LUGEON TEST

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JOINTS
A joint is a break in arock.
It is a fracture in rock where there is little
to no lateral movement.
This makes joints different from a fault .
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A fault is defined as a fracture in
rock in which one side slides
laterally past the other with a
displacement that is greater
than the separation between
the blocks on either side of the
fracture.
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Joints generally occur as sets, with each
set consisting of joints sub-parallel to
each other



Joint sets on a bedding


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In geotechnical engineering a bedding plane
often forms a discontinuity that may have a
large influence on the mechanical behaviour
(strength, deformation, etc.) of soil and rock
masses in, for example, tunnel, foundation,
or slope construction.

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A rock fractured along existing joints possibly by
mechanical frost weathering

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Columnar jointed basalt
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EXFOLIATION OR SHEET JOINT IN GRANITE
Exfoliation joints or sheet joints are surface-parallel fracture systems in rock
often leading to erosion of concentric slabs.

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Recent tectonic joint intersects older exfoliation joints in granite gneiss
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Lugeon test is a method of measuring rock permeability.
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Lugeon test is a method of measuring
rock permeability.
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In this test a section of drill hole is isolated using packers and
water is pumped at constant pressure until the flow rate
becomes constant.
The pressure is initially increased in 3 steps and then brought
back to the starting pressure in 2 steps.

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TOP PACKER
BOTTOM PACKER
TEST SECTION
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SINGLE PACKER
METHOD
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The purpose of packer test is to estimate the
potential of water to pass through rock
defects. The drilling fluid used for this
purpose should be water since drilling mud
can penetrate joints during drilling thus
reducing permeability
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The volume of water accepted by rock in
a given time period and the pressure
values is used to compute the rock
permeability which is expressed in
Lugeons or uL units.
A Lugeon is defined as:
the water loss of 1 liter per minute per
meter length of the test section under an
effective pressure of 10 bar or 1MPa
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Since permeability of rock substance is
almost zero, the permeability determined
in this test represents an indication of the:
number;
continuity; and
opening
of rock defects which intersect wall of
borehole in test section.
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Lugeon Value Conductivity classification Rock discontinuity condition
<1 Very low Very tight joints
1-5 Low Tight joints
5-15 Moderate
Few partly open joints

15-50 Medium
Some open joints

50-100 High
Many open joints

>100 Very high Open closely spaced or voids
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A very approximate relationship between rock
permeability and Lugeon is as under;







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THE 5 LUGEON VALUES OBSERVED UNDER DIFFERENT
PRESSURES COULD ALL BE DIFFERENT. IT IS NOT
CORRECT TO TAKE AN AVERAGE VALUE. THE PATTERN
OF THESE READINGS DETERMINES THE APPROPRIATE
LUGEON VALUE
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REACH 5 TO 8 M, AVERAGE =6.5 M, THERFORE Pmax=0.23*6.5 =
1.6 BAR
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http://users.tpg.com.au/houlsby1/
WTExpExTP/Expl%20WT%20Form%
20M.htm

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http://users.tpg.com.au/houlsby1/
WTExpExTP/Expl%20WT%20Form%
20M.htm

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http://users.tpg.com.au/houlsby1/Standard
s.htm

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