Experimental investigation on the invert stability of operating railway tunnels with different drainage systems using 3D printing technology

In recent years, the invert anomalies of operating railway tunnels in water-rich areas occur frequently,which greatly affect the transportation capacity of the railway lines. Tunnel drainage system is a crucial factor to ensure the invert stability by regulating the external water pressure(EWP). By means of a threedimensional(3D) printing model, this paper experimentally investigates the deformation behavior of the invert for the tunnels with the traditional drainage system(TDS) widely used in China and its optimized drainage system(ODS) with bottom drainage function. Six test groups with a total of 110 test conditions were designed to consider the design factors and environmental factors in engineering practice,including layout of the drainage system, blockage of the drainage system and groundwater level fluctuation. It was found that there are significant differences in the water discharge, EWP and invert stability for the tunnels with the two drainage systems. Even with a dense arrangement of the external blind tubes, TDS was still difficult to eliminate the excessive EWP below the invert, which is the main cause for the invert instability. Blockage of drainage system further increased the invert uplift and aggravated the track irregularity, especially when the blockage degree is more than 50%. However, ODS can prevent these invert anomalies by reasonably controlling the EWP at tunnel bottom. Even when the groundwater level reached 60 m and the blind tubes were fully blocked, the invert stability can still be maintained and the railway track experienced a settlement of only 1.8 mm. Meanwhile, the on-site monitoring under several rainstorms further showed that the average EWP of the invert was controlled within 84 k Pa, while the maximum settlement of the track slab was only 0.92 mm, which also was in good agreement with the results of model test.

Optimal location and effect judgment on drainage tunnels for landslide prevention

An optimal drainage tunnel location determination method for landslide prevention was proposed to solve the existing problems in drainage tunnel construction. Current applications of drainage tunnel systems in China were reviewed and the fimctions of drainage tunnel were categorized as catchment and interception. Numerical simulations were conducted. The results show that both catchment and interception tunnels have variation of the function in the simulation of monolayer model, which shows the reduction of permeability condition in lower layer. The function of catchment can be observed in the deep slope, while the function of interception is observed near groundwater source. By using the slope safety factor and discharge water amount as the objectives of optimal drainage tunnel location, and pore-water pressure in fixed node and section flux as the judgment for construction quality of adjacent drainage tunnel, the design principle of drainage tunnel was introduced. The K103 Landslide was illustrated as an example to determine the optimal drainage tunnel location. The measured drainage tunnel efficiency was evaluated and compared with that from the numerical analyses based on groundwater data. The results validate the present numerical study.

Limiting drainage criterion for groundwater of mountain tunnel

Large amount of groundwater discharging from tunnel is likely to cause destruction of the ecological environment in the vicinity of the tunnel, thus an appropriate drainage criterion should be established to balance the tunnel construction and groundwater.To assess the related problems, an limiting drainage standard ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 m3/(m·d) was suggested for mountain tunnels based on survey and comparative analysis. After that, for the purpose of verifying the rationality of the standard, a calculated formula for dewatering funnel volume caused by drainage was deduced on the basis of the groundwater dynamics and experience method.Furthermore, the equation about the relationship between water discharge and drawdown of groundwater table was presented. The permeability coefficient, specific yield and groundwater table value were introduced, and then combined with the above equation, the drawdown of groundwater table under the proposed limiting drainage criterion was calculated. It is shown that the proposed drainage standard can reach the purpose of protecting ecological environment under the following two conditions. One is the permeability coefficient ranges from 10-4 to 10-5 m/s and the specific yield ranges from 0.1 to 0.001. The other is the permeability coefficient varies from 10-6 to 10-8 m/s and the specific yield varies from 0.1 to 0.01. In addition, a majority of common geotechnical layers are involved in the above ranges. Thus, the proposed limiting drainage standard which ranges from 0.5 to 2.0 m3/(m·d) for mountain tunnel is reasonable.

A novel tunnel waterproof-drainage system based on double-bonded waterproofing materials and its seepage characteristics

Double-bonded spray membrane waterproofing materials have excellent waterproofing performance and can improve the load-bearing capacity of tunnel linings,leading to an increasing global application.However,due to the double-bonded capability of spray membrane materials,traditional interlayer drainage methods cannot be applied.This limitation makes it difficult to use them in drainage-type tunnels,significantly restricting their range of applications.In this regard,a novel tunnel waterproof-drainage system based on double-bonded spray membrane materials was proposed in this paper.The proposed drainage system primarily comprises upper drainage sheets and bottom drainage blind pipes,both located in the tunnel circumferential direction,as well as longitudinal drainage pipes within the tunnel.Subsequently,numerical calculation methods are employed to analyze the seepage characteristics of this system,revealing the water pressure distribution around the tunnel.The results indicate that in the novel waterproof-drainage system,the water pressure in the secondary lining exhibits a“mushroom-shaped”distribution in the circumferential direction,while the water pressure in the longitudinal direction exhibits a“wave-like”distribution.Furthermore,comparative results with other waterproof-drainage systems indicate that under typical working conditions with a water head of 160 m and a rock permeability coefficient of 10^(−6)m/s,the maximum water pressure in the secondary lining of the novel waterproof-drainage system is 0.6 MPa.This represents a significant reduction compared to fully encapsulated waterproofing and traditional drainage systems,which respectively reduce the water pressure by 65%and 30%.The applicability analysis of the double-bonded waterproofing and drainage system reveals that it can reduce at least 40%of the static water pressure in any groundwater environments.The novel drainage system provides a valuable reference for the application of double-bonded spray membrane waterproofing materials in drainage-type tunnels.

Influences of flow rate and baffle spacing on hydraulic characteristics of a novel baffle dropshaft

Due to limited flow capacity and the instability of the asymmetric structure of traditional baffle dropshafts,a novel baffle dropshaft with a symmetric structure,adopting the construction shield well directly,is proposed for large-range flow discharge in deep tunnel drainage systems.In this study,a two-phase flow field of the novel baffle dropshaft with three different baffle spacings was simulated at seven different flow rates with a three-dimensional(3D)numerical model verified with experiments,to study hydraulic characteristics of this novel baffle dropshaft.The results show that the novel baffle dropshaft has a remarkable energy dissipation effect.Baffle spacing of the novel baffle dropshaft has a greater effect on flow patterns and baffle pressure distributions than the comprehensive energy dissipation rate.Flow rate is a critical issue for the selection of baffle spacing in the design.Some guidance on baffle spacing selection and structure optimization for the application of this novel baffle dropshaft in deep tunnel drainage systems is proposed.