The Jinping I hydropower station is a huge water conservancy project consisting of the highest concrete arch dam to date in the world and a highly complex and large underground powerhouse cavern. It is located on the ...The Jinping I hydropower station is a huge water conservancy project consisting of the highest concrete arch dam to date in the world and a highly complex and large underground powerhouse cavern. It is located on the right bank with extremely high in-situ stress and a few discontinuities observed in surrounding rock masses. The problems of rock mass deformation and failure result in considerable challenges related to project design and construction and have raised a wide range of concerns in the fields of rock mechanics and engineering. During the excavation of underground caverns, high in-situ stress and relatively low rock mass strength in combination with large excavation dimensions lead to large deformation of the surrounding rock mass and support. Existing experiences in excavation and support cannot deal with the large deformation of rock mass effectively, and further studies are needed. In this paper, the geological conditions, layout of caverns, and design of excavation and support are first introduced, and then detailed analyses of deformation and failure characteristics of rocks are presented. Based on this, the mechanisms of deformation and failure are discussed, and the support adjustments for controlling rock large deformation and subsequent excavation procedures are proposed. Finally, the effectiveness of support and excavation adjustments to maintain the stability of the rock mass is verified. The measures for controlling the large deformation of surrounding rocks enrich the practical experiences related to the design and construction of large underground openings, and the construction of caverns in the Jinping I hydropower station provides a good case study of large-scale excavation in highly stressed ground with complex geological structures, as well as a reference case for research on rock mechanics.展开更多
Excavation damage under high in situ stress depends largely upon the potential block size associated with any violent ejection.The size and shape of the dynamic instability are largely controlled by the location,orien...Excavation damage under high in situ stress depends largely upon the potential block size associated with any violent ejection.The size and shape of the dynamic instability are largely controlled by the location,orientation and extent of the pre-existing geological discontinuities.A new methodology is presented in which the rock mass demand can be expressed in terms of the mass in tonnes of unstable rock that is ejected per unit area of the excavation surface where failure occurs.A probabilistic approach has been implemented to estimate the potential rock mass instabilities and their associated static and dynamic demands.The new methodology considers that the strain energy released by the rock mass during violent stress-driven failure is largely converted into kinetic energy of ejection for blocks.The estimated dynamic demand has been favourably compared with observations of rock mass damage in a number of underground excavations.展开更多
Based on the analyses of data obtained from the underground powerhouse at Jinping I hydropower station, a comprehensive review of engineering rock mechanics practice in the underground powerhouse is first conducted. T...Based on the analyses of data obtained from the underground powerhouse at Jinping I hydropower station, a comprehensive review of engineering rock mechanics practice in the underground powerhouse is first conducted. The distribution of strata, lithology, and initial geo-stress, the excavation process and corresponding rock mass support measures, the deformation and failure characteristics of the surrounding rock mass, the stress characteristics of anchorage structures in the cavern complex, and numerical simulations of surrounding rock mass stability and anchor support performance are presented. The results indicate that the underground powerhouse of Jinping I hydropower station is characterized by high to extremely high geo-stresses during rock excavation. Excessive surrounding rock mass deformation and high stress of anchorage structures, surrounding rock mass unloading damage, and local cracking failure of surrounding rock masses, etc., are mainly caused by rock mass excavation. Deformations of surrounding rock masses and stresses in anchorage structures here are larger than those found elsewhere： 20% of extensometers in the main powerhouse record more than 50 mm with the maximum at around 250 mm observed in the downstream sidewall of the transformer hall. There are about 25% of the anchor bolts having recorded stresses of more than 200 MPa. Jinping I hydropower plant is the first to have an underground powerhouse construction conducted in host rocks under extremely high geo-stress conditions, with the ratio of rock mass strength to geo-stress of less than 2.0. The results can provide a reference to underground powerhouse construction in similar geological conditions.展开更多
文摘The Jinping I hydropower station is a huge water conservancy project consisting of the highest concrete arch dam to date in the world and a highly complex and large underground powerhouse cavern. It is located on the right bank with extremely high in-situ stress and a few discontinuities observed in surrounding rock masses. The problems of rock mass deformation and failure result in considerable challenges related to project design and construction and have raised a wide range of concerns in the fields of rock mechanics and engineering. During the excavation of underground caverns, high in-situ stress and relatively low rock mass strength in combination with large excavation dimensions lead to large deformation of the surrounding rock mass and support. Existing experiences in excavation and support cannot deal with the large deformation of rock mass effectively, and further studies are needed. In this paper, the geological conditions, layout of caverns, and design of excavation and support are first introduced, and then detailed analyses of deformation and failure characteristics of rocks are presented. Based on this, the mechanisms of deformation and failure are discussed, and the support adjustments for controlling rock large deformation and subsequent excavation procedures are proposed. Finally, the effectiveness of support and excavation adjustments to maintain the stability of the rock mass is verified. The measures for controlling the large deformation of surrounding rocks enrich the practical experiences related to the design and construction of large underground openings, and the construction of caverns in the Jinping I hydropower station provides a good case study of large-scale excavation in highly stressed ground with complex geological structures, as well as a reference case for research on rock mechanics.
基金financial assistance and support provided over many years by various organisations including CODELCO Chile, CRC Mining, Mining3, MMG, DSI and Geobrugg
文摘Excavation damage under high in situ stress depends largely upon the potential block size associated with any violent ejection.The size and shape of the dynamic instability are largely controlled by the location,orientation and extent of the pre-existing geological discontinuities.A new methodology is presented in which the rock mass demand can be expressed in terms of the mass in tonnes of unstable rock that is ejected per unit area of the excavation surface where failure occurs.A probabilistic approach has been implemented to estimate the potential rock mass instabilities and their associated static and dynamic demands.The new methodology considers that the strain energy released by the rock mass during violent stress-driven failure is largely converted into kinetic energy of ejection for blocks.The estimated dynamic demand has been favourably compared with observations of rock mass damage in a number of underground excavations.
基金the valuable support from Yalong River Hydropower Development Company,Ltd.HydroChina Chengdu Engineering Corporation,Ltdthe National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51179014,51579016,51379022,and 51539002)
文摘Based on the analyses of data obtained from the underground powerhouse at Jinping I hydropower station, a comprehensive review of engineering rock mechanics practice in the underground powerhouse is first conducted. The distribution of strata, lithology, and initial geo-stress, the excavation process and corresponding rock mass support measures, the deformation and failure characteristics of the surrounding rock mass, the stress characteristics of anchorage structures in the cavern complex, and numerical simulations of surrounding rock mass stability and anchor support performance are presented. The results indicate that the underground powerhouse of Jinping I hydropower station is characterized by high to extremely high geo-stresses during rock excavation. Excessive surrounding rock mass deformation and high stress of anchorage structures, surrounding rock mass unloading damage, and local cracking failure of surrounding rock masses, etc., are mainly caused by rock mass excavation. Deformations of surrounding rock masses and stresses in anchorage structures here are larger than those found elsewhere： 20% of extensometers in the main powerhouse record more than 50 mm with the maximum at around 250 mm observed in the downstream sidewall of the transformer hall. There are about 25% of the anchor bolts having recorded stresses of more than 200 MPa. Jinping I hydropower plant is the first to have an underground powerhouse construction conducted in host rocks under extremely high geo-stress conditions, with the ratio of rock mass strength to geo-stress of less than 2.0. The results can provide a reference to underground powerhouse construction in similar geological conditions.
