• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.17 no.1 s.66
• /
• pp.66-74
• /
• 2007

The analysis of ground subsidence stability was conducted for the residential area located on the limestone corrosion zone. For the investigation of the cavity distribution in limestone region, various geophysical investigations such as electroresistivity tomography, electromagnetic prospecting are carried out. Geotechnical field tests with drilling are also carried out for the evaluation of the ground characteristics. Based upon their results, numerical modeling is performed for the simulation and prediction of the ground subsidence with the conditions of cavity geometry and groundwater level. The main factor to cause the ground subsidence is estimated as the draw down of the groundwater level below soil overburden, which disturbs the mechanical equilibrium of ground and drives washing away the overburden soil through the cavity and solace subsidence. It seemed that it is essential to maintain the groundwater level continuously above the shallow cavity for the prevention of the ground subsidence on the limestone corrosion zone.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.12-23
• /
• 2016

For a successful accomplishment of Carbon Capture Sequestration (CCS) projects, appropriate injection conditions should be designed and optimized for site specific geological conditions. In this study, we evaluated the effect of injection conditions such as injection temperature and injection rate on the geomechanical stability of CCS system in terms of TOUGH-FLAC simulator, which is one of the well-known T-H-M coupled analysis methods. The stability of the storage system was assessed by a shear slip potential of the pre-existing fractures both in a reservoir and caprock, expressed by mobilized friction angle and Mohr stress circle. We demonstrated that no tensile fracturing was induced even in the cold CO2 injection, where the injected CO2 temperature is much lower than that of the reservoir and tensile thermal stress is generated, but shear slip of the fractures in the reservoir may occur. We also conducted a scenario analysis by varying injected CO2 volume per unit time, and found out that it was when the injection rate was decreasing in a step-wise that showed the least potential of a shear slip.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.133-143
• /
• 2015

Gas hydrate is a solid substance composed of natural gas constrained in water molecules under low temperature and high pressure conditions. The existence of hydrates has been reported to be world-widely distributed, mainly at permafrost and deep ocean floor. Test productions of small amount of natural gas from the on-shore permafrost have been accomplished in U.S.A and Canada, but, world-first and the only production case from off-shore hydrate bearing sediments was in Nankai trough, Japan. In this study, we introduce key technologies in gas production from hydrates by analyzing the Japanese off-shore gas production project in Nankai trough in terms of depressurization- induced dissociation so as to utilize planned domestic gas production test in Ulleung basin.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.221-230
• /
• 2015

This study examined and analyzed several mine management software programs developed in domestic and oversea countries. In the oversea countries, many companies have developed and commercialized mine management softwares such as Dispatch, $Cat^{(R)}$ $MineStar^{TM}$ and FARA. These softwares provide many functionalities including real-time machine tracking, machine assignment optimization, productivity management, equipment health monitoring and remote control. For the domestic cases, this study reviewed two software programs (i.e., GEMISIMS, Truck-Shovel fleet optimization) developed by several researchers because there is no mine management software currently commercialized in Korea. In addition, this paper reports the two cases at the Jwaneng mine in Botswana and at the Robinson mine in United States where mine management software programs are used to support mine operations.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.264-274
• /
• 2015

In this study, the applicability of geotextile mesh soil nails on slopes was evaluated by numerical analysis to reduce environmental problems which a general soil nailing might produce and to improve its economical efficiency and construction convenience. To this end, in situ pull-out tests were conducted for both general soil nail and geotextile mesh soil nail and their pull-out characteristics were analyzed. Also, finite difference method was used to verify the suitability of numerical simulation. Parameters for nail and ground conditions were selected and sensitivity analysis was performed for the evaluation of slope stability. In addition, analysis was performed by limit equilibrium method which is widely used for slope stability analysis in practice. As a result, if the nail diameter was same, there is no big difference between geotextile mesh soil nails and general soil nails in terms of slope stability. Therefore it can be expected that geotextile mesh soil nails could be effective for slope reinforcement since they could keep a slope as stable as general soil nails and give better economical efficiency and construction convenience than general soil nails.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.543-555
• /
• 2015

