• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.352-359
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• 2010

Stability of twin tunnels depends on the pillar width and the ground condition. In this study, large scale model tests were conducted for investigating the influence of the pillar width of twin tunnels on their behavior in the regular horizontal jointed rock mass. Jointed rocks was composed of concrete blocks. Pillar width of twin tunnels varied in 0.29D, 0.59D, 0.88D and 1.18D, where D is the tunnel width. During the test, pillar stress, lining stress, tunnel distortion, and ground displacement were measured. Lateral earth pressure coefficient was kept in a constant value 1.0. As a result, it was found that the pillar stress and the displacement of the ground and tunnel were increased by decreasing pillar width. The maximum displacement rate was measured just after the upper excavation in each construction sequence. And the maximum influence position was the right shoulder of the preceeding tunnel at the pillar side. It was also found that for the stability assessment the inner displacement was more critical than the crown displacement. The influence zone was formed at the pillar width 0.59D~0.88D that was smaller than 0.8D~2.0D, which was proposed by experience for a good ground condition. And it would be concluded that horizontal joints could also influence on the stability of the twin tunnels.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.115-128
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• 2006

The structural anisotropy and heterogeneity of rock mass, caused by discontinuities and weak zones, have a great influence on the deformation behavior of a tunnel. A tunnel construction in these complex ground conditions is very difficult. No matter how excellent a geological investigation is, local uncertainties of rock mass conditions still remain. Under these uncertain circumstances, an accurate forecast of the ground conditions ahead of the advancing tunnel face is indispensable to a safe and economic tunnel construction. This paper presents the effect of anisotropy and heterogeneity of the rock masses to be excavated by numerical analysis. The influences of distance from weak zone, the size or dimension, the different stiffness and the orientation of weak zones are analysed by 3-D finite element analysis. By analysing these numerical results, the tunnel behavior due to excavation can be well understood and the prediction of rock mass condition ahead of the tunnel face can be possible.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.111-118
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• 2018

In case of excavation of the tunnel under weak ground conditions, such as fault zone, leg pile reinforcement with the purpose of suppressing tunnel crown settlement and side wall displacement is commonly applied. There are convergence, crown settlement, leg settlement, and the axial force of leg as a main factor for confirming the safety of support considering the installation angle and length of leg pile reinforcement according to the increase in rate of change of tunnel cross-section. In particular, the influence of right corner settlement, among variables for safety confirmation during excavation, has been analyzed as the dominant factor in the most important priority management showing larger displacement tendency than the increase in rate of the cross-section. And, it was analyzed that the occurrence tendency of axial force on leg pile reinforcement showed the influence of behavior according to the friction support concept mechanism of the pile reinforcement rather than the increase in rate of tunnel cross-section, as it showed a small increase compared to the increase rate of the tunnel cross-section which did not show a great correlation from the viewpoint of the change of the axial force by the length of each leg pile reinforcement with regards to the change in rate of increase in tunnel cross-section. If a certain length of the leg pile reinforcement is selected based on the above grounds, even if the cross-section of the tunnel in poor ground condition is somewhat larger, it has been proved to be a more reasonable method considering the workability and economical efficiency by not extending the length of the leg pile reinforcement by force.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.149-163
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• 2023

This paper presents stability evaluation of unlined tunnels with semi-circular arch and straight sides (SASS) driven in non-homogeneous and anisotropic undrained clay. Numerical analysis has been conducted based on lower bound finite element limit analysis with second order cone programming under plane strain condition. The solutions will be used for the assessment of stability of unlined semi-circular arch tunnels and tunnels in which semi-circular roof is supported over rectangular/square sections. The stability charts have been generated in terms of a non-dimensional factor considering linear variation in undrained anisotropic strength for normally consolidated and lightly over consolidated clay with depth, and constant undrained anisotropic strength for heavily over-consolidated clay across the depth. The effect of normalized surcharge pressure on ground surface, non-homogeneity and anisotropy of clay, tunnel cover to width ratio and height to width ratio of tunnel on the stability factor and associated zone of shear failure at yielding have been examined and discussed. The geometry of tunnel in terms of shape and size, and non-homogeneity and anisotropy in undrained strength of clay has been observed to influence significantly the stability of unlined SASS tunnels.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.392-400
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• 2013

Joint sets should be considered as an influence factor, when location of subsidence zone by stopes is predicted. And the mechanical properties and distribution patterns of joint set above stopes may be affecting subsidence occurrence. In this study, therefore, the orientation of joint sets is reanalyzed with the data from the previous research on prediction of defining the subsidence zone. From a correlated analysis, the influence of major joint set($J_1$) on subsidence location was analyzed by comparing the angle of assumption with the angle of major joint set($J_1$).

