Vibration reduction technology and the mechanisms of surrounding rock damage from blasting in neighborhood tunnels with small clearance

Interlaid rock is an important component in the construction of neighborhood tunnels that supports and reinforces the area between two tunnels.However,the blasting load during excavation can sometimes damage the interlaid rock and threaten the stability of a tunnel’s structure.This paper presents a case study of the small clearance section of the Liantang highway tunnel project in Shenzhen,China,where the minimum distance between the two tunnels involved is only 0.5 m.To reduce the damage to the interlaid rock caused by blasting loads,we proposed a four-part excavation method with a vibrationcushioning rock layer in the following tunnel of neighborhood tunnels.Numerical simulation was used to model the damage prevention mechanism of the vibration-cushioning rock layer and to better understand the propagation of cracks in the interlaid rock.Furthermore,based on the simulation results,combined microseismic controlled-blasting technology was implemented,using innovative blasting patterns combined with different charge structures and blasting equipment designed according to the varying thickness of the interlaid rock.Finally,this implementation succeeded in protecting interlaid rock during blasting operations.

Rock Damage Structure of the South Longmen-Shan Fault in the 2008 M8 Wenchuan Earthquake Viewed with Fault-Zone Trapped Waves and Scientific Drilling

This article is to review results from scientific drilling and fault-zone trapped waves （FZTWs） at the south Longman-Shan fault （LSF） zone that ruptured in the 2008 May 12 M8 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan,China.Immediately after the mainshock,two Wenchuan Fault Scientific Drilling （WFSD） boreholes were drilled at WFSD-1 and WFSD-2 sites approximately 400 m and 1 km west of the surface rupture along the Yinxiu-Beichuan fault （YBF）,the middle fault strand of the south LSF zone.Two boreholes met the principal slip of Wenchuan earthquake along the YBF at depths of 589-m and 1230-m,respectively.The slip is accompanied with a 100-200-m-wide zone consisting of fault gouge,breccia,cataclasite and fractures.Close to WFSD-1 site,the nearly-vertical slip of ～4.3-m with a 190-m wide zone of highly fractured rocks restricted to the hanging wall of the YBF was found at the ground surface after the Wenchuan earthquake.A dense linear seismic array was deployed across the surface rupture at this venue to record FZTWs generated by aftershocks.Observations and 3-D finite-difference simulations of FZTWs recorded at this cross-fault array and network stations close to the YBF show a distinct low-velocity zone composed by severely damaged rocks along the south LSF at seismogenic depths.The zone is several hundred meters wide along the principal slip,within which seismic velocities are reduced by ～30-55％ from wall-rock velocities and with the maximum velocity reduction in the ～200-m-wide rupture core zone at shallow depth.The FZTW-inferred geometry and physical properties of the south LSF rupture zone at shallow depth are in general consistent with the results from petrological and structural analyses of cores and well log at WFSD boreholes.We interpret this remarkable low-velocity zone as being a break-down zone during dynamic rupture in the 2008 M8 earthquake.We examined the FZTWS generated by similar earthquakes before and after the 2008 mainshock and observed that seismic velocities within fault core zone was reduced by ～10％ due to severe damage of fault rocks during the M8 mainshock.Scientific drilling and locations of aftershocks generating prominent FZTWs also indicate rupture bifurcation along the YBF and the Anxian-Guangxian fault （AGF）,two strands of the south LSF at shallow depth.A combination of seismic,petrologic and geologic study at the south LSF leads to further understand the relationship between the fault-zone structure and rupture dynamics,and the amplification of ground shaking strength along the low-velocity fault zone due to its waveguide effect.

