• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.464-477
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• 2022

DFN (discrete fracture network) models that take account of spatial variability and correlation between rock fractures have been demanded for analysis of fractured rock mass behavior for wide areas with high reliability, such as that of underground nuclear waste repositories. In this regard, this report describes the spatial distribution characteristics of fracture networks, and the DFN modeling methodologies that aim to represent such characteristics. DFN modeling methods have been proposed to represent the spatial variability of rock fractures by defining fracture domains (Darcel et al., 2013) and the spatial correlation among fractures by genetic modeling techniques that imitate fracture growth processes (Davy et al., 2013, Libby et al., 2019, Lavoine et al., 2020).These methods, however, require further research for their application to field surveys and for modeling in-situ rock fracture networks.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.568-585
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• 2022

In the present study, we proposed a numerical method for simulating thermally induced fracture slip using a grain-based distinct element model (GBDEM). As a part of DECOVALEX-2023, the thermo-mechanical loading test on a saw-cut rock fracture conducted at the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology was simulated. In the numerical model, the rock sample including a saw-cut fracture was represented as a group of random Voronoi polyhedra. Then, the coupled thermo-mechanical behavior of grains and their interfaces was calculated using 3DEC. The key concerns focused on the temperature evolution, thermally induced principal stress increment, and fracture normal and shear displacements under thermo-mechanical loading. The comparisons between laboratory experimental results and the numerical results revealed that the numerical model reasonably captured the heat transfer and heat loss characteristics of the rock specimen, the horizontal stress increment due to constrained displacement, and the progressive shear failure of the fracture. However, the onset of the fracture slip and the magnitudes of stress increment and fracture displacement showed discrepancies between the numerical and experimental results. We expect the numerical model to be enhanced by continuing collaboration and interaction with other research teams of DECOVALEX-2023 Task G and validated in further study.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.29-41
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• 2023

The brittleness of rocks plays an important role in determining the fragmentation and failure behavior of rock. However, there is still no standard method to evaluate the brittleness of rock, and previous studies have suggested the several definitions for estimation of brittleness of rock. Even in the process of mechanical rock excavation and drilling, the brittleness of rock is considered as an important property for evaluating the excavation efficiency of mechanical excavators or boreability of rock. The previous studies have been carried out to investigate the correlation between different brittleness of rock and cutting efficiency and boreability of rock. This study introduced a method for calculating the brittleness of rock from punch penetration test, and analyzed the correlation between the brittleness of rock calculated by the uniaxial compressive and Brazilian tensile strengths and that from punch penetration test. From the results of correlation analysis, the relationship between various brittleness was confirmed, and it was found that PSI and BI₃ showed a good correlation with the strength-based brittleness index. In addition, the results indicated that B₃ and B₄ are suitable to represent the brittleness of rock in the field of mechanical rock excavation.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.228-243
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• 2023

Bentonite is widely recognized and utilized as a buffer material in high-level radioactive waste repositories, mainly due to its favorable characteristics such as swelling capability and low permeability. Bentonite buffers play an important role in ensuring the safe disposal of radioactive waste by providing a low permeability barrier and effectively preventing the migration of radionuclides into the surrounding rock. However, the long-term performance of bentonite buffers still remains a subject of ongoing research, and one of the main concerns is the erosion of the buffer induced by swelling and groundwater flow. The erosion of the bentonite buffer can significantly impact repository safety by compromising the integrity of buffer and leading to the formation of colloids that may facilitate the transport of radionuclides through groundwater, consequently elevating the risk of radionuclide migration. Therefore, it is very important to numerically quantify the erosion of bentonite buffer to evaluate the long-term performance of bentonite buffer, which is crucial for the safety assessment of high-level radioactive waste disposal. In this technical note, Two-region model is introduced, a proposed model to simulate the erosion behavior of bentonite based on a dynamic bentonite diffusion model, and quantitative evaluation is conducted for the bentonite buffer erosion with this model.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.141-155
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• 2023

Monitoring technology based on electrical resistivity is widely used for non-destructive data collection and health analysis of underground structures and tunnels. Vulnerable sections such as fault zone generates many problems during construction of the tunnel. These problems cause displacement and stress changes of the ground. Therefore, it is necessary to predict the state of the fault zone section to ensure the mechanical stability of the underground structure. Monitoring the size of joints and the porosity of the fillings is essential for rocks. Previous studies have not considered the variety of fillings in rock joints. In this study, electrical resistivity tests were conducted according to the particle mixing state of the sandy fillings. When the size of fillings is decreased at the constant porosity, the electrical resistivity tends to increase. The results of this study are expected to be useful as basic electrical resistivity data for predicting the ground conditions and evaluation of the ground behavior that is containing sandy fillings in the rock joint for tunnels.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.150-168
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• 2023

