• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.107-114
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• 2015

This study focuses on assessing risks which might occur in operation stage of CAES storage cavern and analyzing fire scenarios for the risk that have been assessed with highest risk level. Risks in operation stage were categorized into upper risk group and lower risk group. Components of upper risk group are technical risk, facility risk and natural disaster risk. Lower risk group is composed of 11 sub-risks. 20 experts were chosen to survey questionnaires. ANP model was applied to analyze the relative importance of 11 sub-risks. Results of risk analysis were compared with risk criterion to set risk priorities, and the highest risk was determined to be 'occurrence of the fire within the management opening'. Three fire scenarios were developed for the highest risk level and FDS (Fire dynamics Simulator) was used to analyze these scenarios. No. 3 scenario which air blows from tunnel into outside atmosphere represented that a rate of smoke spread was the fastest among three fire scenarios and a smoke descended most quickly below the limit line of breathing. Thus, No. 3 scenario turned out to be the most unfavorable condition when operating staffs were evacuated from access tunnel.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.56-67
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• 2015

In this study, a source locating technique applicable to transversely isotropic media was developed. Wave velocity anisotropy was considered based on the partition approximation method, which simply enabled AE source locating. Sets of P wave arrival time were decided by the two-step AIC algorithm and they were later used to locate the AE sources when having the least error compared with the partitioned elements. In order to validate the technique, pencil lead break test on artificial transversely isotropic mortar specimen was carried out. Defining the absolute error as the distance between the pencil lead break point and the located point, 1.60 mm ~ 14.46 mm of range and 8.57 mm of average were estimated therefore it was regarded as thought to be 'acceptable' considering the size of the specimen and the AE sensors. Comparing each absolute error under different threshold levels, results showed small discrepancies therefore this technique was hardly affected by background noise. Absolute error could be decomposed into each coordinate axis error and through it, effect of AE sensor position could be understood so if optimum sensor position was able to be decided, one could get more precise outcome.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.321-329
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• 2012

Laboratory tests for measuring absorption, porosity, P-wave velocity and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) were performed to examine weathering characteristics of ilmenite by microorganism. Physical property changes were quantitatively estimated with comparing culture period on the condition of abiotic oxidation without microorganism and biooxidation with microorganism. As a result, the measured pH during 45 days was distributed in the range from 3.82 to 4.26, on the other hand, biooxidation showed the range from 2.20 to 2.57. The measured absorption according to microorganism and culture period represented 0.052% at final stage in the case of abiotic oxidation and 0.073% in the case of biooxidation. Porosity showed 0.206% at final stage in the case of abiotic oxidation and 0.281% in the case of biooxidation. In general, the values by biooxidation showed higher than that by abiotic oxidation. Change range of P-wave velocity with culture period showed that the measured value as 1410 m/s at final stage in the case of biooxidation was lower than 1886 m/s of that in the case of abiotic oxidation. The UCS was decreased with increasing culture period in all specimens and represented 241.1 MPa at final stage in the case of abiotic oxidation and 140.0 MPa in the case of bioxidation. In conclusion, it implies that influence of physical property on ilmenite by biooxidation related with microorganism was larger than that by abiotic oxidation.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.353-361
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• 2013

Previous studies for analyzing optimal haulage routes of dump trucks in open pit mines mostly used raster data. However, the raster data has several problems in performing optimal route analyses: (1) the jagged appearance of haulage roads according the cell resolution often causes overestimation of the travel cost; (2) it difficult to trace the topological relationships among haulage roads. These problems can be eliminated by using vector network data, however a new method is required to reflect the performance characteristics of a dump truck according to terrain gradient changes. This study presents a new method to create vector network data with the consideration of terrain gradient for analyzing optimal haulage routes of dump trucks in open pit mines. It consists of four procedures: (a) creating digital elevation models, (b) digitizing haulage road networks, (c) calculating the terrain gradient of haulage roads, and (d) calculating the average speed and travel time of a dump truck along haulage roads. A simple case study at the Roto South pit in the Pasir open pit coal mine, Indonesia is also presented to provide proof that the proposed method is easily compatible to ArcGIS Network Analyst software and is effective in finding optimal haulage routes of dump trucks with considering terrain gradient in open pit mines.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.288-296
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• 2013

