• Title/Summary/Keyword: rock fractures

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A numerical study on anisotropic strength of a rock containing fractures under uniaxial compression condition

  • Ohk Jin-Wook;Moon Hyun-Koo
    • 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2003.11a
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    • pp.150-155
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    • 2003
  • Fractures in the form of micro cracks are commonly found in natural rocks. A rock behaves in a complex way due to fracture; in particular, the anisotropic strength of a rock material is significantly influenced by the presence of these fractures. Therefore, it is essential to understand the failure mechanism of a fractured rock. In this study, a fractured rock is formulated in terms of fabric tensor based on geometric and mechanical simplifications. In this way, position, density and shape of fractures can be determined by the fabric tensor so that rocks containing multi-fractures can successfully be modeled. Also an index to evaluate the degree of anisotropy of a fractured rock is proposed. Hence, anisotropic strength of a rock containing fractures under uniaxial compression condition is estimated through a series of numerical analyses for the multi-fractured model. Numerical investigations are carried out by varying the fracture angle from $0^{\circ}\;to\;90^{\circ}$ and relationship between uniaxial compression strength and the degree of anisotropy is investigated. By comparing anisotropic strength of numerical analysis with analytic solution, this study attempts to understand the failure mechanism of rock containing fractures.

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Detection of near surface rock fractures using ultrasonic diffraction techniques

  • Selcuk, Levent
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.17 no.6
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    • pp.597-606
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    • 2019
  • Ultrasonic Time-of-Flight Diffraction (TOFD) techniques are useful methods for non-destructive evaluation of fracture characteristics. This study focuses on the reliability and accuracy of ultrasonic diffraction methods to estimate the depth of rock fractures. The study material includes three different rock types; andesite, basalt and ignimbrite. Four different ultrasonic techniques were performed on these intact rocks. Artificial near-surface fracture depths were created in the laboratory by sawing. The reliability and accuracy of each technique was assessed by comparison of the repeated measurements at different path lengths along the rock surface. The standard error associated with the predictive equations is very small and their reliability and accuracy seem to be high enough to be utilized in estimating the depth of rock fractures. The performances of these techniques were re-evaluated after filling the artificial fractures with another material to simulate natural infills.

Dynamic mechanism of rock mass sliding and identification of key blocks in multi-fracture rock mass

  • Jinhai Zhao;Qi Liu;Changbao Jiang;Zhang Shupeng;Zhu Weilong;Ma Hailong
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.32 no.4
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    • pp.375-385
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    • 2023
  • There are many joint fissures distributed in the engineering rock mass. In the process of geological history, the underground rock mass undergoes strong geological processes, and undergoes complex geological processes such as fracture breeding, expansion, recementation, and re-expansion. In this paper, the damage-stick-slip process (DSSP), an analysis model used for rock mass failure slip, was established to examine the master control and time-dependent mechanical properties of the new and primary fractures of a multi-fractured rock mass under the action of stress loading. The experimental system for the recemented multi-fractured rock mass was developed to validate the above theory. First, a rock mass failure test was conducted. Then, the failure stress state was kept constant, and the fractured rock mass was grouted and cemented. A secondary loading was applied until the grouted mass reached the intended strength to investigate the bearing capacity of the recemented multi-fractured rock mass, and an acoustic emission (AE) system was used to monitor AE events and the update of damage energy. The results show that the initial fracture angle and direction had a significant effect on the re-failure process of the cement rock mass; Compared with the monitoring results of the acoustic emission (AE) measurements, the master control surface, key blocks and other control factors in the multi-fractured rock mass were obtained; The triangular shaped block in rock mass plays an important role in the stress and displacement change of multi-fracture rock mass and the long fissure and the fractures with close fracture tip are easier to activate, and the position where the longer fractures intersect with the smaller fractures is easier to generate new fractures. The results are of great significance to a multi-block structure, which affects the safety of underground coal mining.

