Evaluation of slope stability through rock mass classification and kinematic analysis of some major slopes along NH-1A from Ramban to Banihal, North Western Himalayas

The network of Himalayan roadways and highways connects some remote regions of valleys or hill slopes,which is vital for India’s socio-economic growth.Due to natural and artificial factors,frequency of slope instabilities along the networks has been increasing over last few decades.Assessment of stability of natural and artificial slopes due to construction of these connecting road networks is significant in safely executing these roads throughout the year.Several rock mass classification methods are generally used to assess the strength and deformability of rock mass.This study assesses slope stability along the NH-1A of Ramban district of North Western Himalayas.Various structurally and non-structurally controlled rock mass classification systems have been applied to assess the stability conditions of 14 slopes.For evaluating the stability of these slopes,kinematic analysis was performed along with geological strength index(GSI),rock mass rating(RMR),continuous slope mass rating(CoSMR),slope mass rating(SMR),and Q-slope in the present study.The SMR gives three slopes as completely unstable while CoSMR suggests four slopes as completely unstable.The stability of all slopes was also analyzed using a design chart under dynamic and static conditions by slope stability rating(SSR)for the factor of safety(FoS)of 1.2 and 1 respectively.Q-slope with probability of failure(PoF)1%gives two slopes as stable slopes.Stable slope angle has been determined based on the Q-slope safe angle equation and SSR design chart based on the FoS.The value ranges given by different empirical classifications were RMR(37-74),GSI(27.3-58.5),SMR(11-59),and CoSMR(3.39-74.56).Good relationship was found among RMR&SSR and RMR&GSI with correlation coefficient(R 2)value of 0.815 and 0.6866,respectively.Lastly,a comparative stability of all these slopes based on the above classification has been performed to identify the most critical slope along this road.

Probabilistic analysis of tunnel face seismic stability in layered rock masses using Polynomial Chaos Kriging metamodel

Face stability is an essential issue in tunnel design and construction.Layered rock masses are typical and ubiquitous;uncertainties in rock properties always exist.In view of this,a comprehensive method,which combines the Upper bound Limit analysis of Tunnel face stability,the Polynomial Chaos Kriging,the Monte-Carlo Simulation and Analysis of Covariance method(ULT-PCK-MA),is proposed to investigate the seismic stability of tunnel faces.A two-dimensional analytical model of ULT is developed to evaluate the virtual support force based on the upper bound limit analysis.An efficient probabilistic analysis method PCK-MA based on the adaptive Polynomial Chaos Kriging metamodel is then implemented to investigate the parameter uncertainty effects.Ten input parameters,including geological strength indices,uniaxial compressive strengths and constants for three rock formations,and the horizontal seismic coefficients,are treated as random variables.The effects of these parameter uncertainties on the failure probability and sensitivity indices are discussed.In addition,the effects of weak layer position,the middle layer thickness and quality,the tunnel diameter,the parameters correlation,and the seismic loadings are investigated,respectively.The results show that the layer distributions significantly influence the tunnel face probabilistic stability,particularly when the weak rock is present in the bottom layer.The efficiency of the proposed ULT-PCK-MA is validated,which is expected to facilitate the engineering design and construction.

Rock mass quality prediction on tunnel faces with incomplete multi-source dataset via tree-augmented naive Bayesian network

Rock mass quality serves as a vital index for predicting the stability and safety status of rock tunnel faces.In tunneling practice,the rock mass quality is often assessed via a combination of qualitative and quantitative parameters.However,due to the harsh on-site construction conditions,it is rather difficult to obtain some of the evaluation parameters which are essential for the rock mass quality prediction.In this study,a novel improved Swin Transformer is proposed to detect,segment,and quantify rock mass characteristic parameters such as water leakage,fractures,weak interlayers.The site experiment results demonstrate that the improved Swin Transformer achieves optimal segmentation results and achieving accuracies of 92%,81%,and 86%for water leakage,fractures,and weak interlayers,respectively.A multisource rock tunnel face characteristic(RTFC)dataset includes 11 parameters for predicting rock mass quality is established.Considering the limitations in predictive performance of incomplete evaluation parameters exist in this dataset,a novel tree-augmented naive Bayesian network(BN)is proposed to address the challenge of the incomplete dataset and achieved a prediction accuracy of 88%.In comparison with other commonly used Machine Learning models the proposed BN-based approach proved an improved performance on predicting the rock mass quality with the incomplete dataset.By utilizing the established BN,a further sensitivity analysis is conducted to quantitatively evaluate the importance of the various parameters,results indicate that the rock strength and fractures parameter exert the most significant influence on rock mass quality.

