• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.71-87
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• 2024

In deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste, the surrounding rock at the immediate vicinity of the deposition hole may experience localized changes in permeability due to in-situ stress at depth, swelling pressure from resaturated bentonite buffer, and the heat generated from the decay of radioactive isotopes. In this study, experimental data on changes in permeability of granite, a promising candidate rock type in South Korea, were obtained by applying various confining pressures and temperature conditions expected in the actual disposal environment. By conducting the permeability test on KURT granite specimens under three or more hydrostatic pressure conditions, the relation in which the permeability decreases exponentially as the confining pressure increases was derived. The temperature-induced changes in permeability were found to be negligible at temperatures below the expected maximum of 90℃. In addition, by establishing a relation in which the initial permeability is proportional to the power of the initial porosity, it was possible to estimate permeability value for granite with a specific porosity under a certain confining pressure.

• 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 the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.25-34
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• 2016

Recently, in Korea, problems related with unstability of slope or sinkhole in urban area due to erosion of compacted granite soil which was used as a backfill or embankment material have been treated as important issues. Small hole might develop inside of backfill area due to erosion of not only weathered granite soil but also clay, silt, fine sand size particles when underground water flows. Once erosion starts in a soil mass, erosion rate increases gradually to cause rapid destruction. In this study, a rotating cylinder test (RCT) was performed to evaluate the hydraulic resistance characteristics of compacted weathered granite soil under various relative densities and preconsolidation pressures. Meanwhile, an image analysis method was introduced to analyze radius of irregularly eroded sample. It was found that image analysis is an effective means of minimizing the error in calculating a critical shear stress and threshold shear stress on the irregularly eroded sample. Furthermore, in general, hydraulic resistance capacity increases with the increase of relative density and preconsolidation pressure.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.99-112
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• 1999

By using 92 values of lateral earth pressure coefficient(K) measured in Korea, the tendency of K with varying depth is analyzed and compared with the range of K defined by Hoek and Brown. The horizontal stress is generally larger than the vertical stress in Korea : About 84 % of K values are above 1. In this study, the theory of elasto-plasticity is applied to analyze the variation of K values, and the results are compared with those of numerical analysis. This reveals that the erosion, sedimentation and weathering of earth crust are important factors in the determination of K values. Surface erosion, large lateral pressure and good rock mass increase the K values, but sedimentation decreases the K values. This study enable us to analyze the effects of geological processes on the K values, especially at shallow depth where underground excavation takes place. A neural network expert system using multi-layer back-propagation algorithm is developed to predict the K values. The neural network model has a correlation coefficient above 0.996 when it is compared with measured data. The comparison with 9 measured data which are not included in the back-propagation learning has shown an average inference error of 20% and the correlation coefficient above 0.95. The expert system developed in this study can be used for reliable determination of K values.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.28-38
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• 2010

In order to investigate the tendency of general displacements and behaviors with respect to each construction process as well as the applicability of numerical analysis schemes, this research has focused on not only analyzing a variety of field observations made in a NATM tunnel, such as displacement of top and side, stress of shotcrete and axial strength of rock bolt, but also carrying out a series of numerical analyses. It was established from the investigation that the 2-dimensional continuum numerical analysis was the one which could more accurately predict displacement of crown and side in the area of one step excavation (patten, P1-P3), while the 2-dimensional discontinuum analysis was the most suitable scheme to study that of two step excavation (patten, P4-P6). In addition, the 2-dimensional continuum analysis enabled to appropriately predict the axial strength of rock bolt and stress of shotcrete in all the area of the tunnel. Finally, it has been possible to conclude from the study that the 3-dimensional continuum analysis should be applied to inspect the behavior and tendency with respect to each stage of the construction as well as in the case of joints, such as large turnouts where relaxation loads in both of horizontal and vertical direction are piled up.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.181-189
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• 2009

