A photogrammetric approach for quantifying the evolution of rock joint void geometry under varying contact states

Accurate measurement of the evolution of rock joint void geometry is essential for comprehending the distribution characteristics of asperities responsible for shear and seepage behaviors.However,existing techniques often require specialized equipment and skilled operators,posing practical challenges.In this study,a cost-effective photogrammetric approach is proposed.Particularly,local coordinate systems are established to facilitate the alignment and precise quantification of the relative position between two halves of a rock joint.Push/pull tests are conducted on rock joints with varying roughness levels to induce different contact states.A high-precision laser scanner serves as a benchmark for evaluating the photogrammetry method.Despite certain deviations exist,the measured evolution of void geometry is generally consistent with the qualitative findings of previous studies.The photogrammetric measurements yield comparable accuracy to laser scanning,with maximum errors of 13.2%for aperture and 14.4%for void volume.Most joint matching coefficient(JMC)measurement errors are below 20%.Larger measurement errors occur primarily in highly mismatched rock joints with JMC values below 0.2,but even in cases where measurement errors exceed 80%,the maximum JMC error is only 0.0434.Thus,the proposed photogrammetric approach holds promise for widespread application in void geometry measurements in rock joints.

Optimizing profile line interval for enhanced accuracy in rock joint morphology and shear strength assessments

2D profile lines play a critical role in cost-effectively evaluating rock joint properties and shear strength.However, the interval(ΔI_(L)) between these lines significantly impacts roughness and shear strength assessments. A detailed study of 45 joint samples using four statistical measures across 500 different ΔI_(L)values identified a clear line interval effect with two stages: stable and fluctuation-discrete.Further statistical analysis showed a linear relationship between the error bounds of four parameters,shear strength evaluation, and their corresponding maximum ΔI_(L)values, where the gradient k of this linear relationship was influenced by the basic friction angle and normal stress. Accounting for these factors,lower-limit linear models were employed to determine the optimal ΔI_(L)values that met error tolerances(1%–10%) for all metrics and shear strength. The study also explored the consistent size effect on joints regardless of ΔI_(L)changes, revealing three types of size effects based on morphological heterogeneity.Notably, larger joints required generally higher ΔI_(L)to maintain the predefined error limits, suggesting an increased interval for large joint analyses. Consequently, this research provides a basis for determining the optimal ΔI_(L), improving accuracy in 2D profile line assessments of joint characteristics.

Performance characteristics of tunnel boring machine in basalt and pyroclastic rocks of Deccan traps–A case study

A12.24km long tunnel between Maroshi and Ruparel College is being excavated by tunnel boring machine(TBM)to improve the water supply system of Greater Mumbai,India.In this paper,attempt has been made to establish the relationship between various litho-units of Deccan traps,stability of tunnel and TBM performances during the construction of5.83km long tunnel between Maroshi and Vakola.The Maroshi–Vakola tunnel passes under the Mumbai Airport and crosses both runways with an overburden cover of around70m.The tunneling work was carried out without disturbance to the ground.The rock types encountered during excavation arefine compacted basalt,porphyritic basalt,amygdaloidal basalt pyroclastic rocks with layers of red boles and intertrappean beds consisting of various types of shales Relations between rock mass properties,physico-mechanical properties,TBM specifications and the cor responding TBM performance were established.A number of support systems installed in the tunne during excavation were also discussed.The aim of this paper is to establish,with appropriate accuracy the nature of subsurface rock mass condition and to study how it will react to or behave during under ground excavation by TBM.The experiences gained from this project will increase the ability to cope with unexpected ground conditions during tunneling using TBM.

A theoretical derivation of the Hoek-Brown failure criterion for rock materials

This study uses a three-dimensional crack model to theoretically derive the HoekeBrown rock failure criterion based on the linear elastic fracture theory. Specifically, we argue that a failure characteristic factor needs to exceed a critical value when macro-failure occurs. This factor is a product of the micro-failure orientation angle （characterizing the density and orientation of damaged micro-cracks） and the changing rate of the angle with respect to the major principal stress （characterizing the microscopic stability of damaged cracks）. We further demonstrate that the factor mathematically leads to the empirical HoekeBrown rock failure criterion. Thus, the proposed factor is able to successfully relate the evolution of microscopic damaged crack characteristics to macro-failure. Based on this theoretical development, we also propose a quantitative relationship between the brittleeductile transition point and confining pressure, which is consistent with experimental observations.