Effect of eccentric and inclined loading on the bearing capacity of strip footing placed on rock mass

This paper deals with the bearing capacity determination of strip footing on a rock mass in hilly area by considering the influence of inclined and eccentric loading. Applying the generalized HoekBrown failure criterion, the failure behavior of the rock mass is modeled with the help of the power cone programming in the lower bound finite element limit analysis framework. Using bearing capacity factor(Ns), the change in bearing capacity of the strip footing due to the occurrence of eccentrically inclined loading is presented. The variations of the magnitude of Ns are obtained by examining the effects of the Hoek-Brown rock mass strength parameters(uniaxial compressive strength(sci), disturbance factor(D), rock parameter(mi), and Geological Strength Index(GSI)) in the presence of different magnitudes of eccentricity(e) and inclination angle(λ) with respect to the vertical plane, and presented as design charts. Both the inclined loading modes, i.e., inclination towards the center of strip footing(+λ) and inclination away from the center of strip footing(-λ), are adopted to perform the investigation. In addition, the correlation between the input parameters and the corresponding output is developed by utilizing the artificial neural network(ANN). Additionally, from sensitivity analysis, it is observed that inclination angle(λ) is the most sensitive parameter. For practicing engineers, the obtained design equation and design charts can be beneficial to understand the bearing capacity variation in the existence of eccentrically inclined loading in mountain areas.

Numerical manifold method for thermo-mechanical coupling simulation of fractured rock mass

As a calculation method based on the Galerkin variation,the numerical manifold method(NMM)adopts a double covering system,which can easily deal with discontinuous deformation problems and has a high calculation accuracy.Aiming at the thermo-mechanical(TM)coupling problem of fractured rock masses,this study uses the NMM to simulate the processes of crack initiation and propagation in a rock mass under the influence of temperature field,deduces related system equations,and proposes a penalty function method to deal with boundary conditions.Numerical examples are employed to confirm the effectiveness and high accuracy of this method.By the thermal stress analysis of a thick-walled cylinder(TWC),the simulation of cracking in the TWC under heating and cooling conditions,and the simulation of thermal cracking of the SwedishÄspöPillar Stability Experiment(APSE)rock column,the thermal stress,and TM coupling are obtained.The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the test data and other numerical results,thus verifying the effectiveness of the NMM in dealing with thermal stress and crack propagation problems of fractured rock masses.

Rock Mass Quality Rating Based on the Multi-Criteria Grey Metric Space

Assessment of rock mass quality significantly impacts the design and construction of underground and open-pit mines from the point of stability and economy.This study develops the novel Gromov-Hausdorff distance for rock quality(GHDQR)methodology for rock mass quality rating based on multi-criteria grey metric space.It usually presents the quality of surrounding rock by classes(metric spaces)with specified properties and adequate interval-grey numbers.Measuring the distance between surrounding rock sample characteristics and existing classes represents the core of this study.The Gromov-Hausdorff distance is an especially useful discriminant function,i.e.,a classifier to calculate these distances,and assess the quality of the surrounding rock.The efficiency of the developed methodology is analyzed using the Mean Absolute Percentage Error(MAPE)technique.Seven existing methods,such as the Gaussian cloud method,Discriminant method,Mutation series method,Artificial neural network(ANN),Support vector machine(SVM),Grey wolf optimizer and Support vector classification method(GWO-SVC)and Rock mass rating method(RMR)are used for comparison with the proposed GHDQR method.The share of the highly accurate category of 85.71%clearly indicates compliance with actual values obtained by the compared methods.The results of comparisons showed that the model enables objective,efficient,and reliable assessment of rock mass quality.