This study is to evaluate an effect of supports with respect to these supports after comparing the characteristic of support between rock bolt of a widely used type and spiral bolt of a new type. For these purposes, we performed pull-out test in laboratory about rock and spiral bolts in the case of cement-mortar grout curing periods, 7 and 28 days, then calculated pull-out load, displacement, external pressure, inner pressure and shear stress using data obtained from the results of pull-out test, respectively. In relation between pull-out load and displacement, displacement of spiral bolt is larger than one of rock bolt. It is considered that mechanical property of rock bolt is due to larger than one of spiral bolt. In addition, displacement of supports shows nearly same or decreasing with curing periods. We found that because adhesive force between supports and cement-mortar grout is increasing with compressive strength of grout according to curing periods. The inner pressure of spiral bolt is represented larger than one of rock bolt at a step of same pull-out load. It is suggested that spiral bolt is more stable than rock bolt, maintaining stability of ground or rock mass, when supports are installed in a ground or rock mass under the same condition. Putting together with above results, we can consider that spiral bolt as a new support on an aspect of pull-out load and inner pressure is larger than rock bolt in a ground or rock mass under the same condition. Moreover, spiral bolt is more effective support than rock bolt, considering an economical and constructive aspects of supports, as well as ground or rock stability before or after installing supports.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.267-276
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• 2010

In modern rock engineering practice, fully grouted rock bolting is actively employed as a major supporting system, so that understanding the behavior of fully grouted rock bolts is essential for the precise design of rock bolting. Despite its importance, the supporting mechanism of rock bolts has not been fully understood yet. Since most of existing analytical models for rock bolts were developed by drastically simplifying their boundary conditions, they are not suitable for the bolts of in-situ condition. In this study, 3-D elastic FE analysis of fully grouted rock bolts has been conducted to provide insight into the supporting mechanism of the bolt. The distribution of shear and axial stresses along the bolt are investigated with the consideration of different boundary conditions including three different displacement boundary conditions at the bolt head, the presence of intersecting rock joints, and the variation of elastic modulus of adjacent rock. The numerical result reveals that installation of the faceplate at the bolt head plays an important role in mobilizing the supporting action and enhancing the supporting capabilities of the fully grouted rock bolts.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.396-408
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• 2016

Rock fracture mechanics has been widely applied to various fields of rock and civil engineering. But most researches covered mode I behavior, though mode II behavior is dominant in rock engineering. Until now, there is only one ISRM suggested method for mode II toughness of rock. A new SCC (Short Core in Compression) mode II toughness test method was developed considering 1) application of confining pressure, 2) easiness of notch creation, 3) utilization of existing equipment, 4) simple test procedure. The stress intensity factors were determined by 3D finite element method considering line and distributed loading conditions. The tests with granite specimens were carried out using MTS 815 rock test system with a loading rate of 0.002 mm/s. The mean value of mode II fracture toughness of granite showed $2.33MPa{\sqrt{m}}$. Mode I toughness of the same granite was $1.12MPa{\sqrt{m}}$, determined by Brazilian disk test and $K_{IIC}/K_{IC}=2.08$. The smooth fracture surface with rock powder formation also supported mode II behavior of SCC method. The SCC method can be used for the determination of mode II fracture toughness of rocks based on the current results.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.155-167
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• 2015

The thermal-hydrological-mechanical (T-H-M) behavior of rock mass surrounding a high-temperature cavern thermal energy storage (CTES) operated for a period of 30 years has been investigated by TOUGH2-FLAC3D simulator. As a fundamental study for the development of prediction and control technologies for the environmental change and rock mass behavior associated with CTES, the key concerns were focused on the hydrological-thermal multiphase flow and the consequential mechanical behavior of the surrounding rock mass, where the insulator performance was not taken into account. In the present study, we considered a large-scale cylindrical cavern at shallow depth storing thermal energy of $350^{\circ}C$. The numerical results showed that the dominant heat transfer mechanism was the conduction in rock mass, and the mechanical behavior of rock mass was influenced by thermal factor (heat) more than hydrological factor (pressure). The effective stress redistribution, displacement and surface uplift caused by heating of rock and boiling of ground-water were discussed, and the potential of shear failure was quantitatively examined. Thermal expansion of rock mass led to the ground-surface uplift on the order of a few centimeters and the development of tensile stress above the storage cavern, increasing the potential of shear failure.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.456-467
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• 2019

In this study, the discrete element method was used to simulate the excavation of spoke-type shield TBM. The horizontal stress coefficient was used for the ground to simulate the increase of the horizontal stress according to the depth, and the driving conditions were set based on the torque generated from the cutterhead of the TBM to excavate within the operating range. That is, when the value of the torque generated at the cutterhead exceeds the given operating condition, the speed of excavation is constantly reduced, and conversely, the method of increasing the speed of excavation is considered. The change speed of the excavation was given the minimum change requirement in consideration of the driver's review time, and the change was possible according to the excavation conditions. In order to use these conditions, the user-subroutine was considered separately, and the results show that the DEM model were able to analyze the excavation within the considered operating range.