Discussion on blasting vibration monitoring for rock damage control in rock slope excavation

Drill and blast is a commonly used method for rock slope excavation in hydropower engineering.During blasting excavation of rock slopes,far-field vibration monitoring on the first upper berm for statutory compliance is usually performed to control the blast-induced rock damage to the final slope face.In this study,for the rock slope excavation in the Jinping-I hydropower station,the field vibration monitoring and acoustic testing are presented to investigate the vibration characteristics on the first upper berm and the damage depth in the current bench.The relationship between the PPV on the first upper berm and the PPV damage threshold on the damage zone boundary is also studied through three-dimensional FEM simulations.The results show that on the first upper berm,the maximum vibration velocity component occurs in the vertical direction.While on the blasting damage zone boundary,the horizontal radial vibration velocity is the maximum component.For the Jinping-I slope with a bench height of 30 m,the radial PPV on the inner side of the first upper berm is 2.06%of the PPV threshold on the damage zone boundary.This ratio is increased as the bench height decreases.Therefore,the bench height of the rock slope is an important factor that cannot be ignored in determining the allowable vibration velocity for rock damage control.

A 3D microseismic data-driven damage model for jointed rock mass under hydro-mechanical coupling conditions and its application

Rock mass is a fractured porous medium usually subjected to complex geostress and fluid pressure simultaneously.Moreover,the properties of rock mass change in time and space due to mining-induced fractures.Therefore,it is always challenging to accurately measure rock mass properties.In this study,a three-dimensional(3D)microseismic(MS)data-driven damage model for jointed rock mass under hydro-mechanical coupling conditions is proposed.It is a 3D finite element model that takes seepage,damage and stress field effects into account jointly.Multiple factors(i.e.joints,water and microseismicity)are used to optimize the rock mass mechanical parameters at different scales.The model is applied in Shirengou iron mine to study the damage evolution of rock mass and assess the crown pillar stability during the transition from open-pit to underground mining.It is found that the damage pattern is mostly controlled by the structure,water and rock mass parameters.The damage pattern is evidently different from the two-dimensional result and is more consistent with the field observations.This difference is caused by the MS-derived damage acting on the rock mass.MS data are responsible for gradually correcting the damage zone,changing the direction in which it expands,and promoting it to evolve close to reality.For the crown pillar,the proposed model yields a more trustworthy safety factor.In order to guarantee the stability of the pillar,it is suggested to take waterproof and reinforcement measures in areas with a high degree of damage.

Evaluation method of rock damage under uniaxial compression based on unit series-parallel electrical conductive model

The evaluation of rock damage behaviour is an important requirement for ensuring stability control and safety prediction in rock engineering.However,they have not been able to obtain sufficiently accurate and dynamic results due to the insufficient evaluation method.In this study,by means of fractals and unit series division,a unit series-parallel conductive model of damaged rock is derived,and a new evaluation method of rock damage under uniaxial compression was proposed.Rock was damaged by uniaxial compression,while electrical measurements and X-ray microscopy tests were performed to obtain the damaged rock resistivity,porosity,and fractal dimension variation.By establishing the relationship between defined meso-damage factor and resistivity,rock damage evolution law under axial compression was obtained.The results indicate that the growth trend was agree with the classical statistical damage model,which verified the accuracy of the results obtained by the proposed method.Moreover,as the strain increased,the damage factor determined by resistivity gradually decreased to0.06 firstly and then increased rapidly to 0.79.Different from previous damage evolution law,brittle failure was observed and the cracks development in each stage was considered,including the closure(negative damage)and expansion(positive damage)of cracks.

Preliminary results on a near-real-time rock slope damage monitoring system based on relative velocity changes following the September 5,2022 M_(S) 6.8 Luding,China earthquake

Relative seismic velocity change(dv/v)is important for monitoring changes in subsurface material properties and evaluating earthquake-induced rock slope damage in a geological disaster-prone region.In this paper,we present a rapid damage assessment on three slow-moving rock slopes by measuring dv/v decrease caused by the 2022 M_(S) 6.8 Luding earthquake in Southwest China.By applying the stretching method to the cross-correlated seismic wavefields between sensors installed on each slope,we obtain earthquake-induced dv/v decreases of~2.1%,~0.5%,and~0.2%on three slopes at distances ranging from~86 to~370 km to the epicenter,respectively.Moreover,based on seismic data recorded by 16 sensors deployed on the rock slope at a distance of~370 km away from the epicenter,a localized dv/v decease region was observed at the crest of the slope by calculating the spatial dv/v images before and after the earthquake.We also derive an empirical in situ stress sensitivity of -7.29×10^(-8)/Pa by relating the dv/v change to the measured peak dynamic stresses.Our results indicate that a rapid dv/v assessment not only can help facilitate on-site emergency response to earthquakeinduced secondary geological disasters but also can provide a better understanding of the subsurface geological risks under diverse seismic loadings.

