• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.21-31
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• 2020

In this study, Hoek-Brown constants (m_i) were calculated through nonlinear regression analyses using the results of the triaxial compression tests for the basaltic intact rocks in Jeju Island. The relationships of the m_i with the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) and UCS/BTS of the Jeju basalts were investigated, respectively. In addition, a method that can be used in determining Hoek-Brown failure envelopes including the tensile and compressive failures of the Jeju basalts has been proposed. As results, the m_i values had no clear correlations with the UCS, BTS and UCS/BTS of the Jeju basalts, but there were two strong correlations between UCS and m_i/UCS, and between BTS and m_i/BTS of the Jeju basalts. In addition, it was found that the tensile strengths calculated by the Hoek-Brown failure criterion underestimate the tensile strengths of the Jeju basalts through the relationship between the m_i and UCS/BTS of the Jeju basalts. The method presented in this study is considered to be useful in determining the Hoek-Brown failure envelope for the tensile and compressive failures of the Jeju basalts.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.5-16
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• 2015

The characteristics of tensile strength of fiber-reinforced grouting (cement paste) injected into rocks or soils were studied. A tensile strength of such materials utilized in civil engineering has been commonly tested by an indirect splitting tensile test (Brazilian test). In this study, a direct tensile testing method was developed with built-in cylinder inside a cylindrical specimen with 15 cm in diameter and 30 cm in height. The testing specimen was prepared with 0%, 0.5%, or 1% (by weight) of a PVA or steel fiber reinforced mortar. A specimen with 5 cm in diameter and 10 cm in height was also prepared and tested for the splitting tensile test. Each specimen was air cured for 7 days or 28 days before testing. The tensile strength of built-in cylinder test showed 96%-290% higher than that of splitting tensile test. The 3D finite element analyses on these tensile tests showed that the tensile strength from built-in cylinder test had was 3 times higher than that of splitting tensile test. It is similar to experimental result. As an amount of fiber increased from 0% to 1%, its tensile strength increased by 119%-190% or 23%-131% for 7 days or 28 days-cured specimens, respectively. As a curing period increased from 7 days to 28 days, its strength decreased. Most specimens reinforced with PVA fiber showed tensile strength 14%-38% higher than that of steel fiber reinforced specimens.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.5
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• pp.607-619
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• 2023

This study, it was tried to evaluate the asphalt behavior under tensile loading conditions through indirect Brazilian and direct tensile tests, experimentally and numerically. This paper is important from two points of view. The first one, a new test method was developed for the determination of the direct tensile strength of asphalt and its difference was obtained from the indirect test method. The second one, the effects of particle size and loading rate have been cleared on the tensile fracture mechanism. The experimental direct tensile strength of the asphalt specimens was measured in the laboratory using the compression-to-tensile load converting (CTLC) device. Some special types of asphalt specimens were prepared in the form of slabs with a central hole. The CTLC device is then equipped with this specimen and placed in the universal testing machine. Then, the direct tensile strength of asphalt specimens with different sizes of ingredients can be measured at different loading rates in the laboratory. The particle flow code (PFC) was used to numerically simulate the direct tensile strength test of asphalt samples. This numerical modeling technique is based on the versatile discrete element method (DEM). Three different particle diameters were chosen and were tested under three different loading rates. The results show that when the loading rate was 0.016 mm/sec, two tensile cracks were initiated from the left and right of the hole and propagated perpendicular to the loading axis till coalescence to the model boundary. When the loading rate was 0.032 mm/sec, two tensile cracks were initiated from the left and right of the hole and propagated perpendicular to the loading axis. The branching occurs in these cracks. This shows that the crack propagation is under quasi-static conditions. When the loading rate was 0.064 mm/sec, mixed tensile and shear cracks were initiated below the loading walls and branching occurred in these cracks. This shows that the crack propagation is under dynamic conditions. The loading rate increases and the tensile strength increases. Because all defects mobilized under a low loading rate and this led to decreasing the tensile strength. The experimental results for the direct tensile strengths of asphalt specimens of different ingredients were in good accordance with their corresponding results approximated by DEM software.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.191-208
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• 2024

In this study, a hydro-mechanical-damage coupled analysis model was developed to evaluate the structural safety of radioactive waste disposal structures. The Mazars damage model, widely used to model the fracture behavior of brittle materials such as rocks or concrete, was coupled with conventional hydro-mechanical analysis and the developed model was verified via theoretical solutions from literature. To derive the numerical input values for damage-coupled analysis, uniaxial compressive strength and Brazilian tensile strength tests were performed on concrete samples made using the mix ratio of the disposal concrete silo cured under dry and saturated conditions. The input factors derived from the laboratory-scale experiments were applied to a two-dimensional finite element model of the concrete silos at the Wolseong Nuclear Environmental Management Center in Gyeongju and numerical analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of damage consideration, analysis technique, and waste loading conditions. The hydro-mechanical-damage coupled model developed in this study will be applied to the long-term behavior and stability analysis of deep geological repositories for high-level radioactive waste disposal.