• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.397-410
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• 2022

The safety of the disposal repository for high level radioactive waste should be guaranteed for a quite long period so that the precise evaluations are required. The site characteristics of the discontinuities are essential part of the safe repository design including engineered barrier and natural barrier systems. The discontinuities act like weak planes and at the same time, they act as flow paths so that their features should be investigated thoroughly. RQD (Rock Quality Designation) is one of the most widely applied characterizing methods due to its simplicity, however, modified designations have been proposed because RQD has some drawbacks, such as its directivity and dependence on the threshold length. This study aims to evaluate the applicability of the modified designations by applying them to the rock mass around KURT and to produce fundamental database that will be utilized in future studies.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2009

A 3-D numerical analysis was carried out to observe potential effects of orientation of inherent weak zones to tunnel behaviors and stress distributions during tunnel excavation. Weak zones used for the analysis were placed at the upper 1D part from crown, on the crown and on the center of face, using orientations derived from the 6th RMR parameter for assessment of joint orientation effect on tunnel. Mechanical properties of rock mass were derived through a in-situ displacement measurement-based back analysis. Finally, a classification chart for crown settlement with five ranks based on orientation and location of weak zones is suggested.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.1-17
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• 2014

This study analyzed characteristics of landform relieves on 12 bedrock whole(W) areas and 24 mountain(M) and valley(V) areas. Based on this result, characteristics and relations between bedrocks and landform relief were classified as follows. 1) gneiss-height M and granite-height W, M, V areas show active stream incision for uplift. However these areas have relatively low relief and grade compared to high altitude, because effect of denudation don't pass on whole slope. 2) gneiss-height W, V, gneiss-mid M, schist M, granite-mid M, volcanic rock W, M, sedimentary rock-height(conglomerate) W, M, V, sedimentary rock-mid (sandstone and shale) M, limestone W, M areas have active stream erosion and mass movement, but landform relieves are on the high side, because these have resistant bedrock and geological structure against weathering and erosion. 3) gneiss-mid W, V, schist W, V, granite-mid W, V, volcanic rock V, sedimentary rock-mid W, V, sedimentary rock-low(shale) M, limestone V areas landform relieves are on the low side, because these have weak resistance and active weathering, mass movement, erosion, transportation and deposit. 4) gneiss-low W, M, V, granite-low W, M, V, sedimentary rock-low W, V areas landform relieves are very low, because these don't have active erosion and mass movement as costal area with low altitude.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.143-154
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• 1999

In this study, the load transfer mechanism of tendon-grout interface of rock anchors has been examined through a series of static pull-out tests conducted on the model rock anchors constructed in the natural and artificial rock masses of granite and concrete, respectively. Several rock masses with horizontal discontinuities have been prepared to study the effects of weak planes on the shear stress distribution in tendon-grout interface. As a result, for the rock anchors constructed in the rock mass without discontinuities, stress concentration occurs on the upper part of the tendon-grout interface. On the contrary, as the frequency or the number of discontinuities increases, the shear stress distribution along the depth tends to be uniform. Also, an experimental equation about shear stress distribution between tendon-grout interface can be made by the regression of test results. The shear stresses computed from the experimental results between the rock surface and the depth of 2~3 times the tendon diameter are smaller than those from theory. Below the depth, the reverse can be observed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.619-629
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• 2015

Influenced by various mining activities, fractures in rock masses have different densities, set numbers and lengths, which induce different mechanical properties and failure modes of rock masses. Therefore, precisely expressing the failure criterion of the fractured rock influenced by coal mining is significant for the support design, safety assessment and disaster prevention of underground mining engineering subjected to multiple mining activities. By adopting PFC2D particle flow simulation software, this study investigated the propagation and fractal evolution laws of the micro cracks occurring in two typical kinds of rocks under uniaxial compressive condition. Furthermore, it calculated compressive strengths of the rocks with different confining pressures and box-counting dimensions. Moreover, the quantitative relation between the box-counting dimension of the rocks and the empirical parameters m and s in Hoek-Brown strength criterion was established. Results showed that with the increase of the strain, the box-counting dimension of the rocks first increased slowly at the beginning and then exhibited an exponential increase approximately. In the case of small strains of same value, the box-counting dimensions of hard rocks were smaller than those of weak rocks, while the former increased rapidly and were larger than the latter under large strain. The results also presented that there was a negative correlation between the parameters m and s in Hoek-Brown strength criterion and the box-counting dimension of the rocks suffering from variable mining activities. In other words, as the box-counting dimensions increased, the parameters m and s decreased linearly, and their relationship could be described using first order polynomial function.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.583-590
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• 2018

Nowadays, many tunnels have been commissioned for several decades, which require effective inspection methods to assess their health conditions. The ambient vibration test has been widely adopted for the damage identification of concrete structures. In this study, the vibration characters of tunnel lining shells built with forepoling method was analyzed based on the analytical solutions of the Donnell-Mushtari shell theory. The broken rock, foreploing, rock-concrete contacts between rock mass and concrete lining, was represented by elastic boundaries with normal and shear stiffness. The stiffness of weak contacts has significant effects on the natural frequency of tunnel lining. Numerical simulations were also carried out to compare with the results of the analytical methods, showing that even though the low nature frequency is difficult to distinguish, the presented approach is convenient, effective and accurate to estimate the natural frequency of tunnel linings. Influences of the void, the lining thickness and the concrete type on natural frequencies were evaluated.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.14 no.6 s.53
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• pp.440-449
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• 2004