A CREEP DAMAGE EQUATION FOR ROCKS

In this paper,based on many experimental results,a creep damage equation for rocks with a creep modulus that can describe the history of damage has been deduced.According to the equation,a creep damage model for rock materials is constructed,and it is shown that the extent of their damage,or damage degree,during creep can be determined by means of simple experiments.

Simulation experiment of AE-based localization damage and deformation characteristic on covering rock in mined-out area

The localization damage and deformation characteristics of multiple rock in mined-out area under thick soil layer were investigated by acoustic emission （AE）-based physical similar simulation experiment and damage test combined with the AE theory on rock damage. During different mining courses, the degree of wall rock suffered from mining disturbed process in mined-out area was different, so did the AE density of initial damage and fracture. Some characteristic parameters, including large events, total events, and energy rate, presented fluctuations with temporal and spatial change and take on a certain extent statistic relation. Subsequently, the percent of damage degree was defined and divided into 4 stages, and the localization damage and deformation characteristics of surrounding rock in mined-out area and coal pillars were analyzed quantitatively.

Simulations of explosion-induced damage to underground rock chambers

A numerical approach is presented to study the explosion-induced pressure load on an underground rock chamber wall and its resultant damage to the rock chamber.Numerical simulations are carried out by using a modified version of the commercial software AUTODYN.Three different criteria,i.e.a peak particle velocity (PPV) criterion,an effective strain (ES) criterion,and a damage criterion,are employed to examine the explosion-induced damaged zones of the underground rock chamber.The results show that the charge chamber geometry,coupling condition and charge configuration affect significantly the dynamic pressure exerted on the rock chamber wall.Thus the chamber is damaged.An inaccurate approximation of pressure boundary ignoring the influences of these factors would result in an erroneous prediction of damaged area and damage intensity of the charge chamber.The PPV criterion yields the largest damaged zone while the ES criterion gives the smallest one.The presented numerical simulation method is superior in consideration of the chamber geometry,loading density,coupling condition and rock quality.The predicted damage intensity of rock mass can be categorized quantitatively by an isotropic damage scalar.Safe separation distance of adjacent chambers for a specific charge weight is also estimated.

Vibration Effect and Damage Evolution Characteristics of Tunnel Surrounding Rock Under Cyclic Blasting Loading

Model test studies based on the similarity theory were conducted to investigate vibration effect and damage evolution characteristics of tunnel surrounding rock under push-type cyclic blasting excavation.The model was constructed with a ratio of 1∶15.By simulating the tunnel excavation of push-type cyclic blasting,the influence of the blasting parameter change on vibration effect was explored.The damage degree of tunnel surrounding rock was evaluated by the change of the acoustic wave velocity at the same measuring point after blasting.The relationship between the damage evolution of surrounding rock and blasting times was established.The research results show that：（1）In the same geological environment,the number of delay initiation is larger,the main vibration frequency of blasting seismic wave is higher,and the attenuation of high frequency signal in the rock and soil is faster.The influence of number of delay initiation on blasting vibration effect cannot be ignored;（2）Under push-type cyclic blasting excavation,there were great differences in the decreasing rates of acoustic wave velocity of the measuring points which have the same distance to the blasting region at the same depth,and the blasting damage ranges of surrounding rock were typically anisotropic at both depth and breadth;（3）When blasting parameters were basically kept as the same,the growth trend of the cumulative acoustic wave velocity decreasing rate at the measuring point was nonlinear under different cycle blasting excavations;（4）There were nonlinear evolution characteristics between the blasting cumulative damage（D）of surrounding rock and blasting times（n）under push-type cyclic blasting loading,and different measuring points had corresponding blasting cumulative damage propagation models,respectively.The closer the measuring point was away from the explosion source,the faster the cumulative damage extension.Blasting cumulative damage effect of surrounding rock had typically nonlinear evolution properties and anisotropic characteristics.

