Key technologies for construction of Jinping traffic tunnel with an extremely deep overburden and a high water pressure

Jinping traffic tunnel is one of the deepest traffic tunnels in the world with a maximum overburden of 2 375 m and the overburden over 73% of its total length is larger than 1 500 m. The tunnel is 17.5 km long and designed to provide a shortcut road between two hydropower stations： Jinping I and Jinping II of the Jinping Hydropower Project, located on Yalong River, Liangshan State, Sichuan Province, China. The tunnel is so deep that building any shafts is impossible. The construction starts from both ends （east and west ends）, and the construction length from the west end is 10 km with a blind heading. This paper deals with an overview of this project and analysis of the engineering features, as well as key technologies developed and applied during the construction, including geological prediction, rock burst prevention under a super high in-situ stress, sealing of groundwater with a high pressure and big flow rate, ventilation for a blind heading of 10 km, wet spraying of shotcrete at zones of rock burst and rich water, etc. The application of the new technologies to the construction achieved a high quality tunnel within the contract period.

Analysis of the Flow Field and Impact Force in High-Pressure Water Descaling

This study aims to improve the performances of the high-pressure water descaling technology used in steel hot rolling processes.In particular,a 2050 mm hot rolling line is considered,and the problem is investigated by means of a fluid–structure interaction(FSI)method by which the descaling effect produced by rolling coils with different section sizes is examined.Assuming a flat fan-shaped nozzle at the entrance of the R1R2 roughing mill,the outflow field characteristics and the velocity distribution curve on the strike line(at a target distance of 30–120 mm)are determined.It is found that the velocity in the center region of the water jet with different target distances is higher than that in the boundary region.As the target distance increases,the velocity of the water jet in the central region decreases.Through comparison with experimental results,it is shown that the simulation model can accurately predict the impact position of the high-pressure water on the impact plate,thereby providing a computational scheme that can be used to optimize the nozzle space layout and improve the slabs’descent effect for different rolling specifications.

Drainage design combining drain holes and pinholes for tunnel boring machine segments subject to high water pressure

Balance of the groundwater and ecology is crucial for controlled discharge.However,regarding the segments of tunnel boring machines(TBMs)under high water pressure,the stability of the lining structure is often reduced by excessive drain holes required to achieve this balance.The large discharge of pinholes can easily have severe consequences,such as the lowering of the groundwater table,drying of springs,and vegetation wilting.Thus,in this study,according to the fluid-structure coupling theory,a new drainage design for TBM segments was developed by considering a mountain tunnel subject to a high water pressure as a case study.The evolution characteristics,including the external water pressure of the lining,discharge volume of the segment,and groundwater-table drawdown,were investigated via numerical modeling with drain holes and pinholes.The results indicated that the optimal design parameters of drainage segments for the project case were as follows:a circumferential spacing angle and longitudinal number on one side of a single ring of 51°and 2,respectively,for the drain holes and an inclination angle and length of 46.41°and 0.25 times the grouting thickness,respectively,for the pin holes.

Rock Breaking Performance of a Pick Assisted by High-pressure Water Jet under Different Configuration Modes

In the process of rock breaking, the conical pick bears great cutting force and wear, as a result, high-pressure water jet technology is used to assist with cutting. However, the effect of the water jet position has not been studied for rock breaking using a pick. Therefore, the models of rock breaking with different configuration modes of the water jet are established based on SPH combined with FEM. The effect of the water jet pressure, distance between the jet and the pick bit, and cutting depth on the rock breaking performance as well as a comparison of the tension and compression stress are studied via simulation; the simulation results are verified by experiments. The numerical and experimental results indicate that the decrease in the rates of the pick force obviously increases from 25 MPa to 40 MPa, but slowly after 40 MPa, and the optimal distance between the jet and the pick bit is 2 mm under the JFP and JSP modes. The JCP mode is proved the best, followed by the modes of JRP and JFP, and the worst mode is JSP. The decrease in the rates of the pick force of the JCP, JRP, JFP, and JSP modes are up to 30.96%, 28.96%, 33.46%, 28.17%, and 25.42%, respectively, in experiment. Moreover, the JSP mode can be regarded as a special JFP model when the distance between the pick-tip and the jet impact point is 0 mm. This paper has a dominant capability in introducing new numerical and experimental method for the study of rock breaking assisted by water jet and electing the best water jet position from four different configuration modes.

THE PERFORMANCES OF HIGH PRESSURE JET OF PURE WATER AND POLYMER SOLUTION WITH CONICAL NOZZLE

In this paper, the effects of polymer additives and nozzle shape on the proper- ties of high pressure water jet discharging into the air are investigated by theory and experiments. Criteria of judging the jet quality are put forward. And, a method that can be used in analysing the fluid flow within the nozzle is developed. Then, the calculated results are compared with the experiments that we carried out; it is shown that the degree of agreement between the two is good. At last, the mechanism to improve on the jet quality with polymer additives is discussed.

Applications of FBG-based sensors to ground stability monitoring

The four diversion tunnels at Jinping Ⅱ hydropower station represent the deepest underground project yet conducted in China, with an overburden depth of 1500-2000 m and a maximum depth of 2525 m.The tunnel structure was subjected to a maximum external water pressure of 10.22 MPa and the maximum single-point groundwater inflow of 7.3 m^3/s. The success of the project construction was related to numerous challenging issues such as the stability of the rock mass surrounding the deep tunnels, strong rockburst prevention and control, and the treatment of high-pressure, large-volume groundwater infiltration. During the construction period, a series of new technologies was developed for the purpose of risk control in the deep tunnel project. Nondestructive sampling and in-situ measurement technologies were employed to fully characterize the formation and development of excavation damaged zones（EDZs）, and to evaluate the mechanical behaviors of deep rocks. The time effect of marble fracture propagation, the brittleeductileeplastic transition of marble, and the temporal development of rock mass fracture and damage induced by high geostress were characterized. The safe construction of deep tunnels was achieved under a high risk of strong rockburst using active measures, a support system comprised of lining, grouting, and external water pressure reduction techniques that addressed the coupled effect of high geostress, high external water pressure, and a comprehensive early-warning system. A complete set of technologies for the treatment of high-pressure and large-volume groundwater infiltration was developed. Monitoring results indicated that the Jinping II hydropower station has been generally stable since it was put into operation in 2014.

Fretting wear behavior of Zr alloy cladding tube mated with Zr alloy dimple under mixed fretting regime in simulated primary water of PWR

The fretting wear behavior of Zr alloy cladding tube under mixed fretting regime in a high-temperature pressurized water was investigated.The main wear mechanism is adhesive wear,with characters of small-scale delamination at the center of worn area and serious delamination on the worn edge.A long crack throughout the worn area and other cracks propagated towards the substrate are observed.The cross-sectional microstructure of worn area can be divided into a thick third-body layer,thin inner oxide layer and thick tribologically transformed structure layer,and their formation mechanisms are analyzed in detail.Finally,the mixed fretting regime process and the microstructural evolution during fretting wear are discussed.