In this study, a total of 13 mines were finally selected as study subjects and field measurements were conducted. Thereafter, calculations of thermodynamic natural ventilation were attempted using spread sheets and solutions for natural ventilation of mine types with multiple vertical shafts were obtained. Based on the results, natural ventilation of each mine was quantified. In addition, changes in natural ventilation energy (NVE) and natural ventilation pressure (NVP) were estimated assuming mine deepening and the resultant values were applied to mine conditions to observe changes in flow rates. Natural ventilation pressure in domestic mines is generally calculated to be in a range of 5 Pa~300 Pa. Although NVP increases as the depth increases, resistance also increases. Therefore, as the depth increases, flow rates show a tendency of converging on a certain value because of the relationship between NVP and mine resistance. Natural ventilation using shafts with depth differences is effective up to depths of 200~300 m. However, flow rate change rates resulting from NVP are small at depths deeper than approximately 200~300 m. Therefore, if a mine is deepened over 300 m, NVP will become insufficient and thus additional pressure obtained through mechanical ventilation will be necessary.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.50-57
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• 2017

In this study, the experiment for determining shock loss at the branch is conducted for the design of network double-deck road tunnel ventilation. The shock loss coefficient that determines the quantity of shock loss has been considered only regarding the constant aspect ratio of circular or rectangular section. However the suggestion of shock loss coefficient is needed since the aspect ratio of double-deck road tunnel for small vehicle is considered around 1:3 with the low height in Korea. The experiment model was made with the scale of around 1:23 applying Reynolds similarity law, so that the shock loss coefficient on the branch of the large aspect ratio was measured. The result of the study showed that shock loss coefficients of both split branch and straight branch were measured two to three times higher than those calculated from the theoretical equation or design values of previous studies. Therefore the study resulted the effect of large aspect ratio on shock loss coefficient was huge, and it is expected that precise design value can be suggested for the design of network double-deck tunnel ventilation.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.12-25
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• 2017

In local underground mines heavily depending on the natural ventilation, ducted fan auxiliary ventilation system is strongly recommended instead of the total mine ventilation system requiring large capital and operating costs. Optimizing the installation of ducted fans in series in long large-opening mines is required to assure the economy and efficiency of the ventilation system. The two most critical design parameters for optimization are the wall separation distance and gap length between adjoining ducts. This study aims at deriving the optimal values for those two parameters concerning the economic and environmental aspects through the extensive CFD analysis, which minimizes pressure loss, leakage and entrainment of the contaminated air in the gap space. The ranges of the wall separation distance and gap length for study are selected by taking into consideration the existing recommendations and guidelines. The ultimate goal is to optimize the auxiliary ventilation system using ducted fans in series to provide a reliable and efficient solution to maintain clean and safe workplace environment in local long underground mines.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.496-507
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• 2020

A prediction of the performance of EPB TBM is significant for improving the constructability of tunnels. Thus, various attempts to simulate TBM excavation by the numerical method have been made until these days. In this paper, to evaluate the performance of TBM with different operating conditions, a parametric study was carried out using coupled discrete element method (DEM) and finite difference method (FDM) EPB TBM driving model. The analysis was conducted by changing the penetration rate (0.5 and 1.0 mm/sec) and the rotational speed of screw conveyor (5, 15, and 25 rpm) while the rotation velocity of the cutter head kept constant at 2 rpm. The torque, thrust force, chamber pressure, and discharging with different TBM operating conditions were compared. The result of parametric study shows that the optimum driving condition can be determined by the coupled DEM-FDM numerical model.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.446-461
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• 2020

Numerical simulations of CIEMAT column test in Spain are performed to investigate the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behavior of MX80 bentonite pellets using TOUGH2-FLAC3D. The heater power and injection pressure of water in the numerical simulations are identical to those in the laboratory test. To investigate the applicability of the thermo-hydraulic (TH) model used in TOUGH2 code to prediction of the coupled TH behavior, the simulation results are compared with the observations of temperature and relative humidity with time. The tendencies of the coupled behavior observed in the test are well represented by the numerical models and the simulator in terms of temperature and relative humidity evolutions. Moreover, the performance of the models for the reproduction and prediction of the coupled TH behavior is globally satisfactory compared with the observations. However, the calculated stress change is relatively small and slow due to the limitations of the simple elastic and swelling pressure model used in numerical simulations. It seems that the two models are insufficient to realistically reproduce the complex coupled THM behavior in the bentonite pellets.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.473-483
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• 2020

This paper examines the vertical stress change concentrated on mine pillar which occurs due to the stress disturbance from opening excavation at room and pillar mine by FLAC3D, a finite difference method (FDM) software. The mesh size combination is decided with a careful consideration of relative error and run-time, then its performance is verified. A series of numerical analyses is conducted and the vertical stress at central pillar was observed for the test cases of 1×1 to 11×11 mine pillars, 40 m to 320 m depth with 40 m difference. The results show that the vertical stress of pillar approaches to the similar value with the value estimated by tributary area theory(TAT) when the development area (N_P) is increased or the height of overburden (H_OB) is decreased, while it is overestimated in the opposite case. Furthermore, it also represents that the vertical stress factor (VSF) converges to a specific value when the depth is increased whille keeping the development area identical.