Cementing failure of the casing-cement-rock interfaces during hydraulic fracturing

  • Zhu, Hai Y.;Deng, Jin G.;Zhao, Jun;Zhao, Hu;Liu, Hai L.;Wang, Teng
    • Computers and Concrete
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.91-107
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    • 2014
  • Using the principle of damage mechanics, zero-thickness pore pressure cohesive elements (PPCE) are used to simulate the casing-cement interface (CCI) and cement-rock interface (CRI). The traction-separation law describes the emergence and propagation of the PPCE. Mohr-coulomb criteria determines the elastic and plastic condition of cement sheath and rock. The finite element model (FEM) of delamination fractures emergence and propagation along the casing-cement-rock (CCR) interfaces during hydraulic fracturing is established, and the emergence and propagation of fractures along the wellbore axial and circumferential direction are simulated. Regadless of the perforation angle (the angle between the perforation and the max. horizontal principle stress), mirco-annulus will be produced alonge the wellbore circumferential direction when the cementation strength of the CCI and the CRI is less than the rock tensile strength; the delamination fractures are hard to propagate along the horizontal wellbore axial direction; emergence and propagation of delamination fractures are most likely produced on the shallow formation when the in-situ stresses are lower; the failure mode of cement sheath in the deep well is mainly interfaces seperation and body damange caused by cement expansion and contraction, or pressure testing and well shut-in operations.

Multiphase flow analysis in rock fractures with dynamic MMIP model

  • 지성훈;여인욱;이강근
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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    • 2002.09a
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    • pp.32-35
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    • 2002
  • In order to characterize the migration of DNAPL in rock fractures, the dynamic macromodified invasion percolation (DMMIP) model, that is able to reflect the viscous force of groundwater in a fracture network, is suggested. DMMIP simulations are verified against the laboratory expenments, which shows a good qualitative and quantitative agreement.

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Evaluation of the Groundwater Flow in Rock Masses

  • Kim, Gye-Nam;Kim, Jae-Han;Ahn, Jong-Sung
    • Korean Journal of Hydrosciences
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    • v.3
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    • pp.1-9
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    • 1992
  • The effects of fractures in rock masses on the groundwater flow and the groundwater flow system in the volcanic rocks are analyzed by GFFP-WT model, which allows more realistic analysis of groundwater system by considering the fractures in rock masses. The evaluation of the effects of fractures in rock masses on the groundwater flow has been carried out in the 2nd Yeonwha and resulted in that the fractures mostly influence flow time because of hydraulic head distribution change. The results of the groundwater flow system analysis in the volcanic rocks are as follows. Most of groundwater once flowed in Lapilli tuff flowed out through Lappilli tuff layer. But only a small fraction of water flowed out through crystal tuff layer.

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Modelling the coupled fracture propagation and fluid flow in jointed rock mass using FRACOD

  • Zhang, Shichuan;Shen, Baotang;Zhang, Xinguo;Li, Yangyang;Sun, Wenbin;Zhao, Jinhai
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.22 no.6
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    • pp.529-540
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    • 2020
  • Water inrush is a major hazard for mining and excavation in deep coal seams or rock masses. It can be attributed to the coalescence of rock fractures in rock mass due to the interaction of fractures, hydraulic flow and stress field. One of the key technical challenges is to understand the course and mechanism of fluid flows in rock joint networks and fracture propagation and hence to take measures to prevent the formation of water inrush channels caused by possible rock fracturing. Several case observations of fluid flowing in rock joint networks and coupled fracture propagation in underground coal roadways are shown in this paper. A number of numerical simulations were done using the recently developed flow coupling function in FRACOD which simulates explicitly the fracture initiation and propagation process. The study has demonstrated that the shortest path between the inlet and outlet in joint networks will become a larger fluid flow channel and those fractures nearest to the water source and the working faces become the main channel of water inrush. The fractures deeper into the rib are mostly caused by shearing, and slipping fractures coalesce with the joint, which connects the water source and eventually forming a water inrush channel.