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.417-422
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• 2009

Tunnels that have recently been constructed are characterized by longer length than ever before and furthermore they frequently go through the ground area with poor conditions such as fractured zones. If ground strength is weak, plastic deformation of tunnel occurs, and occasionally a big fall may be brought about. Up to now, the construction work of tunneling has been executed as a sequential method placing the lining concrete after completion of excavation. Such a method requires a long time and much money to complete the tunnel. It is hard to ensure the stability of tunnel if tunnel is left undone for a long time after excavation in fracture zones or plastic grounds. For this reason, we tried to take simultaneous construction of tunnel excavation and lining concrete in order to not only shorten construction schedule but also stabilize the tunnel at the highly fractures zone as soon as possible. As preliminary consideration for simultaneous construction, in-situ tests are performed to calculate the isolation distance over which blasting vibration does not influence the strength of lining concrete. Improvement of ling form, placing method of concrete, ventilation using a dust collector, together with equipment arrangement, was made to assure the simultaneous construction work.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.366-372
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• 2009

Recently, in order to achieve smooth fracture plane and minimize the excavation damage zone in rock blasting, controlled blasting methods which utilize new technologies such as electronic delay detonator (EDD) and a notched charge hole have been suggested. In this study, smooth blastings utilizing three wing type notched charge holes are simulated to investigate the influence of explosive initial density on the resultant fracture plane and damage zone using dynamic fracture process analysis (DFPA) code. Finally, based on the dynamic fracture process analyses, novel smooth blasting method, ED-Notch SB (Electronic Detonator Notched Charge Hole Smooth Blasting) is suggested.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.267-278
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• 2019

Variety of tunnel ahead prediction methods have been performed for safe tunnel construction during tunnel excavation. Pole-pole array among the electrical resistivity survey, which is one of the tunnel ahead prediction method, has been utilized to predict water-bearing sediments or weak zone located within 5 times of tunnel diameter. One of the most important processes is the estimation of virgin ground resistivity and it can be obtained from the following process: 1) calculation of contact area between the electrodes and the medium, and 2) assumption of the electrodes as equivalent spherical electrodes which have a same surface area with the electrodes. This assumption is valid in a small contact area and sufficient distance between the electrodes. Since the measured resistance, in general, varies with the electrode size, shape, and distance between the electrodes, it is necessary to evaluate the influence of these factors. In this study, theoretical equations were derived and experimental tests were conducted considering the electrode size, shape, and distance of cylindrical electrodes which is the most commonly utilized electrode shape. Through this theoretical and experimental study, it is known that one should be careful to use the assumption of the equivalent half-spherical electrode with large ratio between the penetrated depth and radius of the cylindrical electrode, as the error may get larger.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.455-476
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• 2016

In both structural and environmental wind engineering, the vertical variation of wind direction is important as it impacts both the torsional response of the high-rise building and the pedestrian level wind environment. In order to systematically investigate the vertical variation of wind directions (i.e., the so-called 'twist effect') induced by hills with idealized geometries, a series of wind-tunnel tests was conducted. The length-to-width aspect ratios of the hill models were 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2 and 3, and the measurements of both wind speeds and directions were taken on a three-dimensional grid system. From the wind-tunnel tests, it has been found that the direction changes and most prominent at the half height of the hill. On the other hand, the characteristic length of the direction change, has been found to increase when moving from the windward zone into the wake. Based on the wind-tunnel measurements, a descriptive model is proposed to calculate both the horizontal and vertical variations of wind directions. Preliminarily validated against the wind-tunnel measurements, the proposed model has been found to be acceptable to describe the direction changes induced by an idealized hill with an aspect ratio close to 1. For the hills with aspect ratios less than 1, while the description of the vertical variation is still valid, the horizontal description proposed by the model has been found unfit.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.637-652
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• 2015

In the present work, a number of three-dimensional (3D) parametric numerical analyses have been carried out to study the influence of tunnelling on the behaviour of adjacent piles considering the transverse distance of the pile tip from the tunnel. Single piles and $5{\times}5$ piles inside a group with a spacing of 2.5d were considered, where d is the pile diameter. In the numerical modelling, several key issues, such as the tunnelling-induced pile settlements, the interface shear stresses, the relative shear displacements, the axial pile forces, the apparent factors of safety and zone of influence have been rigorously analysed. It has been found that when the piles are inside the influence zone, the pile head settlements are increased up to about 111% compared to those computed from the Greenfield condition. Larger pile settlements and smaller axial pile forces are induced on the piles inside the pile groups than those computed from the single piles since the piles responded as a block with the surrounding ground. Also tensile pile forces are induced associated with the upward resisting skin friction at the upper part of pile and the downward acting skin friction at the lower part of pile. On the contrary, when the piles were outside the influence zone, tunnelling-induced compressive pile forces developed. Based on computed load and displacement relation of the pile, the apparent factor of safety of the piles was reduced up to about 45%. Therefore the serviceability of the piles may be substantially reduced. The pile behaviour, when considering the single piles and the pile groups with regards to the influence zone, has been analysed by considering the key features in great details.