• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.346-355
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• 2019

When evaluating pillar stability in very closely spaced tunnels, a local safety factor (strength/stress ratio) at the minimum width has been widely used. Tension bolts have been frequently applied as reinforcement for the cases where safety factors are less than 1.0 from FEM stress analysis. However, the local safety factor shows a constant value irrespective of the change in pillar width/tunnel diameter (PW/D) and the safety factor of the pillar is underestimated because the variation of deviation stress is relatively small even when the pre-stressing is applied to the tension bolt. In addition, the average safety factor proposed by Hoek and Brown(1980) was reviewed, but the pillar safety factor was relatively overestimated when the width of the pillar was increased. As an alternative, the SRM safety factor using shear strength reduction method shows the effect of changing the safety factor in the case of no reinforcement and tension bolt reinforcement as the pillar width/tunnel diameter(PW/D) changes. The failure shape is also similar to the previous limit theory result. In this study, the safety factor was evaluated without considering rock bolt and shotcrete to distinguish reinforcing effect of tension bolt.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.344-353
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• 2014

In this study, the behavior of rock pillar in the diverging area of road tunnel was assessed by using a three dimensional numerical analysis. Based on parameters affecting the behavior of rock pillar, different safety factors according to pillar width, depth and rock conditions were evaluated. It turned out that as the pillar width increases, the change curve of safety factors in accordance with depth and rock conditions shows more of the nonlinear behavior. By the assessment of the minimum safety factor, a safety factor chart on the behavior of rock pillar in the diverging area of road tunnel was suggested.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2015

This study assessed the behavior of rock pillar in tunnel diverging area by using a three dimensional numerical analysis. Based on parameters affecting the behavior of rock pillar, this study evaluated different safety factors according to pillar width, depth and rock conditions. It turned out that as the rock pillar width increases, the change curve of safety factors in accordance with depth and rock conditions shows more of the nonlinear behavior. By the assessment of the minimum safety factor, a safety factor chart on the behavior of rock pillar in tunnel diverging area was suggested.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.175-188
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• 2016

The construction of a new cavern modifies the state of stresses and displacements in a zone around the existing cavern. For multiple caverns, the size of this influence zone depends on the ground type, the in situ stress, the cavern span and shape, the width of the pillar separating the caverns, and the excavation sequence. Performances of underground twin caverns can be unsatisfactory as a result of either instability (collapse) or excessive displacements. These two distinct failures should be prevented in design. This study simulated the ultimate and serviceability performances of underground twin rock caverns of various sizes and shapes. The global factor of safety is used as the criterion for determining the ultimate limit state and the calculated maximum displacement around the cavern opening is adopted as the serviceability limit state criterion. Based on the results of a series of numerical simulations, simple regression models were developed for estimating the global factor of safety and the maximum displacement, respectively. It was proposed that a proper pillar width can be determined based on the threshold influence factor value. In addition, design charts with regard to the selection of the pillar width for underground twin rock caverns under similar ground conditions were also developed.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.115-131
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• 2011

Recently, considering the aspects of disaster prevention and environmental damage, the construction of a twin tunnel is increasing. When constructing a twin tunnel, the stresses are concentrated at the pillar so that stability of the tunnel is decreased. Since the previous studies on the behavior of a twin tunnel pillar are mainly restricted to the estimation of the tunnel behavior and the analysis of surface settlement, there is a limit to a quantitative stability estimation of the pillar. Therefore, it was quantitatively investigated how the pillar width of a twin tunnel affects its stability. To ensure this end, global tunnel safety factors obtained numerically using shear strength reduction technique, local safety factors of a pillar using the equation that Matsuda et al. suggested, and strength/stress ratios of the pillar were estimated and their results were analyzed for two sections with different rock covers. For a reasonable design of a twin tunnel pillar, it was turned out that strength/stress ratio, the local pillar safety factor, and global tunnel safety factor should be used interrelatedly rather than independently.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.335-343
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• 2014