Investigation on the Indeterminate Information of Rock Joint Roughness through a Neutrosophic Number Approach

To better estimate the rock joint shear strength,accurately determining the rock joint roughness coefficient(JRC)is the first step faced by researchers and engineers.However,there are incomplete,imprecise,and indeterminate problems during the process of calculating the JRC.This paper proposed to investigate the indeterminate information of rock joint roughness through a neutrosophic number approach and,based on this information,reported a method to capture the incomplete,uncertain,and imprecise information of the JRC in uncertain environments.The uncertainties in the JRC determination were investigated by the regression correlations based on commonly used statistical parameters,which demonstrated the drawbacks of traditional JRC regression correlations in handling the indeterminate information of the JRC.Moreover,the commonly used statistical parameters cannot reflect the roughness contribution differences of the asperities with various scales,which induces additional indeterminate information.A method based on the neutrosophic number(NN)and spectral analysis was proposed to capture the indeterminate information of the JRC.The proposed method was then applied to determine the JRC values for sandstone joint samples collected from a rock landslide.The comparison between the JRC results obtained by the proposed method and experimental results validated the effectiveness of the NN.Additionally,comparisons made between the spectral analysis and common statistical parameters based on the NN also demonstrated the advantage of spectral analysis.Thus,the NN and spectral analysis combined can effectively handle the indeterminate information in the rock joint roughness.

An extended micromechanical-based plastic damage model for understanding water effects on quasi-brittle rocks

Water effects on the mechanical properties of rocks have been extensively investigated through experiments and numerical models.However,few studies have established a comprehensive link between the microscopic mechanisms of water-related micro-crack and the constitutive behaviors of rocks.In this work,we shall propose an extended micromechanical-based plastic damage model for understanding weakening effect induced by the presence of water between micro-crack’s surfaces on quasi-brittle rocks,based on the Mori-Tanaka homogenization and irreversible thermodynamics framework.Regarding the physical mechanism,water strengthens micro-crack propagation,which induces damage evolution during the pre-and post-stage,and weakens the elastic effective properties of rock matrix.After proposing a special calibration procedure for the determination of model parameters based on the laboratory compression tests,the proposed micromechanical-based model is verified by comparing the model predictions to the experimental results.The model effectively captures the mechanical behaviors of quasibrittle rocks subjected to the weakening effects of water.

Air tightness of compressed air storage energy caverns with polymer sealing layer subjected to various air pressures

During the operation of compressed air storage energy system,the rapid change of air pressure in a cavern will cause drastic changes in air density and permeability coefficient of sealing layer.To calculate and properly evaluate air tightness of polymer sealing caverns,the air-pressure-related air density and permeability must be considered.In this context,the high-pressure air penetration in the polymer sealing layer is studied in consideration of thermodynamic change of the cavern structure during the system operation.The air tightness model of compressed air storage energy caverns is then established.In the model,the permeability coefficient and air density of sealing layer vary with air pressure,and the effectiveness of the model is verified by field data in two test caverns.Finally,a compressed air storage energy cavern is taken as an example to understand the air tightness.The air leakage rate in the caverns is larger than that using air-pressure-independent permeability coefficient and air density,which is constant and small in the previous leakage rate calculation.Under the operating pressure of 4.5-10 MPa,the daily air leakage in the compressed air storage energy cavern of Yungang Mine with high polymer butyl rubber as the sealing material is 0.62%,which can meet the sealing requirements of compressed air storage energy caverns.The air tightness of the polymer sealing cavern is mainly affected by the cavern operating pressure,injected air temperature,cavern radius,and sealing layer thickness.The cavern air leakage rate will be decreased to reduce the cavern operating pressure the injection air temperature,or the cavern radius and sealing layer thickness will be increased.

Investigation of mechanical properties of fractured marbles by uniaxial compression tests