Damage of reservoir rock induced by CO_(2) injection

The study of reservoir rock damage induced by gas injection is of great significance to the design of reservoir stimulation and the improvement of oil and gas recovery. Based on an example horizontal well in the Hudson Oilfield of the Tarim Basin and considering the multi-physics coupling effects among highpressure fluid, rock deformation, and damage propagation during CO_(2) injection, a three-dimensional finite element model for CO_(2) injection in deep reservoir considering seepage-stress-damage coupling was developed. The evolution of reservoir rock damage under different CO_(2) injection conditions was systematically investigated. The results show that tensile damage and shear damage are concentrated in the vertical direction and the horizontal maximum compressive principal stress direction, respectively,and the tensile damage is the main damage mode. At higher CO_(2) injection rate and pressure, the damaged areas near the wellbore are mainly distributed in the direction of the maximum compressive principal stress, and the development of the damaged area near the wellbore will be inhibited by the formation and evolution of far-field damage. CO_(2) injection aggravates the extension of tensile damage,but inhibits the initiation of shear damage, and eventually leads to the gradual transition from shear damage to tensile damage. Under the same injection conditions, CO_(2) injection has superior performance in creating rock damage compared with the injection of nitrogen and water. The results in this study provide guidance for enhanced oil recovery in deep oil and gas reservoirs with CO_(2) injection.

Responses of jointed rock masses subjected to impact loading

Impact-induced damage to jointed rock masses has important consequences in various mining and civil engineering applications. This paper reports a numerical investigation to address the responses of jointed rock masses subjected to impact loading. It also focuses on the static and dynamic properties of an intact rock derived from a series of laboratory tests on meta-sandstone samples from a quarry in Nova Scotia, Canada. A distinct element code(PFC2D) was used to generate a bonded particle model(BPM) to simulate both the static and dynamic properties of the intact rock. The calibrated BPM was then used to construct large-scale jointed rock mass samples by incorporating discrete joint networks of multiple joint intensities into the intact rock matrix represented by the BPM. Finally, the impact-induced damage inflicted by a rigid projectile particle on the jointed rock mass samples was determined through the use of the numerical model. The simulation results show that joints play an important role in the impactinduced rock mass damage where higher joint intensity results in more damage to the rock mass. This is mainly attributed to variations of stress wave propagation in jointed rock masses as compared to intact rock devoid of joints.

A Study of the Rock Breaking Mechanism during Swirling Water Jet Drilling

Based on an analysis of the factors affecting rock breaking and the coupling between rock and fluid during water jet drilling, the rock damage model and the damage-coupling model suitable for the whole rock breaking process under the water jet is established with continuous damage mechanics and micro-damage mechanics. The evolvement of rock damage during swirling water jet drilling is simulated on a nonlinear FEM and dynamic rock damage model, and a decoupled method is used to analyze the rock damage. The numerical results agree with the test results to a high degree, which shows the rock breaking ability of the swirling water jet is strong. This is because the jet particle velocity of the swirling water jet is three-dimensional, and its rock-breaking manner mainly has a slopping impact. Thus, the interference from returning fluid is less. All these aspects make it easy to draw and shear the rock surface. The rock breaking process is to break out an annular on the rock surface first, and then the annular develops quickly in both the radial and axial directions, the last part of the rock broken hole bottom is a protruding awl. The advantage of the swirling water jet breaking rock is the heavy breaking efficiency,large breaking area and less energy used to break rock per unite volume, so the swirling water jet can drill in a hole of a large diameter.

