• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.205-211
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• 2024

Currently, with the development of technologies, X-ray examinations for medical examinations at hospital is increasing. This study was conducted to help reduce radiation exposure by measuring the exposure dose received by pediatric patients and the spatial dose of the X-ray room. Dosimeters were installed in the eyeball, thyroid gland, breast, gonads and 4 directions at a distance of 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm from the phantom. The dose was measured ten times each, before, and after the application of the bismuth shield under the examination conditions of the head, chest, and abdomen of pediatric patients. Under the condition of head examination, when a shielding was applied, the dose reduction rate was 68.58% for the eyeball, 72.88% for the thyroid, 84.2% for the breast, and 72.36% for the gonad. The chest examination showed reductions of 19.56% eyeball, 56.98% thyroid, 1.21% breast, and 0.68% gonad. The abdominal examination showed reduction rates of 2.6% eyeball, 10.67% thyroid, 19.85% breast, and 82.02% gonad. Spatial dose decreased by 62.25% at 30 cm, 61.16% at 40 cm, and 68.68% at 50 cm. When the bismuth shield was applied, there was a decrease in dose across all examinations, as well as a reduction in spatial dose. Continued research on the use of bismuth shields will help radiological technologists achieve their goal of dose reduction.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.533-549
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• 2024

Soil conditioning is a critical process when tunneling with an earth pressure balance (EPB) shield tunnel boring machine (TBM) to enhance performance. To determine the optimal additive injection conditions, it is important to understand the rheological properties of conditioned soil, which is typically assessed using a rheometer. However, a rheometer cannot simulate the actual process of muck discharge in a TBM. Therefore, in this study, a scaled-down model of an 8-meter-class EPB shield TBM chamber and screw conveyor, reduced by a factor of 1:20, was fabricated and its applicability was evaluated through laboratory experiments. A lab-scale model experiment was conducted on artificial sandy soil using foam and polymer as additives. The experimental results confirmed that screw torque was consistent with trends observed in previous laboratory pressurized vane shear test data, establishing a positive proportional relationship between screw torque and yield stress. The muck discharge efficiency according to foam injection ratio (FIR) showed similar values overall, but decreased slightly at 60% of FIR and when the polymer was added. In addition, the pressure distribution generated along the chamber and screw conveyor was assessed in a manner similar to the actual EPB TBM. This study demonstrates that the lab-scale screw conveyor model can be used to evaluate the shear properties and muck discharge efficiency.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.379-393
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• 2019

For the economical construction of a tunnel by TBM, the selection of TBM optimized with the various project conditions is important, and also necessary to predict the performances of selected TBM in advance. This study was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the EPB shield TBM screw conveyor by the discrete element method. The sticky particles were used for the excavated material models, and screw conveyor with 11 different inclined angles were simulated to evaluate the performance depending on the different inclined angles. The four different rotational speed conditions of the screw were used, and torque, required power, extra energy for muck discharge, and the muck discharge rate were selected as four performance indicators. As a result, the optimized inclined angle was selected, and selected angle accords with the fact that EPB shield TBM screw conveyor is generally installed and adjusted at the inclined angle between 20.0° and 30.0° in the field.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.69-86
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• 2022

The railway is widely used to transport passengers and freight due to its punctuality and large transport capacity. The recent remarkable development in construction technology enables various subsea railway tunnels for continent-continent or continent-island connectivity. In Korea, design and construction experience is primarily based on the successful completion of the Boryeong subsea tunnel (2021) and the Gadeok subsea tunnel (2010). However, frequent earthquakes with diverse magnitudes, globally induced and continuously increased the awareness of seismic risks and the frequency of domestic earthquakes. The effect of an earthquake on the subsea tunnel is very complicated. However, ground conditions and seismic waves are considered the main factors. This study simulated four ground types of 3-dimensional numerical models, such as soil, rock, composite, and fractured zone, to analyze the effect of ground type and seismic wave. A virtual subsea railway shield tunnel considering external water pressure was modeled. Further, three different seismic waves with long-term, short-term, and both periods were studied. The dynamic analyses by finite difference method were performed to investigate the displacement and stress characteristics. Consequently, the long-term period wave exhibited a predominant lateral displacement response in soil and the short-term period wave in rock. The artificial wave, which had both periodic characteristics, demonstrated predominant in the fractured zone. The effect of an earthquake is more noticeable in the stress of the tunnel segment than in displacement because of confining effect of ground and structural elements in the shield tunnel. 

