Energy analysis of rock plug thickness in karst tunnels based on non-associated flow rule and nonlinear failure criterion

The geological hazards, such as water inrush and mud outburst, are easily induced by the high water pressure caverns ahead of a karst tunnel face. Therefore, it is a pivotal issue to determine the reserved thickness of rock plug during the construction of tunnels. The limit analysis principle is employed to analyze the safe thickness from the point of energy dissipation, and the nonlinear and non-associated characteristics of geotechnical materials are both considered. On the basis of a plane failure pattern of rock plug, the expressions of detaching curve and rock plug thickness are derived. The effect of each parameter on the safe thickness of rock plug is discussed in detail, which interprets the corresponding failure scope of rock plug. The obtained results indicate that the thickness of rock plug is highly influenced by the nonlinear dilatancy coefficient and the nonlinear coefficient. The proposed method is validated by a comparison of the calculated results with those of the engineering project of the "526 karst cavern" of Yunwushan tunnel. This proposed method can provide reference basis for the design and excavation of karst tunnels in the future.

Seismic analysis of early-mid Miocene carbonate platform in the southern Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea

The southern uplift of the Qiongdongnan Basin is a deepwater area in which no wells have beens drilled. The Miocene-Quaternary strata in the Xisha Islands, which are located 40–100 km to the south, are composed of carbonate reef formations. Paleotectonic and paleogeographic analyses of the basin suggest that the southern uplift experienced favorable geological conditions for the development of carbonate reefs during the Miocene.The high-impedance carbonates have high amplitudes and low frequencies on seismic profiles. The reefs are distributed on paleotectonic highs and are thicker than the contemporaneous formations. A forward model of the variation in carbonate thickness based on lithological and velocity information from wells in nearby regions can simulate the seismic response of carbonates with different thicknesses. We identified several important controlling points for determining the thickness of carbonates from seismic profiles, including the pinchout point,the λ/4 thickness point, and the λ/2 thickness point. We depict a carbonate thickness map in the deepwater area of the southern Qiongdongnan Basin based on this model. The carbonate thickness map, the paleotectonic and paleogeographic background, and the seismic response characteristics of reefs suggest that the carbonates that developed on the southern uplift of the Qiongdongnan Basin during the Miocene were mainly an isolated carbonate platform peninsula and ramp deposits. It consisted of gentle ramp platform, steep slope platform,platform depression, gravity flow, and reef bank facies.

Quantitative analysis of parameters’influence on the stability of coal roadway clamped by upper and lower soft rock with extra thickness

In this paper,a physical model of coal roadway which is clamped by upper and lower softrock with extra thickness was built according to the characteristics of soft rock strata in china's western mining area.Then,a series of orthogonal numerical experiments were carried out by selecting the strength and stiffness parameters of soft rock and coal seam as well as the in situ stress of soft rock strata as experimental factors and roadway displacements(convergence displacements of sides,displacement of roof to floor)as experimental indexes.By constructing the F statistics with different inspection levels,evaluation method for influence of the experimental factors on stability indexes were defined.Thus,influence degrees of specified parameters on the stability of roadway were divided into five classes as follows:highly significant influence,significant influence,relatively significant influence,little significant influence,and no influence respectively which realize the quantitative analysis of the influence degrees of experimental factors.The finite element calculation results showed that main failure mode of coal roadway that usually showed as tension failure of coal seam in roof and deformation factors of coal seam had the most remarkable effect on roadway displacements.The conclusions provide theoretical basis for further analysis of the mechanism of"roof burst"in roadway maintenance.