Room-and-pillar mining method is one of the most popular underground mining method in the world. If the room-and-pillar mining method is able to be adopted in civil works, it would be highly probable to reduce underground construction costs and to expand a underground structure in use. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the design procedure of unsupported rock pillars which are indispensable to ensure the stability of a room-and-pillar underground structure. Parametric studies on their key design parameters are also carried out for 125 different kinds of design conditions. From the study, the width of a rock pillar is found to show a linear relationship with its corresponding safety factor. The safety factor of a unsupported rock pillar decreased drastically like a negative exponential function as the ratio of room width to pillar width increases in the same rock strength condition. Based on the parametric studies, a design chart to simply evaluate the geometric design parameters of a unsupported rock pillar satisfying a design safety factor is also proposed in this study.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.39-49
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• 2011

In this paper it was focused on the characteristics of displacement and stress due to the construction of diagonal twin tunnel. In this research, the characteristics have been analyzed with the presumption that the tunnel's diameter (D) is 13m and the ground was formed by weathered rock. In analysis, the width of pillar is 2.0D, 2.5D, 3.0D, the height of soil cover is 3D, 4D, 5D, and the installation angle of diagonal twin tunnel has been changed into $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$. And the program used in this analysis is FLAC which is widely used in solution problems of ground engineering in order to gain and analyze occurring shotcrete and rockbolt stress and nearby ground displacement according to pillar width, the height of soil cover and installation angle of diagonal twin tunnel. As a result, in the weathered rock grounds, when the width of pillar is more than 2.0D, the height of soil cover is over 5.0D, and the installation angle of diagonal twin tunnel is lower, they lessen effects on the ground and favorable on the stability of tunnel.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.17-23
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• 2016

This study assessed the behavior of rock pillar in tunnel asymmetric diverging area by using a three dimensional numerical analysis. The stability of pillar is very important for the ensure the stability of the tunnel asymmetric diverging area. Based on parameters affecting the behavior of rock pillar, this study evaluated different safety factors according to pillar width, depth and rock conditions. It turned out that as the rock pillar width increases, the change curve of safety factors in accordance with depth and rock conditions shows more of the nonlinear behavior. By the assessment of the minimum safety factor, a safety factor chart on the behavior of rock pillar in tunnel asymmetric diverging area was suggested.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.585-597
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• 2013

In this study, in order to evaluate stability of the room-and-pillar underground structure, a series of preliminary numerical analyses were performed. Design concept and procedure of an underground structure for obtaining a space are proposed, which should be different from structural design for the room-and-pillar in mine. With assumed material properties, a series of numerical analyses were performed by varying size ratios of room and pillar and then the failure modes and location at yielding initiation were investigated. From the results, relationship between the ratio of pillar width to the roof span (w/s) and overburden pressure at failure initiation shows a relatively linear relation, and the effect of w/s on structural stability is much more critical than the ratio of pillar width and height (w/H) which is a crucial parameter in design of the room-and-pillar mining. It means that roof tensile failure and shear failure at shoulder and pillar are necessary to be considered together for confirming overall structural stability of the room-and-pillar structure, rather than considering the pillar stability only in mining. Failure modes and location at failure initiation were varied with respect to the ratio of room and pillar widths. Therefore, it is necessary to simultaneously consider stability of both roof span and pillar for design of underground structure by the room-and-pillar method.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.463-475
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• 2022

In the mine exploitation stage; one of the critical issues is the stability assessment of post-pillars. The instability of post-pillars leads to serious safety hazards in mining operations. The focus of this study is to assess the stability of post-pillars in the 130# stope in the central ore body at Trepça hard rock mine by employing both conventional (i.e., critical span curve) and numerical methods (i.e., FLAC3D). Moreover, a new numerical based index (i.e., Pillar Yield Ratio-PYR) was proposed. The aim of PYR index is to determine a border line between stable, potentially unstable, and failure state of post-pillars at a specific mine site. The critical value of pillar width to height ratio is 2.5 for deep production stopes (e.g., > 800 m). Results showed that pillar size, mining height and mining depth significantly have affected the post-pillar stability. The reliability of numerical based index (i.e., PYR) is verified based on empirical underground pillar stability graph developed by Lunder, 1994. The proposed pillar yield ratio index and pillar stability graph can be used as a design tool in new mining areas at Trepça hard rock mine and for other situations with similar geotechnical conditions.