A Numerical Study of Hydraulic Fractures Propagation with Rock Bridges (Rock bridges를 고려한 수치 해석적 수압파쇄 균열거동 연구)

  • 최성웅
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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    • 2000.09a
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    • pp.201-210
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    • 2000
  • Rock bridge in rock masses can be considered as one of several types of opening-mode fractures, and also it has been known to have a great influence on the stability of structures in rock mats. In the beginning of researching a rock bridge it used to be studied only in characteristics of its behavior, as considering resistance of material itself. However the distribution pattern of rock bridges, which can affect the stability of rock structures, is currently researched with a fracture mechanical approach in numerical studies. For investigating the effect of rock bridges on the development pattern of hydraulic fractures, the author analyzed numerically the stress state transition in rock bridges and their phenomena with a different pattern of the rock bridge distributons. From the numerical studies, a two-crack configuration could be defined to be representative of the most critical conditions for rock bridges, only when cracks are systematic and same in their length and angle. Moreover, coalescence stresses and onset of propagation stresses could be known to increase with decreasing s/L ratio or increasing d/L ratio. The effect of pre-existing crack on hydraulic fracturing was studied also in numerical models. Different to the simple hydraulic fracturing modeling in which the fractures propagated exactly parallel to the maximum remote stress, the hydraulic fractures with pre-existing cracks dial not propagate parallel to the maximum remote stress direction. These are representative of the tendency to change the hydraulic fractures direction because of the existence of pre-existing crack. Therefore s/L, d/L ratios will be identical as a function effective on hydraulic fractures propagation, that is, the $K_{I}$ vague increase with decreasing s/L ratio or increasing d/L ratio and its magnification from onset to propagation increases with decreasing s/L ratio. The scanline is a commonly used method to estimate the fracture distribution on outcrops. The data obtained from the scanline method can be applied to the evaluation of stress field in rock mass.s.

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A Numerical Study of Hydraulic Fractures Propagation with Rock Bridges (Rock bridges를 고려한 수치 해석적 수압파쇄 균열거동 연구)

  • 최성웅
    • Tunnel and Underground Space
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.447-456
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    • 2000
  • Rock bridge in rock masses can be considered as one of several types of opening-mode fractures, and also it has been known to have a great influence on the stability of structures in rock mass. In the beginning of researching a rock bridge it used to be studied only in characteristics of its behavior, as considering resistance of material itself. However the distribution pattern of rock bridges, which can affect the stability of rock structures, is currently researched with a fracture mechanical approach in numerical studies. For investigating the effect of rock bridges on the development pattern of hydraulic fractures, the author analyzed numerically the stress state transition in rock bridges and their phenomena with a different pattern of the rock bridge distributions. From the numerical studies, a two-crack configuration could be defined to be representative of the most critical conditions for rock bridges, only when cracks are systematic and same in their length and angle. Moreover, coalescence stresses and onset of propagation stresses could be known to increase with decreasing s/L ratio or increasing d/L ratio. The effect of pre-existing crack on hydraulic fracturing was studied also in numerical models. Different to the simple hydraulic fracturing modeling in which the fractures propagated exactly parallel to the maximum remote stress, the hydraulic fractures with pre-existing cracks did not propagate parallel to the maximum remote stress direction. These are representative of the tendency to change the hydraulic fractures direction because of the existence of pre-existing crack. Therefore s/L, d/L ratios will be identical as a function effective on hydraulic fractures propagation, that is, the K$_1$ value increase with decreasing s/L ratio or increasing d/L ratio and its magnification from onset to propagation increases with decreasing s/L ratio. The scanline is a commonly used method to estimate the fracture distribution on outcrops. The data obtained from the scanline method can be applied to the evaluation of stress field in rock mass.

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Analysis of Discontinuity Distribution Property to Predict Rock Slope Failure (암반 사면의 파괴 예측을 위한 불연속면 분포 특성 분석)

  • 윤운상;김정환;배기훈
    • Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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    • 1999.10a
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    • pp.147-152
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    • 1999
  • Distribution of fracture system is an important factor to analyse instability of jointed rock slope. In the most case of rock slopes, joint distribution properties are related to potential, shape, size and locality of slope failure. The purpose of this paper is to present an application of fracture characterization related to rock slope failure. Fracture data used in this study are collected by scanline survey. Two aspects of fracture characterization for rock slope are handled in this study First, In order to determine the potential and shape of slope failure, trace length of joints is considered as the weighting factor about collected orientation data. Second, Relationship between trace length and spacing is analysed to estimate failure location and size. The distribution of fracture system is directly influenced on wedge failure. It is effective to analyse the orientation of fractures by using weighting factors associated with the trace length of fractures rather than to analyse only that of fractures. It gives a conclusion that the wedge failure occurred along the peak of fracture density(or intensity) cycles.

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