A Novel ISSA–DELM Model for Predicting Rock Mass Permeability

In pumped storage projects,the permeability of rock masses is a crucial parameter in engineering design and construction.The rock mass permeability coefficient(K)is influenced by various geological parameters,and previous studies aimed to establish an accurate relationship between K and geological parameters.This study uses the improved sparrow search algorithm(ISSA)to optimize the parameter settings of the deep extreme learning machine(DELM),constructing a prediction model with flexible parameter selection and high accuracy.First,the Spearman method is applied to analyze the correlation between geological parameters.A sample database is built by comprehensively selecting four geological indexes:burial depth,rock quality designation(RQD),fracture density characteristic index(FD),and rock mass integrity designation(RID).Hence,the defects of the sparrow search algorithm(SSA)are enhanced using the improved strategy,and the initial input weights of the DELM are optimized.Finally,the proposed ISSA–DELM model is employed to predict the permeability coefficient of rock mass in the entire study area.The results showed that the predictive performance of the model is superior to that of the DELM and SSA–DELM.Therefore,this model successfully provides insights into the distribution characteristics of rock mass permeability at engineering sites.

Inverting the rock mass P-wave velocity field ahead of deep buried tunnel face while borehole drilling

Imaging the wave velocity field surrounding a borehole while drilling is a promising and urgently needed approach for extending the exploration range of the borehole point.This paper develops a drilling process detection(DPD)system consisting of a multifunctional sensor and a pilot geophone installed at the top of the drilling rod,geophones at the tunnel face,a laser rangefinder,and an onsite computer.A weighted adjoint-state first arrival travel time tomography method is used to invert the P-wave velocity field of rock mass while borehole drilling.A field experiment in the ongoing construction of a deep buried tunnel in southwestern China demonstrated the DPD system and the tomography method.Time-frequency analysis of typical borehole drilling detection data shows that the impact drilling source is a pulse-like seismic exploration wavelet.A velocity field of the rock mass in a triangular area defined by the borehole trajectory and geophone receiving line can be obtained.Both the borehole core and optical image validate the inverted P-wave velocity field.A numerical simulation of a checkerboard benchmark model is used to test the tomography method.The rapid convergence of the misfits and consistent agreement between the inverted and observed travel times validate the P-wave velocity imaging.

Load-bearing characteristics and energy evolution of fractured rock masses after granite and sandstone grouting

Experiments on grouting-reinforced rock mass specimens with different particle sizes and features were carried out in this study to examine the effects of grouting reinforcement on the load-bearing characteristics of fractured rock mass.The strength and deformation features of grouting-reinforced rock mass were analyzed under different loading manners;the energy evolution mechanism of grouting-reinforced rock mass specimens with different particle sizes and features was investigated;the energy dissipation ratio and post-peak stress decreasing rate were employed to evaluate the bearing stability of grouting-reinforced rock mass.The results show that the strength and ductility of granite-reinforced rock mass(GRM)under biaxial loading are higher than that of sandstone-reinforced rock mass(SRM)under uniaxial loading.Besides,the energy evolution characteristics of grouting-reinforced rock mass under uniaxial and biaxial loading mainly could be divided into early,middle,and late stages.In the early stage,total,elastic,and dissipation energies were quite small with flatter curves;in the middle stage,elastic energy increased rapidly,whereas dissipation energy increased slowly;in the late stage,dissipation energy increased sharply.The energy dissipation ratio was used to represent the pre-peak plastic deformation.Under uniaxial loading,this ratio increased as the particle size increased and the pre-peak plastic deformation of grouting-reinforced rock mass became larger;under biaxial loading,it dropped as the particle size increased,and the pre-peak plastic deformation of grouting-reinforced rock mass became smaller.The post-peak stress decline rate A_(v) was used to assess the post-peak bearing performance of grouting-reinforced rock mass.Under uniaxial loading,parameter A_(v) exhibited reduction as the particle size kept increasing,and the ability of post-peak of grouting-reinforced rock mass to allow deformation development was greater,and the bearing capacity was greater;under biaxial loading,A_(v) increased with the particle size,and the ability of post-peak of grouting-reinforced rock mass to allow deformation development was low and the bearing capacity was reduced.The findings are considered instrumental in improving the stability of the roadway-surrounding rock by granite and sandstone grouting.