At present, local limestone mines with large opening employ auxiliary fans for workplace ventilation which have been used in coal mines with much smaller airways. Considering the low static pressure loss in the large-opening mines, high pressure auxiliary fans face serious economical limitations mainly due to their excessive capacity. The optimal fan selected for the ventilation in large-opening working places should supply air quantity enough for maintaining safe environment and keep its operating cost as low as possible. This study focuses on the development of a low pressure auxiliary fan designed to have smaller range of the static head but to have more potential for higher ventilation and energy efficiency. The flow characteristics of high and low pressure auxiliary fans were theoretical as well as experimentally investigated to assess the ventilation efficiency in term of environmental and economical aspects. Moreover, the low pressure fan was tested in two limestone mine sites with small and large cross-sectional areas for evaluating its ventilation efficiency. Results from this study can be applied to improve the economy and efficiency of auxiliary fan for ensuring better air quality and work environment management.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.534-542
• /
• 2015

Round trip activity occurs discretely due to the abrasion of drill bit in the deep drilling project. Round trip has great impact on the drilling performance because it takes more time to change a drill bit as the depth goes deeper. Therefore, a reliable prediction technology of the round trip should be secured for feasibility analysis and effective management of the drilling project. Lee et al. (2013) developed the TOSA (round trip occurrence simulation algorithm) which can analyze the depth and timing of round trip occurrence at each abrasion state of bit. However, TOSA has weakness that it takes long time for simulation because the number of simulation increase exponentially as increasing the number of simulation section. This study developed the TOSA based round trip performance prediction module using genetic algorithm for simulating in a short time and verified simulation results.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.527-533
• /
• 2015

This study performed an on-site demonstration of the topographic surveying technique at a large-scale open-pit limestone mine in Korea using a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, Drone, SenseFly eBee). 288 sheets of aerial photos were taken by an automatic flight for 30 minutes under conditions of 300 m altitude and 12 m/s speed. Except for 37 aerial photos in which no keypoint was detected, 251 aerial photos were utilized for data processing including correction and matching, then an orthomosaic image and digital surface model with 7 cm grid spacing could be generated. A comparison of the X, Y, Z-coordinates of 4 ground control points measured by differential global positioning system and those determined by fixed-wing UAV photogrammetry revealed that the root mean squared errors were around 15 cm. Because the fixed-wing UAV has relatively longer flight time and larger coverage area than rotary-wing UAVs, it can be effectively utilized in large-scale open-pit mines as a topographic surveying tool.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.496-504
• /
• 2015

Roadheader that excavates ground using pick cutters installed on the cutting head is one of the partial-face machines. A conical cutter among pick cutters is excavation tool decreasing the loss of cutter using tungsten carbide insert at the tip of the cutter and it has been widely used in the roadheaders. In this study, durability performance for three kinds of conical cutters was evaluated in copper mines composed of Manto and conglomerate. After field test, the visual inspection as well as the weight loss measurement of pick cutters was carried out to investigate the damage of pick cutters. In addition, CT scan and SEM were performed to check whether or not crack and apertures in pick cutters. As results, the conical cutter with hardfacing was evaluated as having the best durability performance and it was unable to find cracks in all cutters investigated.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.487-495
• /
• 2015

The specification for selecting railway ballast in France is introduced in this study and the effectiveness of selection for railway ballast is studied for the case of a quarry located in northen France. The quality of railway ballast is, in general, estimated depending on the grain distribution and mainly of the resistance against abrasion. The resistance against abrasion is obtained by both Los Angeles abrasion test and Micro Deval test, which determine the ballast quality suitable whether for high speed railway or classical railway. This study analyzed the correlation between the abrasion index obtained from the abrasion tests for the aggregates sampled at three different stages among ballast production procedure at the quarry. A high correlation is determined between Los Angeles Abrasion index (LA) and Micro Deval index (MDA) and also between abrasion indices of different aggregates. Particularly, this correlation between the abrasion indices allows to estimate the quality of ballast at the final stage from the aggregates at the site in a quarry within the margin of error.