• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.63-71
• /
• 2020

Strength anisotropy is a typical feature of thin-bedded rock masses and their strength will be degraded subjected to water immersion effect. Such effect is crucial for the operation of hydropower plant because the impoundment lifts the water level of upstream reservoir and causes the rock mass of nearby slopes saturated. So far, researches regarding mechanical property of natural thin-bedded rock masses and their strength variation under water immersion based on field test method are rarely reported. This paper focuses on a thin-bedded stratified rock mass and carries out field test to investigate the mechanical property and strength variation characteristics. The field test is highlighted by samples which have a large shear dimension of 0.5 m*0.5 m, representing a more realistic in-situ situation than small size specimen. The test results confirm the anisotropic nature of the concerned rock mass, whose shear strength of host rocks is significantly larger than that of bedding planes. Further, the comparison of shear strength parameters of the thin-bedded rock mass under natural and saturated conditions show that for both host rocks and bedding planes, the decreasing extent of cohesion values are larger than friction values. The quantitative results are then adopted to analyze the influence of reservoir impoundment of a hydropower plant on the surrounding rock mass stability of diversion tunnels which are located in the nearby slope bank. It is evaluated that after reservoir impoundment, the strength degradation induced incremental deformations of surrounding rock mass of diversion tunnels are small and the stresses in lining structure are acceptable. It is therefore concluded that the influences of impoundment are small and the stability of diversion tunnels can be still achieved. The finings regarding field test method and its results, as well as the numerical evaluation conclusions are hoped to provide references for rock projects with similar concerns.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.281-291
• /
• 2022

Complex rock masses include various joint planes, bedding planes and other weak structural planes. The existence of these structural planes affects the mechanical properties, deformation rules and failure modes of jointed rock masses. To study the influence of the parameters of a nonpersistent joint network on the mechanical properties and failure modes of jointed rock masses, synthetic rock mass (SRM) technology based on discrete elements is introduced. The results show that as the size of the joints in the rock mass increases, the compressive strength and the discreteness of the rock mass first increase and then decrease. Among them, the joints that are characterized by "small but many" joints and "large and clustered" joints have the most significant impact on the strength of the rock mass. With the increase in joint density in the rock mass, the compressive strength of rock mass decreases monotonically, but the rate of decrease gradually decreases. With the increase in the joint dip angle in rock mass, the strength of the rock mass first decreases and then increases, forming a U-shaped change rule. In the analysis of the failure mode and deformation of a jointed rock mass, the type of plastic zone formed after rock mass failure is closely related to the macroscopic displacement deformation of the rock mass and the parameters of the joints, which generally shows that the location and density of the joints greatly affect the failure mode and displacement degree of the jointed rock mass. The instability mechanism of jointed surrounding rock is revealed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.15 no.3 s.56
• /
• pp.185-194
• /
• 2005

Recently, the surrounding rock mass is understood as the major support system for the tunnel constructed in the rock mass. Generally, the rock mass contains many discontinuity planes such as joints, and thus, the tunnel behavior in the rock mass is governed by the characteristics of the discontinuity planes. In this study, the behavior of tunnel in jointed rock mass is studied by model tests and numerical analyses. The results shows that the behavior of tunnel depends on the different initial stress conditions, in case that the tunnel is excavated in the ground without any joints. When a joint is located near the tunnel, the pound stress and displacement tend to increase between the tunnel and the joint.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.505-518
• /
• 2021

The present paper has been carried out to understand the effects of impact loading on the rock tunnels, constructed in different region corresponding to varying unconfined compressive strength (UCS), through finite element method. The UCS of rockmass has substantial role in the stability of rock tunnels under impact loading condition due to falling rocks or other objects. In the present study, Dolomite, Shale, Sandstone, Granite, Basalt, and Quartzite rocks have been taken into consideration for understanding of the effect of UCS that vary from 2.85 MPa to 207.03 MPa. The Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model has been considered in the present study for the nonlinear elastoplastic analysis for all the rocks surrounding the tunnel opening. The geometry and boundary conditions of the model remains constant throughout the analysis and missile has 100 kg of weight. The general hard contact has been assigned to incorporate the interaction between different parts of the model. The present study focuses on studying the deformations in the rock tunnel caused by impacting load due to missile for tunnels having different concrete grade, and steel grade. The broader range of rock strength depicts the strong relationship between the UCS of rock and the extent of damage produced under different impact loading conditions. The energy released during an impact loading simulation shows the variation of safety and serviceability of the rock tunnel.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.375-386
• /
• 2021

In this paper, a study of stability and health of a newly-built railway tunnel is presented. The field test was implemented to monitor the secondary lining due to the significant cracking behaviors influenced the stability and health of the tunnel structure. Surface strain gauges were installed for monitoring the status of crack openings, and the monitoring outputs demonstrated that the cracks were still in the developing stage. Additionally, adjacent tunnel and poor condition of surrounding rock were identified as the causes of the lining cracking by systematically characterizing the crack spatial distribution, tunnel site and surrounding rock conditions. Reconstruction of partial lining and reconstruction of the whole secondary lining were designed as the maintenance projects for different cracking regions based on the construction feasibility. For assessing the health conditions of the reinforced lining, embedded strain gauges were set up to continuously measure the strain and the internal force of the reconstructed structures. For the partially reconstructed lining, the outputs show the maximum tensile elongation is 0.018 mm during 227 days, which means the structure has no obvious deformation after maintenance. The one-year monitoring of full-section was implemented in the other two completely reconstructed cross-sections by embedded strain gauge. The outputs show the reconstructed secondary lining has undertaken the pressure of surrounding rock with the time passing. According to the calculated compressive and tensile safety factors, the completely reconstructed lining has been in reliable and safe condition during the past year after reinforcement. It can conclude that the aforementioned maintenance projects can effectively ensure the stability and health of this tunnel.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.395-409
• /
• 2023