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.281-301
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• 2024

The power cable tunnels which are part of the underground transmission line project, are constructed using the shield TBM method. The disc cutter among the shield TBM components plays an important role in breaking rock mass. Efficient tunnel construction is possible only when appropriate replacement occurs as the wear limit is reached or damage such as uneven wear occurs. A study was conducted to determine the wear conditions of disc cutter using a deep learning algorithm based on real-time measurement data of wear and rotation speed. Based on the results of full-scaled tunnelling tests, it was confirmed that measurement data was obtained differently depending on the wear conditions of disc cutter. Using real-time measurement data, an algorithm was developed to determine disc cutter wear characteristics based on a convolutional neural network model. Distributional patterns of data can be learned through CNN filters, and the performance of the model that can classify uniform wear and uneven wear through these pattern features.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2016

When utilizing a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for tunnelling work, unexpected ground conditions can be encountered that are not predicted in the design stage. These include fractured zones or mixed ground conditions that are likely to reduce the stability of TBM excavation, and result in considerable economic losses such as construction delays or increases in costs. Minimizing these potential risks during tunnel construction is therefore a crucial issue in any mechanized tunneling project. This paper proposed the potential risk events that may occur due to risky ground conditions. A resistivity survey is utilized to predict the risky ground conditions ahead of the tunnel face during construction. The potential risk events are then evaluated based on their occurrence probability and impact. A TBM risk management system that can suggest proper solution methods (measures) for potential risk events is also developed. Multi-Criterion Decision Making (MCDM) is utilized to determine the optimal solution method (optimal measure) to handle risk events. Lastly, an actual construction site, at which there was a risk event during Earth Pressure-Balance (EPB) Shield TBM construction, is analyzed to verify the efficacy of the proposed system.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.394-406
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• 2019

Difficult ground conditions (e.g., fault zone and mixed grounds) are highly probable to appear in subsea and urban tunnels because of the shallow working depth and alluvial characteristics. TBM usually experienced decrease of penetration rate and increase of downtime when it meets these difficult ground conditions. The problems are usually caused by the adverse geological conditions, and it is preferable to determine the optimal operational parameters of TBM based on the previous operational data obtained while excavating a preceding tunnel. This study carried out for efficient TBM excavation in fault zone and mixed grounds. TBM excavation data from the tunnel site in Singapore and the characteristics of the TBM excavation data was analyzed. The key operational parameters (i.e., thrust, torque, and RPM), penetration rate, and downtime were highly influenced by the presence of fault zones and mixed grounds, and the features was discussed. It is expected that the results and main discussions will be useful information for future tunneling projects in similar geological conditions.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.528-546
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• 2018

Cases of TBM tunnelling have been consistently increasing worldwide. In many recent subsea and urban tunnelling projects, TBM excavation has been preferably considered due to its advantages over drill and blast tunnelling. Difficult ground conditions are highly probable to appear in subsea and urban tunnels because of the shallow working depth and alluvial characteristics. Under the difficult ground conditions, ground reinforcement measures should be considered including grouting, while it is of great importance to select the optimal grout material and injection method to cope with the ground condition. The benefits from TBM excavation, such as fast excavation, increased safety, and reduced environmental impact, can be achieved by applying appropriate ground reinforcement with the minimum overrun of cost and time. In this report, various grouting methods were reviewed so that they can be applied in difficult ground conditions. In addition, domestic and international cases of successful ground reinforcement for difficult grounds were introduced for future reference.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.677-685
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• 2018

In construction, schedule management is the basic but important step, for the effective schedule management, the preparation of the reasonable schedule table should be prioritized. In the design stage, the optimal construction period can be selected through comparison of various conditions and construction methods considering weather conditions and site characteristics. But, At the planning phase, it is difficult to select the effective method and calculate the proper construction period by the basic data(D/B) analysis. In this paper, the construction method considering characteristics of each type and conditions of existing city was selected. For the reasonable duration calculation, we analyzed the unit schedule for RC method for open type and Shield TBM method for tunnel type. The normal project duration of construction assuming of 1,200m of extension and every 200m of ventilation was prepared by integrating each unit schedule. It was analyzed that it took 893 days for the open type and 616 days for the tunnel type. The results of this study will help to make type selection and normal project duration more easily in the planning phase. If it is linked to the design stage, it will be easy to estimate the process and construction cost.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.95-105
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• 2014

Reinforced concrete (RC) shield tunnel lining must be designed for fireproof performance because the lining is sometimes exposed to very high temperature due to traffic accidents. Both experimental and numerical studies are carried out to evaluate fire resistance performance of precast RC tunnel lining systems. In the experimental studies, six full-scale precast RC tunnel segments are exposed to fire in order to examine the influence of various parameters on the fire resistance performance of precast RC tunnel lining. We used the temperature curve of the RABT criteria, which are severe conditions of fire temperatures. The fire test showed that the explosive spalling was not observed by substituting concrete to PP fiber reinforced concrete. A transient heat flow analysis was carried out in consideration of the material properties that change with temperature, and the results showed good agreement with the test results.