Effect of damage on gas seepage behavior of sandstone specimens

In underground engineering,such as geological CO2 sequestration,unconventional oil and gas exploration,and radioactive waste storage,permeability of rock is important to evaluate the potential CO2 storage capacity,improve oil and gas production,and prevent leakage of radioactive waste.In this study,hydrostatic stress tests and triaxial compression tests with gas permeability measurements were carried out on intact and damaged sandstone specimens.Three series of experiment were designed to evaluate the permeability evolution laws of sandstone under different testing conditions.They included triaxial seepage tests on intact specimens under different confining pressures,triaxial seepage tests on damaged specimens with different extents of damage,and hydrostatic seepage tests on damaged specimens under increasing and decreasing gas pressures.Based on the experimental results,the effects of effective confining pressure,extent of damage and increasing and decreasing gas pressure on permeability of sandstone were investigated.It shows that the permeability of the intact sandstone specimens first decreased and then increased,followed by a constant value with increase in axial strain.The permeability of the sandstone specimens was observed to decrease with increase in effective confining pressure.The extent of damage affects the permeability evolution,but does not influence the failure patterns of damaged sandstone.As the gas pressure increased,the permeability of the damaged sandstone specimen increased.Under the same gas pressure condition,the permeability during the decreasing process is generally higher than that during the increasing process.These experiments are expected to enhance our understanding of seepage behavior in underground rock masses.

Damage characteristics and new constitutive model of sandstone under wet–dry cycles

The mechanical properties of rock deteriorate under repeated wet-dry(WD)cycles,causing the deformation and failure of the rock mass.A reasonable damage constitutive model can truly reflect the whole process of rock deformation and failure.Therefore,it is of great significance to study the damage characteristics and constitutive behaviour of rock subjected to numerous WD cycles.First,sandstone from Tingliang tunnel was sampled for the WD cycle experiment,and uniaxial and triaxial tests were carried out on the rock samples after various numbers of WD cycles to analyze their macroscale damage characteristics.Then,the damage mechanisms of the rock samples under the action of WD cycling were identified by X-ray diffraction(XRD)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).Finally,based on the test data,the WD cycle-induced damage variable,Weibull distribution function,damage threshold,Drucker-Prager(D-P)yield criterion and residual strength correction coefficient were introduced,a wet-dry loading(WDL)constitutive damage model that considers the cracking stress of rock masses was established,and the expressions of the corresponding parameters were given.The results show that an increasing number of WD cycles induces considerable variations in the macroscopic physical and mechanical parameters(such as the rock sample mass,saturated water content,longitudinal-wave velocity,compressive strength and elastic modulus),and the rate of change presents two stages,the inflection point of their rate of change is the 15th WD cycle.Microscopically,the rock sample structure changes from intact and dense to fragmented and unconsolidated;additionally,the surface roughness increases,and the mineral composition changes.The established constitutive damage model exhibited good agreement with the experimental data;thus,this model can reflect the deformation and failure of rocks under WDL conditions,and the physical meaning of each parameter is clear.

Spatially distributed damage in sandstone under stress-freeze-thaw coupling conditions

In the present study,we tried to understand the spatially distributed damage in sandstone samples under the coupled stress-freeze-thaw(SFT)conditions.Firstly,uniaxial compressive stresses(i.e.0 MPa,10 MPa,20 MPa,and 25 MPa)were applied to the samples,and then freeze-thaw(FT)cycles(0,8,16,and 24)were performed on the uniaxially stressed samples to realize the SFT coupling.Next,real-time CT scanning was conducted to observe the induced damage.The total porosity was introduced to quantitatively evaluate the damage degree.The local porosity variation,with the distance from the center of the sandstone sample,was analyzed to understand the spatial distribution of damage.Finally,the coupling effects of SFT on the damage gradient were discussed.The results indicate that the porosity rises with FT cycles,and the applied stresses can accelerate the increase in porosity.The damage increases exponentially with the distance from the center of the sample.The damage presents a spatial gradient distribution,not the commonly used uniform distribution in various studies.The damage gradient increases with FT cycles,and the increasing rate in damage gradient decreases at uniaxial stress of 0 MPa and 10 MPa first,but the increasing rate in damage gradient increases with FT cycles then at stress increasing to 20 MPa.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION STUDY ON ROCK BREAKING MECHANISM AND PROCESS UNDER HIGH PRESSURE WATER JET