Uniaxial compression tests （UCTs） on 34 naturally fractured marble samples taken from the transportation tunnels of Jinping I1 hydropower station were carried out using the MTS815 Flex test GT rock testing system. Rockburst proneness index WET is determined for the marble samples with the UCTs. According to the number, size and spatial structure characteristics of the internal natural fractures of the marble samples, fractures are basically divided into 4 types, namely, single fracture, parallel fracture, intersectant fracture and mixed fracture. The mechanical properties of naturally fractured rocks （4 types） are analyzed and compared with those of intact rock samples （without natural fractures）. Experimental results indicate that failure characteristics of fractured rocks are appreciably controlled by fracture distribution or fracture patterns. In comparison with intact rocks, the failure of fractured marbles is a locally progressive failure process and finally rocks fail abruptly. Statistically, the uniaxial compressive strengths （UCSs） of rocks with single, parallel, intersectant and mixed fractures are 0.72, 0.69, 0.59 and 0.46 times those of the intact rocks, respectively. However, the elastic modulus of the fractured Yantang marbles is generally not different from that of intact rocks. But the elastic moduli of Baishan marble with single, intersectant and mixed fractures are 0.61, 0.62 and 0.45 times those of intact rocks, respectively. Experimental results also indicate that WEt of fractured marbles is generally smaller than that of intact marbles, which implies that rockburst intensity of fractured marble in field may be controlled to some extent. In addition, the bearing capacity of surrounding rocks is also reduced, thus the surrounding rocks should be supported or reinforced timely according to practical conditions.

Performance assessment of genetic programming(GP)and minimax probability machine regression(MPMR)for prediction of seismic ultrasonic attenuation

The determination of seismic attenuation （s） （dB/cm） is a challenging task in earthquake science. This article employs genetic programming （GP） and minimax probability machine regression （MPMR） for prediction of s. GP is developed based on genetic algo- rithm. MPMR maximizes the minimum probability of future predictions being within some bound of the true regression function. Porosity （n） （%）, permeability （k） （millidarcy）, grain size （d） （μm）, and clay content （c） （%） have been considered as inputs of GP and MPMR. The output of GP and MPMR is s. The developed GP gives an equation for prediction of s. The results of GP and MPMR have been compared with the artificial neural net- work. This article gives robust models based on GP and MPMR for prediction of s.

Assessment of pot-hole subsidence risk for Indian coal mines

Ground subsidence induced by extraction of coal seam belowground brings about changes in surface environment leading to trough and pot-hole subsidence.Pot-hole subsidence is extremely hazardous and does not give any prior indication before its occurrence.In India,several pot-holes have occurred in the coal mines of South Eastern Coalfields Limited triggering the need for in-depth studies.In line with the requirement,literature review and field investigations were conducted to develop an in-depth understanding of various parameters influencing the occurrence of pot-holes.The critical parameters identified were rock to soil ratio,depth to height of extraction ratio,brittleness index of rock and rock density.Risk assessment of pot-hole subsidence has been done by developing an empirical rating approach named as pot-hole subsidence rating(PHSR),involving the critical parameters with suitable corrections for certain structural and mining conditions to obtain corrected PHSR(CPHSR).CPHSR was then applied for all the 34pot-holes studied and it was found that all the pot-holes fall under Class I and Class II category of risk representing a very high to high risk class.An effort was made for the estimation of pot-hole depth utilizing the developed CPHSR in both the development and depillaring cases.The developed approach was found to yield consistent results in pot-hole depth prediction.

Rock Mass Characterization and Support Design for Underground Additional Surge Pool Cavern—A Case Study, India

For better rock mass characterization and support design, 3D engineering geological mapping was carried for the heading portion of the under construction 200.00 m long, 68.75 m high and 20.20 m wide underground additional surge pool cavern of a Pranahitha-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi lift irrigation scheme package 8, India. To study cavern behavior, 3D geologic mapping of heading portion is very important for large cavern for predicting geologic conditions in benching down up to invert level, planning support system, selecting inclination for best location of supplemental rock bolt and choosing strategic locations for various types of instrumentation. The assessment of Tunnel Quality Index “Q” and Geomechanics classification for the granitic rock mass was done based on the information available of the rock joints and their nature and 3D geological logging. Hoek-Brown parameters were also determined by the statistical analysis of the results of a set of triaxial tests on core samples. On basis of geological characteristics and NMT Q-system chart, support system is recommended which includes rock bolt, steel fibre reinforced shotcrete and grouting. To evaluate the efficacy of the proposed support system, the capacity of support system is determined.

Importance of Instrumentation in Hydropower Projects

With the advancement of science and technology,humans endeavored to build massive structures,both on surface and sub–surface taking the advantage of physico-mechanical properties of the construction materials like concrete,steel,wood,rock,etc.Quality is the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind.The term itself is subjective until and unless quantified,cannot be controlled.Instrumentation plays a major role to quantify the quality of materials and check if the resources meet the requirements of the structural design.Several types of instruments are developed and used world-wide in different structures to monitor water pressure,seepage,movements,vibration,temperature,stress,strain and other significant parameters.The role of instrumentation specialist lies in understanding the dominating phenomena in the planned structure,designing the instrumentation network,monitoring schedules and timely analysis for cautioning the engineers,designers,quality personnel and the project management to have a check on construction measures vis-à-vis structural performance.This paper describes the role of instrumentation in hydroelectric projects with a brief case study from Bhutan Himalayas.

