heat occurs in the early years, and then temperature begins to decrease as decay heat from the waste decreases. The peak temperature at the bentonite buffer is around $96.2^{\circ}C$ after about 3 years, and peak temperature at the rockmass is $68.2^{\circ}C$ after about 17 years. Saturation of the bentonite block near the canister decreases in the early stage, because water evaporation occurs owing to temperature increase. Then, saturation of the bentonite buffer and backfill increases because of water intake from the rockmass, and bentonite buffer and backfill are fully saturated after about 266 years. The stress is calculated to investigate the effect of thermal stress and swelling pressure on the mechanical behavior of the rockmass. The calculated stress is compared to a spalling criterion and the Mohr-Coulumb criterion for investigation of potential failure. The stress at the rockmass remains below the spalling strength and Mohr-Coulumb criterion for the whole period. The methodology of using the TOUGH2-MP/FLAC3D simulator can be applied to predict the long-term behavior of the KRS under various conditions; these methods will be useful for the design and performance assessment of alternative concepts such as multi-layer and multi-canister concepts for geological spent fuel repositories.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
• /
• 2004.06a
• /
• pp.194-198
• /
• 2004

The thermo-hydro-mechanical (T-H-M) process is one of major issues in the performance assessment of a high level waste (HLW) repository. An engineering-scale test was planned and its experimental set-up has being installed, to validate the T-H-M behavior in the buffer of a reference disposal system. The experimental set-up consists of 4 major components: the confining cylinder with its hydration water tank, the bentonite block, the heating system, and the sensors and instruments. The monitoring and data acquisition system is employed to control the heater to maintain the temperature of $95^{\circ}C$ at the interface of the heater and bentonite blocks and to collect signals from sensors and instruments installed in the bentonite blocks.