Tree-Based Solution Frameworks for Predicting Tunnel Boring Machine Performance Using Rock Mass and Material Properties

Tunnel Boring Machines(TBMs)are vital for tunnel and underground construction due to their high safety and efficiency.Accurately predicting TBM operational parameters based on the surrounding environment is crucial for planning schedules and managing costs.This study investigates the effectiveness of tree-based machine learning models,including Random Forest,Extremely Randomized Trees,Adaptive Boosting Machine,Gradient Boosting Machine,Extreme Gradient Boosting Machine(XGBoost),Light Gradient Boosting Machine,and CatBoost,in predicting the Penetration Rate(PR)of TBMs by considering rock mass and material characteristics.These techniques are able to provide a good relationship between input(s)and output parameters;hence,obtaining a high level of accuracy.To do that,a comprehensive database comprising various rock mass and material parameters,including Rock Mass Rating,Brazilian Tensile Strength,and Weathering Zone,was utilized for model development.The practical application of these models was assessed with a new dataset representing diverse rock mass and material properties.To evaluate model performance,ranking systems and Taylor diagrams were employed.CatBoost emerged as the most accurate model during training and testing,with R2 scores of 0.927 and 0.861,respectively.However,during validation,XGBoost demonstrated superior performance with an R2 of 0.713.Despite these variations,all tree-based models showed promising accuracy in predicting TBM performance,providing valuable insights for similar projects in the future.

Failure behavior and strength model of blocky rock mass with and without rockbolts

To better understand the failure behaviours and strength of bolt-reinforced blocky rocks,large scale extensive laboratory experiments are carried out on blocky rock-like specimens with and without rockbolt reinforcement.The results show that both shear failure and tensile failure along joint surfaces are observed but the shear failure is a main controlling factor for the peak strength of the rock mass with and without rockbolts.The rockbolts are necked and shear deformation simultaneously happens in bolt reinforced rock specimens.As the joint dip angle increases,the joint shear failure becomes more dominant.The number of rockbolts has a significant impact on the peak strain and uniaxial compressive strength(UCS),but little influence on the deformation modulus of the rock mass.Using the Winkler beam model to represent the rockbolt behaviours,an analytical model for the prediction of the strength of boltreinforced blocky rocks is proposed.Good agreement between the UCS values predicted by proposed model and obtained from experiments suggest an encouraging performance of the proposed model.In addition,the performance of the proposed model is further assessed using published results in the literature,indicating the proposed model can be used effectively in the prediction of UCS of bolt-reinforced blocky rocks.

Deformation characteristics and damage ontologies of soft and hard composite rock masses under impact loading

As one of the most common occurring geological landforms in deep rock formations, the dynamic mechanical properties of layered composite rock bodies under impact loading have been widely studied by scholars. To study the dynamic properties of soft and hard composite rocks with different thickness ratios, this paper utilizes cement, quartz sand and gypsum powder to construct soft and hard composite rock specimens and utilizes a combination of indoor tests, numerical calculations, and theoretical analyses to investigate the mechanical properties of soft and hard composite rock bodies. The test results reveal that:(1) When the proportion of hard rock increases from 20% to 50%, the strength of the combined rock body increases by 69.14 MPa and 87 MPa when the hard rock face and soft rock face are loaded, respectively;however, when the proportion of hard rock is the same, the compressive strength of the hard rock face impact is 9%-17% greater than that of the soft rock face impact;(2) When a specimen of soft and hard combined rock body is subjected to impact loading, the damage mode involves mixed tension and shear damage, and the cracks generally first appear at the ends of the specimen, then develop on the laminar surface from the impact surface, and finally end in the overall damage of the soft rock part. The development rate and the total number of cracks in the same specimen when the hard rock face is impacted are significantly greater than those when the soft rock face is impacted;(3) By introducing Weibull’s statistical strength theory to establish the damage variables of soft-hard combined rock bodies, combined with the DP strength criterion, the damage model and the Kelvin body are concatenated to obtain a statistical damage constitutive model, which can better fit the full stress-strain curve of soft-hard combined rock body specimens under a single impact load.