Delineation of Cavity in Downstream Surge Chamber at Punatsangchhu-II Hydroelectric Project, Bhutan

On 3^rd March, 2016, there occurred a massive roof fall incidence in one of the major caverns of Punatsangchhu-II Hydroelectric Project (PHEP-II), Bhutan which halted the operations in the major caverns and required additional strengthening measures. Prior to concluding any thing on the treatment measures for the muck flown into the cavern and the cavity formed over the crown of Downstream Surge Chamber, there was a strong need to determine the extents of cavity. Even to understand the influence of cavity formation on adjacent caverns, the cavity needs to be delineated. Therefore, the management of PHEP-II adopted several techniques to decipher the shape and dimensions of the cavity like, surveying, geophysical, cross-hole seismic surveys, borehole scanning, and exploratory drilling. The tentative shape of the cavity could finally be established. The findings from each method are explained in this paper.

Analytical prediction for time-dependent interaction of a circular tunnel excavated in strain-softening rock mass

Viscoelastic plastic solutions for tunnel excavation in strain-softening rock mass and tunnel-rock interaction are proposed based on the Mohr-Coulomb and the Generalized Zhang-Zhu(GZZ)strength criterion considering stress path.The solutions are verified by numerical simulations,results show that the theoretical solutions are close to the simulated data.The evolutions of rock stresses,strains,displacements and support pressure were investigated and the influences of residual strength parameter,support stiffness,support timing,initial support pressure and viscosity coefficient on the rock deformation and the support pressure are discussed by proposed solution.It is found that strain-softening results in large deformation and high support pressure,with stiffer support and a larger viscosity coefficient contributing to even greater support pressure.Ductile support is recommended at the first stage to release the energy and reduce the support pressure by allowing a relatively large deformation.The support pressure,especially the additional support pressure at the second stage will be much smaller if a higher initial support pressure is applied at the first stage.This can not only control the displacement rate of surrounding rock and improve the tunnel stability at the first stage by exerting sufficient support pressure immediately after tunnel excavation,but also greatly reduce the pressure acted on permanent support and improve the structure stability at the second stage.Therefore,to avoid the instability of support structure,ductile support,which could not only deform continuously but also provide sufficient high support pressure,is recommended at the first stage.

Experimental study on performance of spring damping support structure system for large deformation tunnel in soft rock

According to the convergence confinement theory,it is an effective measure to control the large deformation of high ground stress in fractured soft rock tunnels by using yielding support.The yielding support can be classified as either radial or circumferential yielding support.Circumferential yielding support is achieved by transforming radial displacement into circumferential tangential closure without compromising the support capacity of the primary lining support structure.Based on this,and inspired by the design principle of dampers,a yielding support structure system with spring damping elements as its core was developed,based on the connection characteristics of steel arches in highway tunnel,which can provide increasing support resistance in the yielding deformation section.Then the mechanical properties of spring damping elements were obtained through indoor axial pressure and flexural tests.In addition,according to these results with numerical calculations,the yielding support structure system with embedded spring damping elements can reduce the internal force of the support structure by approximately 10%and increase the area of the plastic zone of the surrounding rock by 11.23%,which can fully utilize the self-bearing capacity of surrounding rock and verify the effectiveness of circumferential yielding support.Finally,the spring damping support structure system was designed with reference to the construction process of the tunnel excavated by drilling and blasting method,and the transformation of the spring damping element to spring damping support structure was achieved.Based on field test results,surrounding ground pressure for the yielding support optimization scheme was reduced by 40%and more evenly distributed,resulting in the successful application and a reduction in the construction cost of large deformation tunnels in soft rock.