Rock mass includes natural discontinuities such as joints and faults during its formation. Discontinuities are also referred as planes of weakness because of their weak mechanical characteristics. In the design of underground structures, it is necessary to consider the properties of discontinuities to insure the stability. During the excavation of a tunnel, these discontinuities have to be identified as early as possible so that proper change in excavation method or support design can be made accordingly. The excavation of the tunnel in a stable rock mass causes a 3-dimensional arching effect around the excavation face. It was revealed by previous studies that the existence of a weak zone or a fault zone ahead of tunnel foe induces a typical displacement tendency of convergence. For better understanding of the meaning of influence/trend lines of various displacement components, three-dimensional numerical analyses were conducted while varying deformation moduli, thicknesses and orientations of discontinuities. Numerical results showed that the changes in influence/trend lines of various displacement components were very similar to those by measurements. The discrepancies from the expected values were dependent on the physical properties, thicknesses and orientations of discontinuities.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 2000.09a
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• pp.183-193
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• 2000

A series of studies such as geological logging data analysis, detailed geological survey, rock mass evaluation, in-situ and laboratory tests, rock strength and mechanical properties of the rock were concerned. The stability of the slope were carried out inorder to design the pit slope and individual benches using the stereographic projection analysis and numerical methods in Roto Pit of Pasir coal fetid. The bedding plane was one of the major discontinuities in the Roto Pit and the dip of which is about $60^{\circ}$in the northern part and $83^{\circ}$in the southern part. The dip of bedding becomes steeper from north to south. The plane and toppling failures are presented in many slopes. In laboratory test the average uniaxial compressive strength of mudstone was 9 MPa and that of weak sandstone was 10 MPa. In-situ test showed that the rocks of Roto north mining area are mostly weak enough to be classified in grade from R2(weak) to R3(medium strong weak) and the coal is classified in grades from R1(Very weak) to R2(Weak). The detailed stability analysis were carried out on 4 areas of Roto north(east, west, south and north), and 2 areas of Roto south(east and west). In this paper, the minimum factor of safety was set to 1.2 which is a general criterion for open pit mines. Using the stereographic projection analysis and the limit equilibrium method, slope angles were calculated as 30~$36^{\circ}$for a factor of safety greater than 1.2. Then these results were re-evaluated by numerical analysis using FLAC. The final slope angles were determined by rational described abode. A final slope of 34 degrees can guarantee the stability for the eastern part of the Roto north area, 33 degrees for the western part, 35 degrees for the northern part and 35 degrees for the southern part. For the Roto south area, 36 degrees was suggested for both sides of the pit. Once the pit slope is designed based on the stability analysis and the safety measures. the stability of 니ope should be checked periodically during the mining operations. Because the slope face will be exposed long time to the rain fall, a study such aspreventive measures against weathering and erosion is highly recommended to be implemented.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.345-359
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• 2016

In order to investigate the influence of the interfacial angel on failure characteristics and mechanism of combined coal-rock mass, 35 uniaxial/biaxial compressive simulation tests with 5 different interfacial angels of combined coal-rock samples were conducted by PFC2D software. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) The compressive strength and cohesion decrease with the increase of interfacial angle, which is defined as the angle between structure plane and the exterior normal of maximum principal plane, while the changes of elastic modulus and internal friction angle are not obvious; (2) The impact energy index $K_E$ decreases with the increase of interfacial angle, and the slip failure of the interface can be predicted based on whether the number of acoustic emission (AE) hits has multiple peaks or not; (3) There are four typical failure patterns for combined coal-rock samples including I (V-shaped shear failure of coal), II (single-fracture shear failure of coal), III (shear failure of rock and coal), and IV (slip rupture of interface); and (4) A positive correlation between interfacial angle and interface effect is shown obviously, and the interfacial angle can be divided into weak-influencing scope ($0-15^{\circ}$), moderate-influencing scope ($15-45^{\circ}$), and strong-influencing scope (> $45^{\circ}$), respectively. However, the confining pressure has a certain constraint effect on the interface effect.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.430-440
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• 2000

A series of studies such as geological logging data analysis, detailed geological survey, rock mass evaluation, in-situ and laboratory tests, rock strength and mechanical properties of the rock were concerned. The stability of the slope were carried out inorder to design the pit slope and individual benches using the stereographic projection analysis and numerical methods in Roto Pit of Pasir coal field. The bedding plane was one of the major discontinuities in the Roto Pit and the dip of which is about 60$^{\circ}$ in the northern part and 83$^{\circ}$ in the southern part. The dip of bedding becomes steeper from north to south. The plane and toppling failures are presented in many slopes. In laboratory test the average uniaxial compressive strength of mudstone was 9MPa and that of weak sandstone was 10MPa. In-situ test showed that the rocks of Roto north mining area are mostly weak enough to be classified in grade from R2(weak) to R3(medium strong weak) and the coal is classified in grades from R1(Very weak) to R2(Weak). The detailed stability analysis were carried out on 4 areas of Roto north (east, west, south and north), and 2 areas of Roto south(east and west). In this paper, the minimum factor of safety was set to 1.2 which is a general criterion for open pit mines. Using the stereographic projection analysis and the limit equilibrium method, slope angles were calculated as 30∼36$^{\circ}$ for a factor of safety greater than 1.2. Then these results were re-evaluated by numerical analysis using FLAC. The final slope angles were determined by rational described above. A final slope of 34 degrees can guarantee the stability for the eastern part of the Roto north area, 33 degrees for the western part, 35 degrees for the northern part and 35 degrees for the southern part. For the Roto south area, 36 degrees was suggested for both sides of the pit. Once the pit slope is designed based on the stability analysis and the safety measures, the stability of slope should be checked periodically during the mining operations. Because the slope face will be exposed long time to the rain fall, a study such aspreventive measures against weathering and erosion is highly recommended to be implemented.