Mechanical response of roof rock mass unloading during continuous mining process in underground mine

Taking the test stopes during continuous mining induced roof caving of Tongkeng ore-body No.92 as example, the calculation flow of unloading analysis was established. According to the unloading region division method of the affected zone theory, and the deterioration laws of mechanics parameters of unloading rock mass, the continuous mining process in underground mine was analyzed by the software MIDAS/GTS, the mechanical response of roof rock mass unloading was studied, and the differences were analyzed with the conventional simulation. The result shows that the maximum tensile stress, subsidence displacement and equivalent plastic strain of roof rock mass are 1.5 MPa, 20 cm and 1.5% in the unloading analysis, while 1.0 MPa, 13 cm and 0.9% in the conventional analysis. The values of unloading analysis, which are also closer to the actual situation, are greater than those of conventional analysis; the maximum step in continuous mining is 48 m, which shows that the induced treatment of the roof should be carried out after 2 mining steps

Damage failure of cemented backfill and its reasonable match with rock mass

In order to study the failure mechanism of backfill and the reasonable matches between backfill and rock mass, and to achieve the object of safe and efficient mining in metal mine, four types of backfills were tested under uniaxial compression loading, with cement?tailing ratios of 0.250:1, 0.125:1, 0.100:1 and 0.083:1, respectively. With the help of the stress?strain curves, the deformation and failure characteristics of different backfills with differing cement?tailing ratios were analyzed. Based on the experimental results, the damage constitutive equations of cemented backfills with four cement?tailing ratios were proposed on the basis of damage mechanics. Moreover, comparative analysis of constitutive model and experimental results were made to verify the reliability of the damage model. In addition, an energy model using catastrophe theory to obtain the instability criteria of system was established to study the interaction between backfill and rock mass, and then the system instability criterion was deduced. The results show that there are different damage characteristics for different backfills, backfills with lower cement?tailing ratio tend to have a lower damage value when stress reaches peak value, and damage more rapidly and more obviously in failure process after peak value of stress; the stiffness and elastic modulus of rock mass with lower strength are more likely to lead to system instability. The results of this work provide a scientific basis for the rational strength design of backfill mine.

Failure characteristics and its influencing factors of talus-derived rock mass during open-pit mining

The failure characteristic of talus-derived rock mass continues to challenge quantitative hazard assessments in open-pit mining. Physical model test was used to assess the failure modes and mechanisms on talus-derived rock mass. The different types of failure modes of the talus-derived rock mass were introduced and a possible failure mechanism relation between the failure zone and the structure of the talus-derived rock mass was also shown. The physical model test results indicate that the rainfall has significant influence on the stability and failure modes of talus-derived rock mass during open-pit mining. The development of the seepage area caused by rainfall initiates the localized failure in that particular area, and the initiation of localized instability is mainly induced by stress changes concentrated in the seepage area.

Analysis of the Elastic-Plastic Dynamic Finite Element on a Jointed Rock Mass

Aim To study the elastic plastic dynamical constitutive relations about a jointed rock mass under explosion load and its computer simulation. Methods\ Stress history is taken into account and stresses will follow changes in time during a period of explosion load. According to the principle of static force balance, the corresponding nodal concentrated force is calculated and the nodal displacement is counted. The elastic plastic dynamic finite element equations are thus obtained. Results\ A finite element method is given for a jointed rock mass under explosion load. Conclusion\ The problem of large plastic deformation for jointed rock mass on blasting was efficiently resolved through dynamic finite element analysis and the range of damages by blasting simulated, and this pushes forward the problem to engineering practice.

Probabilistic assessment of tunnel convergence considering spatial variability in rock mass properties using interpolated autocorrelation and response surface method

This study aims at the probabilistic assessment of tunnel convergence considering the spatial variability in rock mass properties. The method of interpolated autocorrelation combined with finite difference analysis is adopted to model the spatial variability of rock mass properties. An iterative procedure using the first-order reliability method(FORM) and response surface method(RSM) is employed to compute the reliability index and its corresponding design point. The results indicate that the spatial variability considerably affects the computed reliability index. The probability of failure could be noticeably overestimated in the case where the spatial variability is neglected. The vertical scale of fluctuation has a much higher effect on the probabilistic result with respect to the tunnel convergence than the horizontal scale of fluctuation. And the influence of different spacing of control points on the computational accuracy is investigated.

