Catastrophe theory-based risk evaluation model for water and mud inrush and its application in karst tunnels

This paper presents a risk evaluation model of water and mud inrush for tunnel excavation in karst areas.The factors affecting the probabilities of water and mud inrush in karst tunnels are investigated to define the dangerousness of this geological disaster.The losses that are caused by water and mud inrush are taken into consideration to account for its harmfulness.Then a risk evaluation model based on the dangerousness-harmfulness evaluation indicator system is constructed,which is more convincing in comparison with the traditional methods.The catastrophe theory is used to evaluate the risk level of water and mud inrush and it has great advantage in handling problems involving discontinuous catastrophe processes.To validate the proposed approach,the Qiyueshan tunnel of Yichang-Wanzhou Railway is taken as an example in which four target segments are evaluated using the risk evaluation model.Finally,the evaluation results are compared with the excavation data,which shows that the risk levels predicted by the proposed approach are in good agreements with that observed in engineering.In conclusion,the catastrophe theory-based risk evaluation model is an efficient and effective approach for water and mud inrush in karst tunnels.

Prevention and treatment technologies of railway tunnel water inrush and mud gushing in China

Water inrush and mud gushing are one of the biggest hazards in tunnel construction. Unfavorable geological sections can be observed in almost all railway tunnels under construction or to be constructed, and vary in extent. Furthermore, due to the different heights of mountains and the lengths of tunnels, the locations of the unfavorable geological sections cannot be fully determined before construction, which increases the risk of water inrush and mud gushing. Based on numerous cases of water inrush and mud gushing in railway tunnels, the paper tries to classify water inrush and mud gushing in railway tunnels in view of the conditions of the surrounding rocks and meteorological factors associated with tunnel excavation. In addition, the causes of water inrush and mud gushing in combination of macroand micromechanisms are summarized, and site-specifc treatment method is put forward. The treatment methods include choosing a method of advance geological forecast according to risk degrees of different sections in the tunnel, determining the items of predictions, and choosing the appropriate methods, i.e. draining-oriented method, blocking-oriented method or draining-and-blocking method. The treatment technologies of railway water inrush and mud gushing are also summarized, including energy relief and pressure relief technology, advance grouting technology, and advance jet grouting technology associated with their key technical features and applicable conditions. The results in terms of treatment methods can provide reference to the prevention and treatment of tunnel water inrush and mud gushing.