Rock Engineering Risk

The invaluable book reports the outcome of the work of the Commission on Design Methodology of the International Society for Rock Mechanics （ISRM） in the ISRM＇s 2011-2015 term of office during which Professor John Hudson acted as Commission Presi- dent while Professor Xia-Ting Feng served as ISRM President. It pro- vides a sequel to the authors＇ previous book, Rock Engineering Design （Feng and Hudson, 2011）, which reported the work of the Commission in the ISRM＇s 2007-2011 term of office when Profes- sor Feng acted as Commission President and Professor Hudson served as ISRM President. It is also the first volume in the newly established ISRM Book Series published by CRC Press/Balkema of the Taylor ＆ Francis Group, an initiative taken during Professor Feng＇s recent term of office as ISRM President.

Developing a risk assessment system for gas tunnel disasters in China

Gas disasters always restrict the tunnel constructions in mountain area, which becomes a major geological barrier against the development of underground engineering. China is rich in coal resources and has a large amount of gas with a wide range of distribution. However, China experienced not only adverse effects on coal mining but also gas disasters in underground engineering construction, such as tunnels and chambers. With the increased number of tunnels passing through coal-bearing strata, the incidence of gas accidents is also rising. Therefore, the significance of preventing and mitigating gas disasters should be emphasized, and an effective risk assessment method for gas disasters should be established. On the basis of research on over 100 gas tunnels in China, a relatively ideal gas disaster risk assessment method and system for tunnels are established through the following measures. Firstly, geo-environmental conditions and gas situations were analyzed during construction. Secondly, qualitative analysis was combined with quantitative analysis. Finally, the influencing factors of gas disasters, including geological conditions, gas,and human factors, were investigated. The gas tunnel risk assessment system includes three levels:(1) the grading assessment of a gas tunnel during the planning stage,(2) the risk assessment of gas tunnel construction during the design and construction stages,(3) the gas tunnel outburst risk assessment during the coal uncovering stage. This system was applied to the dynamic assessment of gas disaster during the construction of the Zipingpu tunnel of Dujiangyan–Wenchuan Highway(in Sichuan, Southwest China). The assessment results were consistent with the actual excavation, which verified the rationality and feasibility of the system. The developed system was believed to be back-up and applied for risk assessment of gas disaster in the underground engineering construction.

Safety Analysis of Flow Parameters in a Rotor-stator Cavity

In order to ensure the safety of engine life limited parts （ELLP） according to airworthiness regulations, a numerical approach integrating one-way fluid structure interaction （FSI） and probabilistic risk assessment （PRA） is developed, by which the variation of flow parameters in a rotor-stator cavity on the safety of gas turbine disks is investigated. The results indicate that the flow parameters affect the probability of fracture of a gas turbine disk since they can change the distribution of stress and temperature of the disk. The failure probability of the disk rises with increasing rotation Reynolds number and Chebyshev number, but descends with increasing inlet Reynolds number. In addition, a sampling based sensitivity analysis with finite difference method is conducted to determine the sensitivities of the safety with respect to the flow parameters. The sensitivity estimates show that the rotation Reynolds number is the dominant variable in safety analysis of a rotor-stator cavity among the flow parameters.