Viscoelastic plastic interaction of tunnel support and strain-softening rock mass considering longitudinal effect

A simplified two-stage method was employed to provide an explicit solution for the time-dependent tunnel-rock interaction,considering the generalized Zhang-Zhu strength criterion.Additionally,a simplified mechanical model of the yielding support structure was established.The tunnel excavation is simplified to a two-stage process:the first stage is affected by the longitudinal effect,while the second stage is affected by rheological behavior.Two cases are considered:one is that the rigid support is constructed during the first stage,and the other is that constructed at the second stage.Distinguished by the support timing at the seconde stage,different kinds of the“yield-resist combination”support method are divided into three categories:“yield before resist”support,“yield-resist”support,and“control-yield-resist”support.Results show that the support reaction of“control-yield-resist”is much higher than that of“yield before resist”if the initial geostress is not very high,but the effect is not obvious on controlling the surrounding rock deformation.So,the“yield before resist”support is much more economical and practical when the ground stress is not very high.However,under high geostress condition,through applying relatively high support reaction actively to surrounding rock at the first stage,the“control-yield-resist”support is superior in controlling the deformation rate of surrounding rock.Therefore,in the high geostress environment,it is recommended to construct prestressed yielding anchor immediately after excavation,and then construct rigid support after the surrounding rock deformation reaches the predetermined deformation.

Investigation of meso-failure behavior of rock under thermal-mechanical coupled effects based on high temperature SEM

It is extremely important to study and understand the deformation behavior and strength characteristics of rocks under thermal-mechanical （TM） coupling effects. Failure behavior and strength characteristics of Pingdingshan sandstone were investigated at room temperatures up to 300℃ in an internally heated apparatus and tensile load through meso-scale laboratory experiments in this work. 33 experiments have successfully been conducted for Pingdingshan sandstone. Experimental results indicated that the tensile strength increased slowly with temperatures from 25℃ to 100℃, and then sharply jumped from 100℃ to 150℃, and finally decreased slightly with temperatures from 150℃ to 300℃. And about 150℃ is the threshold temperature of strength and thermal cracking. At low temperatures （25℃-150℃）, sandstone strength is determined by relatively weak clay cement. However, at higher temperatures （150℃-300℃）, because of the strength enhancement of clay cement, sandstone strength is controlled by both mineral particles and clay cement. The effects of cement clay, micro-cracks closing, and thermal cracking were the possible reasons for our detailed analysis. In addition, the typical fracture position maps and nominal stress-strain curves indicated that the temperature had strong effects on the failure mechanism of sandstone. The fractograph implied that the dominant fracture mechanism tended to transform from brittle at low temperatures to ductile at high temperatures.

Modified ground response curve(GRC)in strain-softening rock mass based on the generalized Zhang-Zhu strength criterion considering over-excavation

The ground response curve(GRC)depicts the relationship between support reaction force and ground displacement,which improves the understanding of ground-support interaction and provides important references to the tunnel design.However,it is difficult to anticipate the tunneling-induced large deformation with sufficient reliability in soft rock with high geostress since the small strain theory is not applicable.When large deformation occurs,the tunnel needs to be over-excavated.Thus,the GRC should be modified considering the enlarged excavation radius since the actual excavation radius is usually greater than the designed one.To overcome the shortcomings of small strain theory in recognizing ground-support interaction under large deformation circumstances,a new large strain numerical approach for modifying the GRC was proposed considering over-excavation in strain-softening rock masses based on the generalized Zhang-Zhu strength criterion.A case study was conducted based on the Lianchengshan tunnel in China.The modified GRC was employed to investigate the ground-support behavior for different support schemes and to explore the applicability of the stress release measures.Combined with field tests,the proposed approach was validated.By comparing with GRCs proposed by previous work,the present modified GRC was proved to be superior to others.Parametric studies were conducted and it is found that over-excavation,for example,reserving a very large clearance between the surrounding rock and the support,is necessary to reduce ground pressure to a large extent.The yielding supports which can provide high support pressure during the process of deformation are highly recommended when tunneling in high geostress environment.However,if the initial geostress is not very high,it is not necessary to pursue unwarranted overexcavation since the ground pressure applied on the support is mainly the loosening stress when the deformation is large.Ample support stiffness should be provided in the process of deformation to prevent uncontrolled large deformation of surrounding rock.

Analysis of Epimetamorphic Rock Slopes Using Soft Computing

This article adopts three soft computing techniques including support vector machine(SVM), least square support vector machine(LSSVM) and relevance vector machine(RVM) for prediction of status of epimetemorphic rock slope. The input variables of SVM, LSSVM and RVM are bulk density, height, inclination, cohesion and internal friction angle. There are 53 datasets which have been used to develop the SVM, LSSVM and RVM models. The developed SVM, LSSVM and RVM give equations for prediction of status of epimetemorphic rock slope. The performance of SVM, LSSVM and RVM is 100%. A comparative study has been presented between the developed SVM, LSSVM and RVM. The results confirm that the developed SVM, LSSVM and RVM are effective tools for prediction of status of epimetemorphic rock slope.