Research on unloading nonlinear mechanical characteristics of jointed rock masses

Geological environments of rock mass projects are always very complicated, and further investigations on rock mechanical characteristics are needed. There are considerable distinctions in rock mechanical characteristics under unloading and loading conditions. A series of tests are conducted to study the stress-strain relationship of rock masses under loading and unloading conditions. Also, the anisotropy, the size effect, and the rheological property of unloading rock mass are investigated. The tests presented in the paper include model test and granite rheological test, which are conducted considering geological condition, rock mass structure, in-situ stress field of the permanent shiplock of the Three Gorges Project. The main differences between loading and unloading rock masses are stress paths, yield criteria, deformation and strength parameters, etc.. Different structural plane directions affect unloading rock mass evidently. With increasing size, the tensile strength, the compressive strength, the deformation modulus, the Poisson’s ratio and the anisotropy of rock mass all decrease. For sandstone samples with parallel bedding planes, the cohesion c increases but the internal friction angle ? decreases under unloading condition when compared with the values under loading condition. While for samples with vertical bedding planes, the trend is adverse. The rheological property of rocks has close relationship with the tensile stresses of rock masses. When the sandstone samples are tested under high stress condition, their rheological properties are very obvious with the unloading of confining pressure, and three typical rheological stages are shown. Rheological rate changes with the variations in axial stress and confining pressure.

Classification and assessment of rock mass parameters in Choghart iron mine using P-wave velocity

Engineering rock mass classification,based on empirical relations between rock mass parameters and engineering applications,is commonly used in rock engineering and forms the basis for designing rock structures.The basic data required may be obtained from visual observation and laboratory or field tests.However,owing to the discontinuous and variable nature of rock masses,it is difficult for rock engineers to directly obtain the specific design parameters needed.As an alternative,the use of geophysical methods in geomechanics such as seismography may largely address this problem.In this study,25 seismic profiles with the total length of 543 m have been scanned to determine the geomechanical properties of the rock mass in blocks Ⅰ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ-2 of the Choghart iron mine.Moreover,rock joint measurements and sampling for laboratory tests were conducted.The results show that the rock mass rating（RMR） and Q values have a close relation with P-wave velocity parameters,including P-wave velocity in field(V;).P-wave velocity in the laboratory(V;) and the ratio of V;V;(i.e.K;= V;/V;.However,Q value,totally,has greater correlation coefficient and less error than the RMR,In addition,rock mass parameters including rock quality designation（RQD）,uniaxial compressive strength（UCS）,joint roughness coefficient（JRC） and Schmidt number（RN） show close relationship with P-wave velocity.An equation based on these parameters was obtained to estimate the P-wave velocity in the rock mass with a correlation coefficient of 91%.The velocities in two orthogonal directions and the results of joint study show that the wave velocity anisotropy in rock mass may be used as an efficient tool to assess the strong and weak directions in rock mass.

Comprehensive assessment on dynamic roof instability under fractured rock mass conditions in the excavation disturbed zone

The damage process of fractured rock mass showed that the fracture in rocks induced roof collapse in Yangchangwan Coal Mine, China. The rock mass was particularly weak and fractured. There occurred 6 large-scale dynamical roof falls in the excavation disturbed zone （EDZ） with the collapsing volume of 216 m^3. First, the field detailed geological environment, regional seismic dynamics, and dynamic instability of roadways were generally investigated. Second, the field multiple-index monitoring measurements for detecting the deep delamination of the roof, convergence deformation, bolt-cable load, acoustic emission （AE） characteristic parameters, total AE events, AE energy-releasing rate, rock mass fracture, and damage were arranged. Finally, according to the time-space-strength relations, a quantitative assessment of the influence of rock-mass damage on the dynamic roof instability was accomplished.