The anisotropic behavior of rocks is primarily attributed to the directional arrangement of rock-forming minerals and the distribution characteristics of microcracks. Notably, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks often exhibit distinct transverse isotropy in terms of their strength and deformation characteristics. Consequently, it is crucial to gain accurate insights into the deformation and failure characteristics of transversely isotropic rocks during rock mechanics design processes. The deformation of such rocks is described by five independent elastic constants, which are determined through laboratory testing. In this study, the characteristics of the directional variation of apparent elastic constants in transversely isotropic rocks were investigated using experimental data reported in the literature. To achieve this, the constitutive equation proposed by Mehrabadi & Cowin was introduced to calculate the apparent elastic constants more efficiently and systematically in a rotated Cartesian coordinate system. Four transversely isotropic rock types from the literature were selected, and the influence of changes in the orientation of the weak plane on the variations of the apparent elastic modulus, apparent shear modulus, and apparent Poisson's ratio was analyzed. Based on the investigation, a new constraint on the elastic constants has been proposed. If the proposed constraint is satisfied, the directional variation of the apparent elastic constants in transversely isotropic rocks aligns with intuitive predictions of their tendencies.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6A
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• pp.1013-1022
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• 2006

Although the cable-stayed bridges with two I-type girders inherently do not have good aerodynamic characteristics, a lot of the bridges with this type girders are constructed in Korea recently because of an economical merit. This paper investigated the aerodynamic characteristics of the cable-stayed bridges with two I-type girders. Section model tests were conducted in order to investigate the aerodynamic behaviors of this section with varying of the angles of attack, turbulence intensity and damping ratios. Two deck section configurations with different torsional stiffness were studied under construction and after completion respectively. Three types of the fairings were investigated to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the bridges. The result of this study showed that the traditional section model test in uniform flow estimates the aerodynamic behavior rather pessimistically. The wind induced responses of the bridges were severely varied in accordance with the turbulence intensity and the structural damping ratio. The proposed fairing reduced the magnitude of the vortex-shedding vibrations and buffeting responses. It also increased the wind speed at which flutter occurs. It is expected that these investigations would provide a lot of information for the design of the cable stayed bridges with two I-type girders regarding wind resistance.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.105-115
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• 2002

For many rears, traffic accident statistics are the most direct measure of safety for a signalized intersection. However it takes more than 2 or 3 yearn to collect certain accident data for adequate sample sizes. And the accident data itself is unreliable because of the difference between accident data recorded and accident that is actually occurred. Therefore, it is rather difficult to evaluate safety for a intersection by using accident data. For these reasons, traffic conflict technique(TCT) was developed as a buick and accurate counter-measure of safety for a intersection. However, the collected conflict data is not always reliable because there is absence of clear criteria for conflict. This study developed objective and accurate conflict criteria, which is shown below based on traffic engineering theory. Frist, the rear-end conflict is regarded, when the following vehicle takes evasive maneuver against the first vehicle within a certain distance, according to car-following theory. Second, lane-change conflict is regarded when the following vehicle takes evasive maneuver against first vehicle which is changing its lane within the minimum stopping distance of the following vehicle. Third, cross and opposing-left turn conflicts are regarded when the vehicle which receives green sign takes evasive maneuver against the vehicle which lost its right-of-way crossing a intersection. As a result of correlation analysis between conflict and accident, it is verified that the suggested conflict criteria in this study ave applicable. And it is proven that estimating safety evaluation for a intersection with conflict data is possible, according to the regression analysis preformed between accident and conflict, EPDO accident and conflict. Adopting the conflict criteria suggested in this study would be both quick and accurate method for diagnosing safety and operational deficiencies and for evaluation improvements at intersections. Further research is required to refine the suggested conflict criteria to extend its application. In addition, it is necessary to develope other types of conflict criteria, not included in this study, in later study.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.29 no.5C
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• pp.664-672
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• 2004

Widespread popularity of wireless data communication devices, coupled with the availability of higher bandwidths, has led to an increased user demand for content-rich media such as images and videos. Since such content often tends to be private, sensitive, or paid for, there exists a requirement for securing such communication. However, solutions that rely only on traditional compute-intensive security mechanisms are unsuitable for resource-constrained wireless and embedded devices. In this paper, we propose a selective partial image encryption scheme for image data hiding , which enables highly efficient secure communication of image data to and from resource constrained wireless devices. The encryption scheme is invoked during the image compression process, with the encryption being performed between the quantizer and the entropy coder stages. Three data selection schemes are proposed： subband selection, data bit selection and random selection. We show that these schemes make secure communication of images feasible for constrained embed-ded devices. In addition we demonstrate how these schemes can be dynamically configured to trade-off the amount of ded devices. In addition we demonstrate how these schemes can be dynamically configured to trade-off the amount of data hiding achieved with the computation requirements imposed on the wireless devices. Experiments conducted on over 500 test images reveal that, by using our techniques, the fraction of data to be encrypted with our scheme varies between 0.0244％ and 0.39％ of the original image size. The peak signal to noise ratios (PSNR) of the encrypted image were observed to vary between about 9.5㏈ to 7.5㏈. In addition, visual test indicate that our schemes are capable of providing a high degree of data hiding with much lower computational costs.

• 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.