The numerical simulation method to study rock breaking process and mechanism under high pressure water jet was developed with the continuous mechanics and the FEM theory. The rock damage model and the damage-coupling model suited to analyze the whole process of water jet breaking rock were established with continuum damage mechanics and micro damage mechanics. The numerical results show the dynamic response of rock under water jet and the evolvement of hydrodynamic characteristic of jet during rock breaking is close to reality, and indicates that the body of rock damage and breakage under the general continual jet occurs within several milliseconds, the main damage form is tensile damage caused by rock unload and jet impact, and the evolvement of rock damage shows a step-change trend. On the whole, the numerical results can agree with experimental conclusions, which manifest that the analytical method is feasible and can be applied to guide the research and application of jet breaking rock theory.

Time-dependent borehole stability in hard-brittle shale

Rock damage appears in brittle shale even prior to peak stress(i.e.,before failure)due to the occurrence of microcracks in these rocks.In this work,a coupled hydromechanical model was built by incorporating the mechanical and fluid seepage induced stresses around a wellbore during drilling.The borehole instability mechanism of hard-brittle shale was studied.The results show that even if a well is simply drilled into a hard-brittle shale formation,the formation around the borehole can be subjected to rock damage.The maximum failure ratio of the formation around the borehole increases with drilling time.A lower drilling fluid density corresponds to a faster increase in the failure ratio of the borehole with time and a shorter period of borehole collapse.When the initial drilling fluid density is too low,serious rock damage occurs in the formation around the borehole.Even though a high-density drilling fluid is used after drilling,long-term borehole stability is difficult to maintain.While drilling in hard-brittle shale,drilling fluid with a proper density should be used rather than increasing the density of the drilling fluid only after borehole collapse occurs,which is more favorable for maintaining long-term borehole stability.

Laboratory acoustic emission study for earthquake generation process

Since the similarity in size distribution of earthquakes and acoustic emissions （AE） was found in the 1960s, many laboratory studies have been motivated by the need to provide tools for the prediction of mining failures and natural earthquakes. This paper aims, on the one hand, to draw an outline of laboratory AE studies in the last 50 years, which have addressed seismological problems. Topics include the power laws in which the similarity between AEs and earthquakes is involved and progress that has been made in AE technology and laboratory AE study. On the other hand, this study will highlight some key issues intensively discussed, especially in the last three decades, such as aspects related to the pre-failure damage evolution, fault nucleation and growth in brittle rocks and discuss factors governing these processes.

Fracture development around deep underground excavations: Insights from FDEM modelling

Over the past twenty years, there has been a growing interest in the development of numerical modelsthat can realistically capture the progressive failure of rock masses. In particular, the investigation ofdamage development around underground excavations represents a key issue in several rock engineeringapplications, including tunnelling, mining, drilling, hydroelectric power generation, and the deepgeological disposal of nuclear waste. The goal of this paper is to show the effectiveness of a hybrid finitediscreteelement method （FDEM） code to simulate the fracturing mechanisms associated with theexcavation of underground openings in brittle rock formations. A brief review of the current state-of-theartmodelling approaches is initially provided, including the description of selecting continuum- anddiscontinuum-based techniques. Then, the influence of a number of factors, including mechanical and insitu stress anisotropy, as well as excavation geometry, on the simulated damage is analysed for threedifferent geomechanical scenarios. Firstly, the fracture nucleation and growth process under isotropicrock mass conditions is simulated for a circular shaft. Secondly, the influence of mechanical anisotropy onthe development of an excavation damaged zone （EDZ） around a tunnel excavated in a layered rockformation is considered. Finally, the interaction mechanisms between two large caverns of an undergroundhydroelectric power station are investigated, with particular emphasis on the rock mass responsesensitivity to the pillar width and excavation sequence. Overall, the numerical results indicate that FDEMsimulations can provide unique geomechanical insights in cases where an explicit consideration offracture and fragmentation processes is of paramount importance. 2014 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting byElsevier B.V. All rights reserved.