Risk assessment and management in underground rock engineering——an overview

This paper attempts to provide an overview of risk assessment and management practice in underground rock engineering based on a review of the international literature and some personal experience. It is noted that the terminologies used in risk assessment and management studies may vary from country to country. Probabilistic risk analysis is probably the most widely-used approach to risk assessment in rock engineering and in geotechnical engineering more broadly. It is concluded that great potential exists to augment the existing probabilistic methods by the use of Bayesian networks and decision analysis techniques to allow reasoning under uncertainty and to update probabilities, material properties and analyses as further data become available throughout the various stages of a project. Examples are given of the use of these methods in underground excavation engineering in China and elsewhere, and opportunities for their further application are identified.

Blasting cumulative damage effects of underground engineering rock mass based on sonic wave measurement

The principle of sonic wave measurement was introduced, and cumulative damage effects of underground engineering rock mass under blasting load were studied by in situ test, using RSM-SY5 intelligent sonic wave apparatus. The blasting test was carried out for ten times at some tunnels of Changba Lead-Zinc Mine. The damage depth of surrounding rock caused by old blasting excavation （0.8-1.2 m） was confirmed. The relation between the cumulative damage degree and blast times was obtained. The results show that the sonic velocity decreases gradually with increasing blast times, hut the damage degree （D） increases. The damage cumulative law is non-linear. The damage degree caused by blast decreases with increasing distance, and damage effects become indistinct. The blasting damage of rock mass is anisotropic. The damage degree of rock mass within charging range is maximal. And the more the charge is, the more severe the damage degree of rock mass is. The test results provide references for researches of mechanical parameters of rock mass and dynamic stability analysis of underground chambers.

Engineering rock mechanics practices in the underground powerhouse at JinpingⅠhydropower station

Based on the analyses of data obtained from the underground powerhouse at Jinping I hydropower station, a comprehensive review of engineering rock mechanics practice in the underground powerhouse is first conducted. The distribution of strata, lithology, and initial geo-stress, the excavation process and corresponding rock mass support measures, the deformation and failure characteristics of the surrounding rock mass, the stress characteristics of anchorage structures in the cavern complex, and numerical simulations of surrounding rock mass stability and anchor support performance are presented. The results indicate that the underground powerhouse of Jinping I hydropower station is characterized by high to extremely high geo-stresses during rock excavation. Excessive surrounding rock mass deformation and high stress of anchorage structures, surrounding rock mass unloading damage, and local cracking failure of surrounding rock masses, etc., are mainly caused by rock mass excavation. Deformations of surrounding rock masses and stresses in anchorage structures here are larger than those found elsewhere： 20% of extensometers in the main powerhouse record more than 50 mm with the maximum at around 250 mm observed in the downstream sidewall of the transformer hall. There are about 25% of the anchor bolts having recorded stresses of more than 200 MPa. Jinping I hydropower plant is the first to have an underground powerhouse construction conducted in host rocks under extremely high geo-stress conditions, with the ratio of rock mass strength to geo-stress of less than 2.0. The results can provide a reference to underground powerhouse construction in similar geological conditions.