Long-span suspension bridges have tunnel anchor systems to maintain stable cables. More investigations are required to determine how closely tunnel excavation beneath the tunnel anchor impacts the stability of the tunnel anchor. In order to investigate the impact of the adjacent tunnel's excavation on the stability of the tunnel anchor, a large-span suspension bridge tunnel anchor is utilised as an example in a three-dimensional numerical simulation approach. In order to explore the deformation control mechanism, orthogonal tests are employed to pinpoint the major impacting elements. The construction of an advanced pipe shed, strengthening the primary support. Moreover, according to the findings the grouting reinforcement of the surrounding rock, have a significant control effect on the settlement of the tunnel vault and plug body. However, reducing the lag distance of the secondary lining does not have such big influence. The greatest way to control tunnel vault settling is to use the grout reinforcement, which increases the bearing capacity and strength of the surrounding rock. This greatly minimizes the size of the tunnel excavation disturbance area. Advanced pipe shed can not only increase the surrounding rock's bearing capacity at the pipe shed, but can also prevent the tunnel vault from connecting with the disturbance area at the bottom of the anchorage tunnel, reduce the range of shear failure area outside the anchorage tunnel, and have the best impact on the plug body's settlement control.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.293-306
• /
• 2024

Influenced by the alternating effects of dynamic and static pressure during the mining process of close range coal seams, the surrounding rock support of cross mining roadway is difficult and the deformation mechanism is complex, which has become an important problem affecting the safe and efficient production of coal mines. The paper takes the inclined longwall mining of the 10304 working face of Zhongheng coal mine as the engineering background, analyzes the key strata fracture mechanism of the large inclined right-angle trapezoidal mining field, explores the stress distribution characteristics and transmission law of the surrounding rock of the roadway affected by the mining of the inclined coal seam, and proposes a segmented and hierarchical support method for the cross mining roadway affected by the mining of the close range coal seam group. The research results indicate that based on the derived expressions for shear and tensile fracture of key strata, the ultimate pushing distance and ultimate suspended area of a right angle trapezoidal mining area can be calculated and obtained. Within the cross mining section, along the horizontal direction of the coal wall of the working face, the peak shear stress is located near the middle of the boundary. The cracks on the floor of the cross mining roadway gradually develop in an elliptical funnel shape from the shallow to the deep. The dual coupling support system composed of active anchor rod support and passive U-shaped steel shed support proposed in this article achieves effective control of the stability of cross mining roadways, which achieves effective control of floor by coupling active support and preventive passive support to improve the strength of the surrounding rock itself. The research results are of great significance for guiding the layout, support control, and safe mining of cross mining roadways, and to some extent, can further enrich and improve the relevant theories of roof movement and control.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.77-86
• /
• 1994

The vibration resulting from track-train interaction is transmitted through the tunnel structure and the surrounding ground to adjacent buildings. This paper provides a review of the ground vibration propagation mechanism and the theoretical isolation effectiveness of each transit systems. Moreover, predictive vibration values estimated from various models are compared with measured results performed in Seoul Metropolitan Subways and evaluate the applicability of those models.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.224-236
• /
• 1992

It is very important to determine the thermo-mechanical characteristics of the rock mass surrounding the repository of radioctive waste and the LPG storage cavern. In this study, Hwasoon-Shist. Dado-Tuff adn Chunan-Tonalite were the selected rock types. Temperature dependence of the mechanical properteis such as uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, Young's modulus was investigated by measuring the behaviour of these properties due to the variation of temperature. Also, the characteristics of strength and deformation of these rocks were examined through high-temperature triaxial compression tests with varing temperatures and confining pressures. Important results obtained are as follows: In high temperature tests, the uniaxial compressive strength and Yong's modulus of Tonalite showed a sligth increase at a temperature up to 300$^{\circ}C$ and a sharp decrease beyond 300$^{\circ}C$, and the tensile strength showed a linear decrease with increasing heating-temperature. In high-temperature triaxial compression test, both the failure stress and Young's modulus of Tonalite increased with the increase of confining pressure at constant heating-temperature, and the failure stress decreased at 100$^{\circ}C$ but increased at 200$^{\circ}C$ under a constant confining pressure. In low temperature tests, the uniaxial compressive and tensile strengths and Young's modulus of these rocks increased as the cooling-temperature is reduced. Also, the uniaxial compressive and tensile strengths of wet rock specimens are less than those of dry rock specimens.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.325-334
• /
• 2016

Rock salt is a near-perfect material for gas storage repositories due to its excellent ductility and low permeability. Gas storage in rock salt layers during gas injection and gas production causes the stress redistribution surrounding the cavity. The triaxial cyclic loading and unloading tests for rock salt were performed in this paper. The elastic-plastic deformation behaviour of rock salt under cyclic loading was observed. Rock salt experienced strain hardening during the initial loading, and the irreversible deformation was large under low stress station, meanwhile the residual stress became larger along with the increase of deviatoric stress. Confining pressure had a significant effect on the unloading modulus for the variation of mechanical parameters. Based on the theory of elastic-plastic damage mechanics, the evolution of damage during cyclic loading and unloading under various confining pressure was described.